Academy Cinemas
1003 E. Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91106
1003 E. Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91106
10 people
favorited this theater
The Academy is a former Mann theatre that is now a six-screen art house. The theater was opened by Bard’s (originally as the Egyptian, then the Colorado), and once had a large balcony. It was a sister theater to the Adams.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 36 comments)
Here are some April 2008 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/63pukc
http://tinyurl.com/5jwhtq
http://tinyurl.com/57kyjc
http://tinyurl.com/6lu2lg
http://tinyurl.com/6gkxca
The link to the 1950s view of the tower seems to be dead, but I think it’s the same photo here:
http://www.davesrailpix.com/pe/htm/pe070.htm
Here is part of an LA Times article dated 12/15/57:
Newly renovated Fox West Coast Theaters' Academy theater and building in Pasadena will be reopened next Thursday. Modernization project, which cost $192,000, includes relocation of building entrance from Catalina Street to Colorado Blvd., installation of elevator to second floor offices, renovation of facade and installation of aluminum store fronts. The theater tower was remodeled and the marquee was repainted and relighted.
The multiplexing of the Academy took place in the mid-1980s. I used to pass by the place frequently while the work was going on. As I recall, it had not yet re-opened at the time I left the area in August, 1986, but it was probably almost ready for business by then.
Does anybody remember when “Handlebars Saloon” was a drinking establishment (bar) that was located in the same building as the Academy and was entered from the back of the building along an alley near Catalina Street? It was later converetd into “Toe’s Tavern.” “Handlebars Saloon” was this faux 1890’s style saloon that had an interesting admittance policy. Men had to be 21 years old and wear a shirt with a collar to enter, but women only had to be 18 years old to get in! Oh the 1970’s were a great time!
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d6y53t
Thanks for posting that photo – just the way I remember it before it closed for the remodel in late ‘82. And yes, I remember Handlebars – that’s where Barbra Streisand is discovered by Kris Kristoffersen in the '76 remake of “A Star Is Born”.
1983 Day Photo
1983 Night Photo
Boxoffice Magazine reported on January 24, 1942, that Lou Bard had sold his Colorado Theatre in Pasadena to Fox West Coast. The house was to be closed soon for “extensive alterations.” The recent opening of Fox West Coast’s refurbished Academy Theatre was announced in Boxoffice of July 11, 1942.
I’ve always had the impression that the Academy lost its original Egyptian style and got its modern interior at the same time the exterior was remodeled in 1957, but the photo of the mezzanine lounge in this Gulistan Carpet ad in the April 1, 1950, issue of Boxoffice shows that at least this part of the interior had already been redone in the art moderne style by then. It’s possible that the interior was entirely modernized during the Fox project in 1942, and the carpeting touted in the Gulistan ad could have been part of a later refurbishing.
While the Fairfax is temporarily closed, the Academy will be running Regency’s midnight shows on Saturdays this month. Go check out “Stargate”, “Jurassic Park”, “The Karate Kid”, and “Adventures in Babysitting”. No word yet on whether the Academy’s cheaper pricing will apply.