Aloha Theatre

Here's an interesting puzzle. In the issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor for 7/29/1921 there is a notice that L.A. Smith designed a theater to be built for Fox West Coast at 60th and Moneta Avenue (the former name of South Broadway.) The theater was named the Circle. It is described as a one story brick building, containing six shops and a theater to seat 900.

The question is, does this article refer to the Aloha, at 6010 Broadway, or to the now-demolished Century, across the street at 6013? If there were no theaters on the northern corners of that intersection, though, one or the other of these two had to be the work of L.A. Smith. Perhaps a reference can be found to one or the other under the earlier name, maybe in a Fox West Coast theater listing or some such.

The Cinema Treasures listing for the Century http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7357 gives an indication of a 1940's opening for this theatre. According to Mike Rivest's listings http://movie-theatre.org/usa/ca/la/la.xls the Circle operated from 1925 - 1935 (no address given), the Aloha operated from 1945 - 1950 @ #6010 S.Broadway and the Century from 1940 - 1950 @ 6013 S. Broadway. The Century is listed as having 900 seats in the Film Daily Yearbook of 1941 and its still listed in the 1952 F.D.Y, but with 950 seats. MMmmmm??

Correction:
The Cinema Treasures listing for the Century is http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7356

I know that some Los Angeles area neighborhood movie houses did close down for a while during the depression years, and were then re-opened as the economy recovered in the early 1940s, often renovated and given new names. It seems likely enough that the Circle was among them. (But then, so might the Aloha. Is it certain that it was built in the 1940s, or could it have been an older theater operated earlier under another name?) But it does look as though the Century is a more likely candidate for being the theater designed by Smith. Yet, that 1925 opening date for the Circle-without-address seems a bit late for a theater designed in 1921. It usually took less than a year to build and open a small neighborhood theater in those days.

(I don't know why I appended "Fox" to West Coast in that first comment- it was still just West Coast in those days.)

Something that annoys me no end is the knowledge that, until I was about five or six years old, we frequently drove along that stretch of Broadway while on the way to visit various relatives who lived in the southern section of the city. Then we began using the new Harbor Freeway, and seldom traveled Broadway again. If that freeway had opened a few years later, I'd probably have a clear memory of the neighborhood with which I could connect some of these theater locations.

Turner Classic Movies recently showed a 1936 Charlie Chase comedy short, "Neighborhood House," produced by Hal Roach for MGM release, which had many scenes filmed in the interior of an actual theatre. In the film (which revolves around a "Bank Night" drawing for $500), the theatre is called the Circle, which might have also been its real name. If the Aloha was previously known as the Circle, it might have been the theatre in "Neighborhood House." FDYBs list a seating capacity of 900 for the Circle, which is about the right size for the theatre in the film. Can anyone confirm or deny that this is the theatre seen in "Neighborhood House?" I believe that the film was originally shot as a feature called "Bank Night," but got edited down to a short after some discouraging previews.

This is now a Spanish church.

Here are some photos I took last week:
http://tinyurl.com/2c2fns
http://tinyurl.com/2drrfu

Having seen ken mc's photos of this theatre and the Century Theatre across the street, I think we can draw some reasonable conclusions about which is which.

The second photo of the Aloha shows the side wall of brick containing five arched windows, three of which are filled in. It seems very unlikely that the windows would have been added after the building was converted from a theatre, and they certainly wouldn't have been built in the first place if the building had been designed as a theatre, so I'd say it's reasonable to surmise that this was originally a retail building which was later converted into a theatre, and some or all of its side windows were filled in then. If all of the side windows were once filled in, then the two that aren't filled in were probably re-opened at the time the building was converted to a church. This is a very plain building and doesn't look at all as though it had been designed by L.A. Smith, architect of the Circle Theatre. So, the Aloha is almost certainly not the theatre originally called the Circle.

The photos of the Century Theatre across Broadway, though, show a nice arched facade which looks very much as though it had been designed as a theatre in 1921. My guess is that the Century is the former Circle Theatre, and the Aloha was a later conversion from retail space. The article from Southwest Builder & Contractor cited in the first comment on the page thus probably pertains to the Century Theatre.

A church group was holding revival meetings in what was described as a former theater in December 1961, so the Aloha hasn't shown films in a long time.

Listed as the Wigwam Theater at 6010 Moneta (Broadway) in the 1925 city directory, so that should be an aka.

The introductory paragraph for the Aloha Theatre says that the Century Theatre across the street from it has been destroyed. Not so, as ken mc has posted recent photos of the Century's building (linked on its page) which now houses an upholstery supply company.

I said above that in ken mc's recent photos of this former theatre (linked in his comment of June 16 this year) the building looks as though it had been converted to a theatre from retail space. Ken's comment of August 13 reveals that the building housed a theatre at least as far back as 1925. There's still a possibility that the building began as retail space though. A Los Angeles planning department report available in .pdf from the department's zone information system (search on building address) says that the building was erected in 1910.

Here is the 1925 listing:
http://tinyurl.com/5e2qoe

It was already called the Wigwam Theatre in 1915, according to the listing in the L.A. City Directory that year. Wigwam Theatre might have been its opening name.

My grandparents rented and operated this theatre from 1935 to 1937. My dad recalls the name to be the May Theatre. My grandfather was the projectionists, grandmother was the ticket seller, my uncle (9-10 years) was the usher and my father (5-6 years old) would stay in a room next to the ticket window. My dad recalls seating of about 400-500 seats, not as big the Century theatre across the street.

It was the Aloha in 1942, according to the city directory of that year.

The 1929 city directory lists the May Theatre at 6010 S. Broadway. I can't find listings for a theater at this address in directories from the 1930s.

The LA Library just put together several new volumes of the directories in the downtown branch. These aren't falling apart like the old ones. They span about 1915 to 1942.