Magnolia Theatre
4403 W. Magnolia Boulevard,
Burbank,
CA
91505
4403 W. Magnolia Boulevard,
Burbank,
CA
91505
1 person
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The Magnolia Theatre was another ill-fated Burbank movie house. It had a rather ordinary Art Moderne facade and a very well maintained auditorium. It closed in 1979 and has been used most recently as a recording studio.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
I stopped by this theatre for the first time last Friday to see if the terrazzo sidewalk was worth photographing. I was not disappointed. Dispite the fact that the part of it closest to the building has been cut through to make a planting area for some palm trees, there is much fine patternwork remaining. Most of the design is simple striping, with contrasting bands and Moderne curls. In the center part leading to where the theatre entrance and box office once were, there is a fine pattern of curving leaves and—no surprise—a “bouquet” of several magnolia blossoms.
Here is a link to the California Index card citing the May 17, 1940, Southwest Builder & Contractor article identifying Clifford Balch as the architect of the new theater to be built at the northwest corner of Magnolia Boulevard and Valley Street. It’s misidentified as the Major Theatre in the caption, but that is the location of the Magnolia Theatre.
This old photo of and Avenue Theater that’s vaguely identified as being in “Northeast San Fernando Valley” looks very similar to the Magnolia. Could it have been remodeled in 1940 from an existing theater? Anyone know anything about this one?
View link
-DB: That photo has been posted at Cinema Treasures before, but I can’t remember which page it was on. I don’t think anybody was able to identify the theater.
Now for sale for $6.5 million: View link
The Magnolia Theater appears in this YouTube clip of an episode of “Electrawoman and Dyna Girl”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PAgr36Fg5o
The CSUN photo linked by -DB in May 2010 as the Avenue Theatre “Northeast San Fernando Valley” is actually the Avenue Theatre in Cebu City, Phillipines.
The CSUN photo:
View link
A blog post featuring a Cebu City souvenir booklet:
View link
The booklet photo showing the Avenue:
View link
I posted back in 2008 that I have the original box office plate glass, four sides, with art deco scrolls from this theatre. I’ve been considering donating the the Burbank historical society, but if someone is interested in making me an offer, contact me. I also have an original art deco mirror from the lobby.
The top photo is a still capture from the 1954 Fred MacMurray/Kim Novak film Pushover, which aired a couple days ago on Turner Classic Movies – there was also a nice shot of the original marquee (which was totally different from the one in the ElectraWoman and DynaGirl episode).
Roy,
I was inquiring about the items that you have for the Magnolia Theatre. I am the new owner of it and would be interested in the items that you have. Could you please contact me at . Thank you…. Shawn
P.S. If anyone has any great pictures of this theatre I would be interested in purchasing those as well…..