Main Theatre

Though the Main Theatre appears to have been a 1960's or 1970's conversion from retail space,for the purposes of showing "X" rated movies, the building in which it was located dates from 1909, and was designed by the firm of Parkinson and Bergstrom, according to this page at the Parkinson Archives. (The caption on the page mistakenly gives the building's address as 424-438 S. Spring Street, but the accompanying photograph is unmistakably of a building located on Main Street, and the theatre's name is readable.) Despite the building's architectural pedigree, I don't think the theatre itself should be attributed to Parkinson and Bergstrom, unless some proof can be found that it was not a comparatively recent conversion from retail space, but the location of a theatre from the time of the building's construction.

Joe; Thanks for that information. I agree, the photo of the Canadian Building is definately the same building which housed the Main Theatre. I have e-mailed the Parkinson Archives to correct their mistake.

What has just occurred to me is that the Main Theatre might have been the Admiral Theatre into the 1960's. After about 1968, I only had occasion to visit Main Street once or twice, as the bus lines I took downtown which had formerly run there had been moved to Spring Street or Olive Street. I have no memory of seeing Rector's Admiral after the 1960's, so it's possible that its old marquee was removed (perhaps condemned- the Admiral was not well maintained) and replaced with the one seen in the Parkinson Archives.

As I recall, the Admiral's marquee was a rather standard sort of the late 1930's-early 1950's. I never took much note of the building in which the theatre was located, but I do remember it being not too far from the Regent. If the Main was indeed the Admiral, then it dates back farther than it's appearance suggests. I always had the sense that the Admiral was an older theatre which had been remodeled a few years either side of WWII.

I wish I could get to L.A. and take a look at the building myself. As it is, my memory isn't clear enough to say for sure whether the Main was formerly the Admiral or not.

The Main was visible in a 1981 episode of Hill Street Blues. It was showing adult films at that time.

The Main has been converted to retail space. There is no trace of the theater remaining, but the narrow interior suggests an auditorium.

When Joe Vogel first asked if I had ever seen the Main Theatre my first reaction was that I had not. After reviewing some old notes and devoting some thought to this subject, it turns out that indeed I did visit this little porn house once in 1983.
Flashing neon outlined the Main Theatre. A cinema faded that appeared to date back many decades. Admittance was through a single set of hammered glass doors. The lobby was a long and narrow hall, decorated in 1940's bright modernist design. An elongated chrome trimmed boxoffice/concession counter guarded the mirrored right wall. At the far end of the lobby were four steps that lead up to the auditorium entrance. Steps necessary to provide a slope the auditorium floor.
One tufted leather door opened onto the one and only auditorium isle that ran along the left sidewall. All chair rows dead ended against the right sidewall. Back rows were of the loge variety. All other rows were typical upholstered metal theatre seats. Walls were veneered in knotty pine. Scalloped plumb velvet covered the worn ceiling. A bunched purple velvet valance dressed up the proscenium arch, but no other stage drapery was apparent.

I always thought the auditorium pine paneling gave the Main Theatre an informal, relaxed feeling, and those loge seats were very comfortable.
The lobby was not all that narrow, maybe ten feet wide by twenty feet deep. There was a narrow hallway with restroom doors between the lobby and auditoirum.
It looked as if in an earlier time before the Main became a porno house it might have been a screening room for quality product.

Here is a January 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/skwoc

Looking at the January 2007 photo, I'm thinking that this could not have been the Admiral Theatre, unless the entrance had once been in the central of the three storefronts shown here rather than the narrow storefront on the right which is where the Main Theatre's entrance was. The Admiral had a fairly wide entrance, with some decent terrazzo flooring, as I recall.

Here are two photos which raise some questions. The first shows a theater between 4th and 5th that could be the Main, circa 1920s. It's more likely a predecessor. The second shows the Teatro Hidalgo, but as I have no caption I don't know where the Teatro was located:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics35/00067233.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics35/00067232.jpg

ken mc: The Main was in the Canadian Building, next door to the building with the marquee. I think the theatre must be the Regent, before its remodeling. See your own photo from January 2007 above for comparison.

The Hidalgo is the theatre posted on Cinema Treasures under its later name, the Estella. It was next to the Plaza church on North Main Street.

Somebody was asking for information about the Hidalgo just a couple of weeks ago. The question is on the Grand Theatre page. I left a reply with what little I knew, but there's been no response yet. You could post the link to the Hidalgo there, in case the person comes back.

Thanks, Joe.

