Star Theatre
5544 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
5544 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments
Reopened as the Star theatre with a double bill of “Catch 22” and “Easy Rider” on April 30th, 1971 and closed in 1976. Admission: 49 cents. Grand opening ad posted.
There is a rather dull apartment block where the Apollo Theatre once stood, though the Spanish Colonial Revival style building next door has survived.
Is there anything on the site now?
I’ve finally have discovered who was the architect of the Apollo Theatre, in this item from the August 11, 1920, issue of Building & Engineering News:
This was apparently the second building for the Apollo Theatre, which was in operation as early as 1919 either on the same site or nearby. According to a brief article in the November 8, 1919, issue of a local magazine called Holly Leaves, the Apollo, located east of St. Andrews Place, was to get a new building on the south side of the boulevard 140 feet east of Wilton Place. That project, also to have been designed by Albright, apparently fell through, as the 1920 project as built was still located east of St. Andrews Place.C. S. Albright was probably both an architect and a builder, as I’ve found a few references to him receiving construction contracts for various projects during this period.
The 1919 article can be found at the lower left of this page at Google Books.
The February 9, 1921, issue of The Film Daily ran this item about the Apollo Theatre:
-DB; I have now added a page for the Cinne Arts Theatre:
/theaters/34783/
Does the Cinne Arts adult theatre a block or two away from the Apollo count as a movie theater?
View link
Shalom, buballa! Who can forget the “Star” Theater’s 49 cents days, and the ebullience of the recorded message when you’d call in. Saw It Came From Outer Space in 3D here, as well as less memorable pictures such as Butterflies Are Free. Great theater; sorry to hear it’s immolated.
fscscott, the polished concrete on the sidewalk is called terrazzo.
This is where I worked when I met Louis Federici. It was named the Star at that time. We were exhibiting nudist films and had a sell out audience on weekends. It was owned by an attorney and another “gentle"man, that I could never stand. They phoned the theater hourly to see how many tickets had been sold. I finally got fed up with the "gentle"man and quit. And was hired at the Hollywood Theater for the second time. This was around 1959-1960.
My father was assistant manager there sometime in the early 40s. He painted the posters that went in the frames on each side of the box office as well as placards for the lobby. At age 3, they tell me I used to play out front. Nice to see so much about the old theatre.
There is still polished concrete on the sidewalk in front of where this theater once stood.
Here is an April 1964 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/2ueaxf
Here’s a great picture of the theatre in the December 3, 1976 Los Angeles Times with the following caption:
“THEATER BURNS—Firemen battle fire burning through collapsed roof of the Star Theater, 5446 Hollywood Blvd. No one was injured but the fire, visible for miles, snarled morning rush-hour traffic. Building was a total loss, with damage estimated at $250,000.”
The link is:
View link
Here is a 1965 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/ywfy8w
Here is a 1950 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2c5oy2
Here is an expanded view of the photo in the caption:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014449.jpg
The URL for the photo I linked to above has apparently changed. See it here.
The Apollo/Star burned in December of 1976. Here’s a photo of the event from the L.A. Times.
Richard, this theatre has also been gone for many years now also.
I am currently looking for any Old Theatres in which to lease or possibly buy in Reseda, Van Nuys, Hollywood or North Hollywood. It has been my Long life Dream to renevate and own my own Theatre/ Venue. Please e-mail me at or call me at 310-597-9398 if you live here!! Thanks.Rick
P.S. If you also live in the areas in which I am looking and want to help please contact me as well!!
Hollywood’s APOLLO Theatre auditorium is almost identical to that of Oklahoma City’s (900 seat) PLAZA Theatre.
Here is an interior shot of the Apollo Hollywood from 1946.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014448.jpg
The newspaper Hollywood Citizen, on January 14th, 1921, informed readers that West Coast Theaters had leased the Apollo.
I have been struck by the remarkable resemblance between the Apollo’s facade and that of the Cooper Building in the eastern Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, which contained a theater then called the Granada, which later became the Coronet, and then (c1964) the Capri, before it was demolished following an earthquake in 1971. Many Los Angeles commercial buildings of the era were similar, but the similarity between these two is remarkable enough that it seems as though they might have had the same architect.
The Apollo Theater (later Star Theatre) was burnt out by fire in December 1976. It dated from the First World War period.
Great comments. This was indeed an unusual theatre. In 1971, I saw a double bill of “Z” and “Lawrence of Arabia” for 49 cents!