Toho La Brea Theatre
857 S. La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
857 S. La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
4 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres
Architects: Richard D. King
Functions: Church
Previous Names: Chotiner's La Brea Theatre, Fox La Brea Theatre, Art La Brea Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Chotiner’s La Brea Theatre was opened in 1926. By 1934 it had been taken over by Fox West Coast Theatres. It later became the Art La Brea Theatre. On August 5, 1960 it became the Toho La Brea Theatre which ran films from Japan. (The Toho also opened a theatre off Broadway in Times Square, NY in the 1960’s.) The old marquee was taken off in the mid-1980’s.
If you have the DVD for the film "How the West Was Won" in the short film about "HTWWW", you can see a shot of this old Fox theatre.
Today, the former Fox La Brea Theatre is used as a church.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 47 comments)
The Fox La Brea was closed for a while in the late 1950s before being renovated and reopened as the Art La Brea Theatre in 1960. I’m not sure how long it lasted under that name, as I remember it being called the Toho La Brea by 1963.
My girl friend (now wife) and I used to drive 60 miles to Los Angeles to see Kurosawa movies at the Toho La Brea. This would have been the mid-1960s. I especially remember “Yojimbo” and “High and Low,” both starring the great Toshiro Mifune.
An added date night benefit: the Cherry Blossom restaurant occupied the top floor of the theatre, so we could have a Japanese dinner before seeing the movie.
I think it was the Cherry Blossom that ran a small newspaper ad saying, “Sukiyaki,Tempura, served by girls in kimonos, and other delicious Japanese dishes.”
Yeah, I’m not sure why it says the late 1960s for when it became the Toho – I have four years' worth of newspaper movies sections from 1961 to 1964 and as someone points out it had become the Toho by 1963, possibly even earlier.
December 25th, 1959 grand opening ad as Art La Brea in photo section.
August 5th, 1960 grand opening ad as Toho La Brea also in photo section.
Throughout the period this house was operated by Toho, I recall it always being advertised as the Toho La Brea, never just the Toho. The La Brea name remained on the marquee as well.
Pretty sure the corner panel says “KID SHOW SAT 2 PM” but the other panels are just too blurry for me, even when zoomed.
Is this theatre near the La Brea Tar Pits?
About 10-12 blocks away.
I think the photo above has been reversed(all the words in the photo above are backwards)!!