The building in ken mc's first picture with the marquee is definitely the National?/Regent. You can see the back side of the front arch in a picture I took a few weeks ago when I was inside the Regent here:

http://lahtc.blogspot.com/2007/05/regent-theater-photos-april-24-htc.html

From looking at that photo and the Sanborn overlay it looks like the sign that says 'Cut Rate' something might be the Banner at 458 s. Main. If the address for the Main is correct and it was actually in the Canadian building then the space is still there. It's a strange craft store now with all kinds of styrofoam balls in the window right next door to the new Metropolis book store.

I can't find much about the Main but I assume from this that it wasn't a theater by this time:

(Oct. 19, 1931)
T.J. Curry, manager of a lunch room at 438 South Main street, mistook a bandit for a customer early yesterday morning and the error cost him $100, he reported.

I've been faithfully patronizing the bookstore in a small effort to promote business on Main Street. It reminds me of old town Pasadena in the very early stages, before the Gaps and Old Navys took over. Old Town was a rather decrepit area in the mid 80s, with mostly boarded up stores. I did read an article last month about chain retailers expressing interest in the revitalized downtown area, so when you see a Gap and a Starbucks at 5th and Main, you will know that the area has come full circle.

Ken mc, If you haven't seen it, you should watch The Street With No Name. Almost all of the exterior shots are on this block. It's incredibly seedy. If you watch it, get ready to hit the pause button often. There are also a lot of scenes in a boxing gymnasium, I wonder if they used the place that stood where the Hippodrome was. I'll have to take another look.

Most likely the Main Street gym. Is this movie available on DVD?

Yeah, here's the link...its pretty cheap and not that great of a movie but for reference its great.

http://www.amazon.com/Street-No-Name-Mark-Stevens/dp/B0007ZEO7S/

After re-reading the original comments above, I wonder if this theater was converted from another retail/restaurant space in the 50's or 60's. There is not much mention or evidence to a theater here before that time. The 1950 Sanborn map doesn't say anything about a theater there. It just says 'S'. I don't know what that stand for.

I just ordered the film from Amazon. Thanks for the tip.

I know that the Susan Hayward film "I'll Cry Tomorrow" was filmed on 5th Street, but I haven't seen that film available for rental. I saw it on AMC years ago.

I'll Cry Tomorrow is only on vhs so far....but you made me think about 'Possesed' with Joan Crawford from 1947 where she goes nuts and is wandering around skid row downtown somewhere. I'll have to watch it again and get screen shots if any theaters are visible. Also, I Want To Live with Susan Hayward might have some shots. I know this is way off topic, but if you click on the link below, you can see a list of my personal dvd collection. If anyone sees a movie I have that might show theaters, let me know and I'll create screen shots and post them.

http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=13961306

If you want to see Main Street in the 70s and 80s, your best bet is to rent Baretta and Hill Street Blues, respectively. In one HSB episode, two patrolmen started driving at 7th and Main and proceeded north. You could see every storefront on the east side of the street through the passenger window. I remember going frame by frame for three or four blocks.

This 1954 photo shows the Roxy Loan Office at 438 S. Main, so presumably the theater arrived later:
http://tinyurl.com/2rj5jk

Great photo ken mc....I sized it up a bit and added more contrast to make reading the signs easier...here it is:

http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=493037124&size=o

Ken: Did you notice that the 1957 photo you just linked to at the Hippodrome page shows the Roxy Loan Company office located in the corner store of the Westminster Hotel building? I doubt they'd have had two locations so close together at the same time, so I'm guessing they moved to 4th and Main between the times the two pictures were taken. That might be when their premises in the Canadian Building were converted into the Main Theatre.

The Roxy Loan Co. must have played leap frog up and down Main. Here's something from April 23, 1944:

Roxy's Loan Office
Clothing-Boots-Shoes-Tools-Musical Instruments-Luggage
Tues., April 25, 10:30 A.M., 244 S. Main St.

There are a bunch of classified ads from 1960 that read:

Men's Suits $7.95
Out Of Pawn.
Roxy Loan Co., 118 S. Main.

They may have had multiple locations as Main Street was prime pawn shop territory. I park on the lot at 4th and Main all the time and it's funny to think that this enormous Victorian hotel was once on that spot.

The Westminster Hotel sounds like a crazy place. From dignitaries and presidents staying there to becoming a flop house. From about the late 20's until it was demolished in 1960, I've found 17 suicides there.

