Academy Theater

I think this has to be my favorite theater. I'm almost tempted to let them baptize me and join their church, just so I can go inside and marvel at it's beauty.

The Academy was built around 1939 by S. Charles Lee. This theatre seats about 1156 people. Fox West Coast theatres ran the Academy for many in it's District 4 area. If you go about 2 1/2 blocks east, You will find the "Fifth Ave" theatre. The Fifth Ave was up for sale, a couple years ago. The Fifth Ave seats about 986. If you go about 2-3 miles west to Market St. You will find 2 other theatres on the south side of Market will be a church, that was the UA theatre. Going north on Market on your left side you will find the FOX theatre (opened as the Granada before the remodel). The FOX seated about 1166 people. The FOX is closed and for sale as of last year. The last chain to run those theatres was Mann Theatres.

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1940's, I attended both the Academy and the Fifth Avenue any number of times during a period when my family lived near 78th Street and Vermont Ave. Once, during a movie at the Fifth Avenue, there was a pretty strong earthquake, and much of the audience departed (including us).

Very near the intersection of 78th and Vermont was a small local, Spanish-themed "atmospheric," the Madrid.

We also sometimes patronized the Eagle, at the corner of Eagle Rock Blvd. and Yosemite Drive. It was quite small. On one occasion we arrived a bit late, and the only seats available were loges--at the outrageous price of fifty cents. My father bundled us back in the car and we headed for home.

Shortly after this theatre debuted, the corkscrew spiral fins of the tower had to be narrowed down to the simple neon spirals that are there today,so I have been told by several sources, because no thought had been given to drainage, and rainwater accumulated as it flowed down the tower's spiral, and ran in torrents onto the roof.

I remember this theater so well because as a kid growing up in Inglewood in the Fabulous Fifties, this picture palace was a truly grand and glorious place. I was awestruck by its towering spiral spire with the globe on top with sparkling stars...it was truly an amusement park for your mind to go there - thick plush carpeting, a lavishly decorated lobby and snack bar, and plush red velvet seats were an experience to remember, and as I recall, it had a golden shimmering satin waterfall curtain as well. This is the theater my family always went to for first-run blockbuster movies, and I fondly recall seeing DeMille's crowning achievement "The TEN COMMANDMENTS" there in the fall of 1956 in wide-screen VistaVision and surround-Stereophonic sound. This beautiful theater will always be a special memory for me.

I love the Academy and the huge tower. Once or twice a week they would show a prerelease preview and i would wait in a long line for tickets. You never new what you would see but sometimes the stars of the picture would come in late and sit in the back rows. Afterwards you were asked to fill out a movie card and write a review. I met some movie stars at the Academy.
Also I rember the black light they used inside lite up the invisible laundry markings on my shirts.

I drove by last week and saw the tower lit and working for the first time! What a beauty. It is blue neon and flashes "A-C-A-D-E-M-Y...ACADEMY" Looks terrific.

I just saw a whole bunch of pictures of the interior and the exterior of this theatre lit up at night on ther S. Charles Lee web site. This is one of the most sleek beautiful theatres I have ever seen. http://digital.library.ucla.edu/sclee/

This theatre is one of some 200 that could be described as "Skouras-ized For Showmanship" which is the title of the ANNUAL of 1987 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America. In the late 1930s through the 1950s, there occurred on the west coast of the United States a phenomenon known as the 'Skouras style' in recognition of the oversight of the Skouras brothers in their management of several cinema chains. They employed a designer by the name of Carl G. Moeller to render their cinemas/theatres in a new style best described as 'Art Moderne meets Streamlined.' The then new availability of aluminum sheeting at low cost was the principal material difference to this style allowing for sweeping, 3-dimensional shapes of scrolls to adorn walls and facades in an expression that would have been much more expensive and not at all the same in plaster. With the use of hand tinted and etched aluminum forms, the designers could make ornaments in mass production that allowed much greater economies of scale. The ANNUAL also show in its 44 pages how some 20 theatres were good examples of this combining of aluminum forms with sweeping draperies heavily hung with large tassels, and with box offices and facades richly treated with neon within the aluminum forms. Few of these examples survive today, but it was a glorious era while it lasted, and this collection of crisp b/w photos is a fitting epitaph by the late Preston Kaufmann.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either "Marquee" or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link "PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List" and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The "Marquee" magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall ('portrait') format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long ('landscape') format, and are anywhere from 26 to 44 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to lend it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]

Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.

Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at: execdir@historictheatres.org
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)

Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM--4PM, CT)

The Academy was my threater as a kid growing up in the 50's. Not only did our family see movies there, like THE VIKINGS and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but it was the first theater I was allowed to attend AT NIGHT without a parent -- just me and my friends. I remember clearly that first night. It was a friday in June, the last day of 6th grade. I would be starting seventh grade at Horace Mann J.H.S. in the fall.

It was a warm night, perfect. The picture was 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and the line stretched around the side of the theater and half way down the parking lot -- all teenagers. I was so excited to be among them, without a parent. 35 cents for twelve and under, 90 cents for juniors and 1.25 for adults. It was so cool to be in line with the older kids, I gladly paid the junior price, even though I was 12.

Once inside, popcorn was 15 cents, or 25 cents buttered. The Academy had a soda vending machine in the lobby, which was a favorite. When you dropped your dime in, a wax paper cup plopped down, shaved ice sprinkled in, then syrup and soda water sprayed in. Besides the mechanical show, what made it special was the fact that, while the syrup and soda water were spraying in, if you moved the selector real fast between cola and cherry, you ended up with a cherrty cola! How cool was that?!

Another cherrished memory of the Academy is from the mid to late 50's. It is that of the special shows the threater ran. Suburban theaters like the Academy had stopped running week-day matinees. However, in the summer, the theater ran a special show on Wesnesday afternoons. These programs consisted of a two or three year old Sci-Fi or Action movie and about 10 cartoons. IT WAS A BLAST! I was too young to see TARGET EARTH or INVADERS FROM MARS in first run, but was lucky enough to see them at the Academy a couple of years later (and before they hit TV). On one summer Wednesday they ran THE WIZARD OF OZ and it was there that I learn that it was in Technicolor (having only see in on TV up to that time).

And, lastly, the Academy's wonderful tradition of running a Thanksgiving Day program consisting of 30, count them, 30 CARTOONS!!! The point of the program was for Mom to be able to get the kids out of the house while she got Thanksgiving dinner ready. To us kids, it was the absolute start of the Christmas Season!

Thom Eberhardt
(who grew up to make movies of his own)

A more recent photo of the former Academy Theater is here:
http://you-are-here.com/theatre/academy.html

I am so excited to see the comments regarding the Academy Theater. I have been a member of "Academy Cathedral" since i was 12 years old( i am now 40 something) and it is amazing to see how special this building has been to so many people. If you have not done so, I encourage anyone with special memories of "The Academy" to pay us a visit and see how beautiful it still is. Actually, this would be a great time to visit because on March 13, 2005 we will celebrate our 30th year in the Academy and our Pastor, Doyle Hart's 83rd birthday. Pleae come by and ask for Mr. James Thomas and I will personally welcome you. You can find out more by visiting our website at www.academycathedral.com
Once again, Thank You for sharing such fond memories.
James Thomas

This building is a true landmark in Southern California. At least something was saved.

The LA Library has a sketch of the Academy from 1939, but puts it on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. This is either a mistake, or they ended up building the theater in Inglewood:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044362.jpg

ken mc: It's a double mistake by the library. The sketch is of the Academy Theatre in Pasadena, and it should be dated about the mid-1950s, which is when the former Fox Colorado (itself the former Bard's Colorado) was remodeled and renamed.

No, wait. I got that wrong. There's a different sketch at the library, actually of the Pasadena Academy, which was mislabeled as being the Inglewood Academy, but I think that has been fixed. The sketch you linked to is the actual Inglewood Academy, mislabeled as being in Pasadena.

From the UCLA Collection:

http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/001/01/i0010106.jpg

http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/001/01/i0010107.jpg

http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/001/01/i0010104.jpg

http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/001/01/i0010109.jpg

Here is another photo of the former Academy Theater.

