Esquire Theater
2670 Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91107
2670 Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91107
6 people
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Opened in 1964 and closed in late-2000, the former Esquire Theater was converted into a bank in 2004.
Contributed by
Ray Martinez
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Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
Since the Esquire Theater is listed in Pasadena I’m sure anyone posting on this theatre link is also aware of the Raymond Theatre in Pasadena. The Raymond is in it’s 11th hour so anyone who would like to show their support to save this historical theatre please come to a Final Design Review hearing on Monday, the 24th at 7 (All Saints Church, Sweetland Hall 132 N. Euclid). To learn more about the Raymond Theatre and its past/present history go to www.raymondtheatre.com Thank you.
posted by Patsy on Oct 23, 2005 at 8:36pm
This is a photo of the former Esquire Theater.
I share Meredith Rhule’s grief that the Esquire, which I managed for the Laemmles for four years beginning in 1980, is no more. I understand the Laemmles even used to schedule chamber music concerts there in earlier years. A little culture never hurt any neighborhood.
The Esquire and Colorado did close due to the Laemmle 7-let’s not forget the closing of the wonderful State Theatre as well. I saw one of the last movies shown at the Colorado in November of 2000- “Yi Yi”, then they were showing “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” through christmas, and that was it. The theater was in awful bad shape when I went, they must have known for some time it was going. A good amount of seats were broken. Never went to the Esquire.
Here is the location today:
http://tinyurl.com/4ghd59
The exact opening date for the Esquire was April 1, 1964, according to the April 6 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year. The opening movie was the French ballet-drama “The Lovers of Tereul”.
Among the unusual features (for that time) of the Esquire were a wheelchair platform accommodating four persons, and a row of seats wired to the sound system for hard-of-hearing patrons.
The interior and exterior of the theater, which was located in an existing building, was designed by motion picture art director Eugene Lourie.
Oh, I forgot to include that Boxoffice gave the Esquire’s seating capacity as 525.
I also mourn the closing of the Esquire, as my father managed it in the late 60’s and early 70’s — I had many great times there as a kid. Using my blog, we are actively seeking out his staff from that era, but would also welcome comments from anyone who has a memory they’d like to share. If either of the above describes you, please stop by and leave a comment at http://blog.claysteiner.com
(If you’re reading this as an older post, you may need to search “Esquire” in the search box at top right of the front page.)
Sweet. It was a Washington Mutual branch. This may mean it will be a theatre again very soon.
At least the bank is using the marquee instead of ripping it down.