Toho La Brea Theatre

857 S. La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Unfavorite 4 people favorited this theater

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

Photo courtesy of Kenneth McIntyre.

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

Recent comments (view all 47 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on October 3, 2013 at 11:52 am

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.

JimMitchell
JimMitchell on December 13, 2014 at 10:04 am

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.”

haineshisway
haineshisway on August 22, 2015 at 11:43 pm

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.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 6, 2016 at 3:37 pm

December 25th, 1959 grand opening ad as Art La Brea in photo section.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 9, 2016 at 4:22 pm

August 5th, 1960 grand opening ad as Toho La Brea also in photo section.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on August 9, 2016 at 9:49 pm

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.

RickB
RickB on June 11, 2017 at 5:02 am

Pretty sure the corner panel says “KID SHOW SAT 2 PM” but the other panels are just too blurry for me, even when zoomed.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on August 11, 2017 at 1:20 am

Is this theatre near the La Brea Tar Pits?

JAlex
JAlex on August 11, 2017 at 9:19 am

About 10-12 blocks away.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on September 6, 2017 at 7:52 am

I think the photo above has been reversed(all the words in the photo above are backwards)!!

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.