Fox Ritz Theatre
5214 Wilshire Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
5214 Wilshire Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
7 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres
Architects: Lewis Arthur Smith
Previous Names: Lindy Opera House, American Theatre
Nearby Theaters
West Coast Theatres built the Ritz Theatre which opened on October 15, 1926 with Harry Langdon in “The Strong Man”. It was located on Wilshire Boulevard near S. La Brea Avenue, was later operated by Fox West Coast Theatres.
In its later years, it was closed to the public and was used as a reserved film house by Michael Todd. It was also later used as a venue for live theatre and second run films as the Lindy Opera House. A last gasp effort to show vintage films and renamed American Theatre sadly failed and it was closed and converted into a Korean church.
In 1977 the former theatre was demolished and replaced by a parking lot.
Contributed by
John Chappell
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Recent comments (view all 30 comments)
Here is a 1944 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/396l6c
Here is a February 1953 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/ylq9lma
Nice ads and photos.
You can see it as the Lindy Opera House at around the 1:00 minute mark here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0lEosbR-Vg
Five 1960 Smell-O-Vision related images added, courtesy of Sid Terror’s Haunted Film Vault Facebook page.
In the 1977 sketch comedy film CAN I DO IT…‘TILL I NEED GLASSES, a scene opens outside the theatre, and the marquee is advertising the producers’ previous film IF YOU DON’T STOP IT, YOU’LL GO BLIND. Don’t know if the actual theatre interior was used for the remainder of the sketch.
I believe this theater is shown in season one of The Beverly Hillbillies. The Clampett’s old truck passes the front of a Ritz theater in episode 26. There’s a banner for a church under the marquee.
The Fox Ritz Theatre can be seen in a street scene in the UK made movie “The Man Who Could Work Miracles” (1936) starring Roland Young and Ralph Richardson. Based on a short story by H.G. Wells, the scene is supposed to be in San Francisco.
There is a long scene inside the Theatre in the 1968 film Wild in the Streets
Fox Ritz sign upper right in this Getty Images link.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/civil-defense-billboard-with-old-cars-in-front-news-photo/590960634?irgwc=1&esource=AFF_GI_IR_TinEye_77643&asid=TinEye&cid=GI&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=TinEye&utm_content=77643