Palace Theater

I walked along this block hundreds of times in the years I lived in Los Angeles, yet cannot remember the building next to the alley. Old pictures of Seventh Street around 1920 show a two-story building with a flat-topped decorative parapet wall rising slightly higher above the center of its facade, and a small marquee-like feature over the entrance. The pictures I've seen don't have enough detail to tell if this was a theater or not.

I remember most of the buildings that were still on that block as late as the 1980s, but I don't recall if that particular location was still occupied by a two story building. If it is, then the building is most likely the same one that was there in the 1920s, and it might still show some signs of having once been a theater.

Having checked the recent aerial image of this theater's likely location, (at Terraserver, search on 703 S.Braodway, Los Angeles, CA, location of Loew's State), the building in question, immediately west of the alley behind the State, does indeed appear to be a low structure of no more that two floors, with a frontage of perhaps sixty feet on Seventh Street and a depth of about 120 feet. As it is unlikely that any building put up on that lot in the last eighty years would have been a mere two story structure, this is quite likely the same building once occupied by the first Palace Theater, and vacated by it more than 84 years ago.

The address of the Palace Theater is 318 W. 7th St.

Joe;
You are correct, it is the building across the ally at the rear of the Loew's State Theater. The brickwork on the ally side of the building does look very old and original. The building is currently in retail use as a GNC General Nutrition Center store. A false ceiling has been hung inside the building and there are no signs of its past use, but it is definately the original building.

It would be interesting to snoop around in their storage rooms and such, to see if some evidence of former use remains, though after such a long time, it's likely that there have been many remodelings done. If anything does remain, it's likely to be buried under other layers. It would be like digging for Troy.

This picture from the USC digital archive, Seventh Street looking west from Broadway, is labeled 1921, but must have been slightly earlier, as demolition of the buildings at the southwest corner, where Loew's State Theatre was to be built that year, had not yet begun.

Beyond those doomed buildings, just right of center in the picture, can be seen the front of the Palace Theatre on Seventh Street, adjacent to the alley. Also of interest, the roof of a building on Seventh just beyond Hill Street has on its roof a large sign advertising the Alhambra Theatre, on Hill Street south of Seventh.

A bit to the left that sign can be seen the back wall of another theatre, which must have been located on the east side of Grand Avenue. Although the sign painted on its fly tower reads either "Strand Theatre" or (more likely) "Grand Theatre." It is likely that this is the theatre originally called the Mozart, which opened in 1913 at 730 South Grand Avenue.

Here's a few more concrete dates for the short life of this theater:

(Feb. 21, 1916)
Christening Of The New Palace Theater Auspicious.
On Seventh street between Hill and Broadway there is much traffic both by day and by night, a circumstance which will bring popularity and shekels to the new Palace Theater which opened in that block yesterday, while the painters were still at work on its shining front.

Not because it was new and not because it had something wondrous and enchanting to exhibit, but because it is extraordinarilly located, the Palace was filled all afternoon and evening. Today, tomorrow and for a long time to come it can hope for big crowds on accunt of the quality of "Undine," the picture used for the christening of the house.

(Aug. 1, 1920)
Through the same realty firm(R.F. and H.K. Huntsberger) a ten-year lease has been secured on the Palace Theater, at 317 West Seventh street by the Vogue Millinery Company and the Model Cloak and Suit House from Otto Thum of Santa Monica. The building will be taken over by the new lessees on Jan. 19 of next year, upon the expiration of the lease held by the Palace Theater. Extensive alterations and imporvements, including a new front to the building, are planeed. The walls of the building will be raised, and the structure will be divided into two storerooms. The total rental of the building for the ten-year period amounts to $450,000, while the improvements which are planned will cost about $50,000.

(Jan. 16, 1921)
"Who's to Blame?" is to close this evening at the Palace Theater. At the same time the house will be closed permanently, on account of the expiration of the lease, it is announced. "Who's to Blame?" deals in and unusually frank manner with social problems and point out the injustice toward the wronged woman. The story was written by Wycliffe A. Hill, president of the Photoplaywrights' League of Americal. Edward Coxen and Enid Markey are the featured players.

Exact opening and closing dates! Excellent! The newspaper report got the theatre's address wrong, though. 317 would have placed it on the north side of the street. It was definitely on the south side. Also, by zooming in on the picture from the USC archives, I see that the Palace used the spelling "Theatre" on its blade sign, rather than the "Theater" spelling which I used (and which I got from an abstract of a period L.A. Times article) when I originally added it.

I looked at the photo from your link, but I dont' see the 'blade' sign. When I think of 'blade' I think of deco, and that wouldn't be until about 5 years after this. Please educate.....

Vertical signs shaped like actual knife blades, with a curve at the top, did only become popular with the arrival of art deco and (even more) art moderne, but any vertical name sign can be called a blade-- for example, this one, on San Jose's California Theatre.

I still haven't figured out how to insert links to other theaters on this site, but if you look at some new information I posted for the Palace of Pictures Theater, it talks a little about that theater moving and turning into the Palace at this location.

vokoban: in case nobody has gotten around to answering your question somewhere else (I've had a couple of busy days myself), the FAQ about how to add links is right here.

A more complete explanation of UBB code is available here. I'm more accustomed to making links with HTML, myself, and I'm only just now becoming accustomed to the UBB used at Cinema Treasures. The UBB italics and quote tags work here, but I haven't tried the bullet list and right now is the first time I've done bold. I don't think the site allows images to be displayed on the boards, though.

USC's digital archive is changing the URL's of its contents, so the link I posted on October 25, 2005 no longer works. Here is the new link to the photo of 7th Street west from Broadway in 1921.

So what Palace is this on S. Broadway???
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/dwntwnPalaceMar22200701.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/dwntwnPalaceMar22200702.jpg

That is the Palace at 630 s. Broadway. It's a little run down inside but still beautiful.

Here's the link to the Palace on Broadway:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/14/

USC has again moved the URL of the photo I first linked to on October 25, 2005 and then on October 7, 2006. So here is 7th Street west from Broadway in 1921 (may the third time be a charm.)

The blue building is 318. GNC is 316. The two businesses may occupy one building.
http://tinyurl.com/5ehq2x
http://tinyurl.com/5vpp73

The County Assessor's office says that the 5274 sq. ft. building at 316 W. 7th St. was built in 1910, with an effective building date of 1913. The City's ZIMAS report for the property just says 1910. Both include the addresses 316, 318, and 320 as belonging to the same parcel. All one building. I guess the function should be listed as retail.