I was reading Joe Vogel's post from December 05. He would know better than me, but it doesn't seem like this was ever a theater in the 30s or 40s. That would mean that the Admiral was at a different location. Alternatively the Admiral was replaced by a series of businesses and then became the Main. I think it more likely that some entreporneur took over the small space in the late 60s after x rated films became in vogue.

Ken: I decided this was never the Admiral, as the entrance was too narrow. I have no memory of the Main Theatre existing in the early to mid 1960s, but I can't say for certain that it wasn't open yet at that time.

As for the elusive Admiral, I've also just about discarded the Banner as a possible location, and now suspect that the Admiral was in the block south of 5th Street. The other possibility is that I've unknowingly made a visit to (or actually come from) another Los Angeles which is in a parallel universe, and the Admiral existed there but not here.

Maybe we need a parallel universe website. Dibs on the Optic.

There was an Admiral in Hollywood....but I don't Joe could get that one mixed up with the Main street Admiral.

(May 14, 1940)
"His Majesty's Mistress," starring Danielle Darrieux and John Loder, will open Thursday night at the Admiral Theater in Hollywood. This is the film version of Princess Bibesco's story, "Katia."

There was an Admiral in Hollywood....but I don't think Joe could get that one mixed up with the Main street Admiral.

(May 14, 1940)
"His Majesty's Mistress," starring Danielle Darrieux and John Loder, will open Thursday night at the Admiral Theater in Hollywood. This is the film version of Princess Bibesco's story, "Katia."

I don't know if this is in Hollywood, but it mentions an Admiral:

(Nov. 23, 1966)
Chaplin understood whims and restaurants. He had been walking one night when he discovered a delicatessen where the owner didn't have enough money for proper refrigeration. So he built a restaurant for him-Henry's, where the Admiral Theater now is.

Joe, do you have any idea of the address of the Admiral you are thinking of?

Here's one last item about the Admiral in Hollywood:
(Oct. 2, 1968)
The Vine Theater, at 6321 Hollywood Blvd., will be Hollywood's newest showplace. The Vine will feature new seating, carpeting, refrigerated air-conditioning, the latest projection and sound systems and a modern building. The Vine occupies the site of the old Admiral Theater.

Here is the CT listing for the Admiral aka Vine:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/431/

vokoban: The Admiral on Main Street (AKA Rector's Admiral) was a grind house, on the east side of the street, somewhere between the Regent and the Burbank. It was smaller than the Regent, but larger than the various storefront theatres in the area, so I suspect it might have actually been built as a theatre. It had a marquee of about the same style and vintage as the Regent's.

When you posted the article about the Banner having gotten a new front in 1952 I thought that it might have become the Admiral, but I've seen comments indicating that the Banner was still the Banner into the 1970s, and the 1973 picture of it that Ken posted doesn't resemble the Admiral. That's why I now think it had to have been below 5th Street. I passed by it many times in the 1960s, and I'm sure I'd recognize it immediately if I saw a picture of it, but my memory has lost track of the exact location and other details.

Too bad there aren't Sanborn maps after 1972 or 1973. Do you think the Chaplin reference above refers to the Hollywood Admiral? The name 'Rector's Admiral' shows up in advertisements for an exact year in LA Times movie listings from Dec. 1958-Dec. 1959 but the problem is that they all refer to the Hollywood Admiral. Here's an example:

(Dec. 31, 1958)
4 Days Only! Today Through Saturday
Rector's ADMIRAL-Hollywood & Vine
Happy New Year to Everyone!
Doris Day "PAJAMA GAME" color
John Wayne "JET PILOT" color

Janet Leigh played a Russian pilot in the Wayne film. Howard Hughes had the hots for her at the time. Jet Pilot was the film that Hughes used to watch over and over again when he was holed up in the Desert Inn.

Drat. Maybe I conflated the proprietary name, or maybe Dave Rector owned both Admiral Theatres (in the 1930s he owned the Gordon Theatre on La Brea, so I know he had more than just one.)

Does anyone know the name of a theater at 523 S. Main inside the Waldorf Hotel? I have a graphic of the Sanborn map but want to put it on the correct page if there is one. The map only says 'movies' and the theater looks pretty large with a balcony.

523 S. Main was the location of the Gaiety Theatre

A little off topic here. The LAPL was guessing that this undated photo was on Broadway, but from the film "Street with No Name" I recognize this as the west side of Main between 4th and 5th, more or less across the street from the Main:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics45/00057466.jpg

Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/c7ltzq