Another interior view of the Academy can be seen here.

The Fox Academy Theatre opened on Nov. 1939 and was operated by Fox West Coast Theatre chain.

I grew up in Inglewood from 1953 to 1975. I frequented The Academy often. Two films I recall seeing were "The Great Escape" and "Dog of Flanders". I still remember the vending machines in the men's room. Cool viles of hair creme and combs.

The opening film at the Fox Academy Theatre was the World Press Preview for MGM's "Another Thin Man" on November 9th. 1939 at 8:30pm.

Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yv83aj

I have just completed a magnificent book entitled "The Incredible History of the Academy Theater". It is a coffee table book with more than 60 vintage photos. It shows the correlation between S. Charles Lee, Charles Skouras,Julius Shchulman and Rev. Doyle Hart four men with incredible vision. The book also has a copy of the original program from the premier of "Another Thin Man" held at the Academy on November 9, 1939. There is also a photo of William Powell and Myrna Loy in the lobby and much much more. If you would like to pre-order a copy or attend the invitation only reception which will be held in the lobby of the Academy, email mrthomas@empowermentradio.net

This photo on Ebay is supposed to be from 1972.

Here is a photo from the Library of Congress:
http://tinyurl.com/2rcttn

Here are some photos from August 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/24dmdw
http://tinyurl.com/2dubcz
http://tinyurl.com/yvtaey
http://tinyurl.com/2b8qof
http://tinyurl.com/2x72oj
http://tinyurl.com/yrxrjc
http://tinyurl.com/2y8o5e
http://tinyurl.com/2h5uww
http://tinyurl.com/ytrrp9
http://tinyurl.com/ypshql

Do you know how and why these phots ended up at the library of congress? Are you going to purchase a copy of the book "The Incredible History of The Academy Theater"?

how can i place a photo with my comment?

I go by there all the time. My mom saw Goldfinger there.

The sign is visible for blocks on a clear day:
http://tinyurl.com/23l4s5

Yup, this is true.

Did anyone order and receive their copy of the the 'magnificent' book "The Incredible History of the Acedemy Theater" by mrjlthomas?

I pre-ordered mine way-back in May 2007 and have not heard from or recieved anything. I payed $40.00 via PayPal which was processed in July 2007. I recently sent an e-mail to the e-mail address posted above by mrjlthomas on May 28, 2007 and it bounced back!

The book was held up due to problems with overseas printing, however every order will be filled. Anyone can email Mr. Thomas at mrthomas@empowermentradio.net

THIS THEATER WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD THEATER TO GO TO ON SATURDAY'S WITH MY FRIENDS.
MY FIRST TIME GOING THERE IN 1974 I SEEN,"MAGNUM FORCE AND RETURN OF THE DRAGON".I USE TO BOUNCE BACK AND FORTH TO THERE,5TH AVE.,FOX,IMPERIAL THEATERS,BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL IN THE INGLEWOOD AREA.
I DO KNOW IT CLOSED IT'S DOORS IN THE LATE 1970'S,AND KNOW IT'S A CHURCH.BUT SEEING THE PICS,I FORGOTTEN HOW ELEGANT THE THEATER WAS ON THE INSIDE.

You will love the book.

Here is a July 2008 photo.

Here are two more photos from the Library of Congress.

Here is a 1956 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d2npdv

Here are some additional photos from the UCLA collection:
http://tinyurl.com/dd3coa
http://tinyurl.com/c57ql4

That spire in the `50's was something else. I wonder why they chose to remove the cork screw design & replace it with bands.

1982 Photo

1983 Photo

Here is another 1956 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/nwgx3x

Here is a June 2009 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/mm3eqj

FYI, `55 Plymouth in the `56 picture. I had an identical `56 model, but the `55 had lower tail fins as pictured.

Here is a January 1974 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/nmf95f

The features playing the Academy Theatre in the above 1956 photo are Fess Parker in "The Great Locomotive Chase" and Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz".

Here is another 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/m2929j