State Theatre
770 E. Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91101
770 E. Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena,
CA
91101
8 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1918 as the Florence Theatre. This former Fox house closed was later operated by Pussycat Theatres, in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It became an independent theatre, closing in 2000 and gutted afterward for a conversion to retail and office use.
Contributed by
William Gabel, "manwithnoname"
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Recent comments (view all 56 comments)
Dublinboyo, you said it! I’m a long-time Pasadena resident, it’s 4:30 in the morning, I’m depressed, and going to bed.
The last time I ventured into the State was in 1982 when I viewed “Dance Craze”, a concert film, a couple times at least. Interestingly the prints for that movie have all been lost.
I remember walking the few blocks up Hudson, when Pasadena was still relatively dark at night.
Here is a 1984 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/coc9pv
1983 Photo
One remaining holdout of a bygone era is Canterbury Records, just up the street. They are struggling to hold on but you can still find many rare items there you never see anywhere else.
I wish them well. I started my full-time career as an IA projectionist at another FWC “State” theatre in Pomona.
I took a walk around the building today:
http://tinyurl.com/qy5a3m
http://tinyurl.com/p6k7ct
Another STATE gone.
Here’s a photo I shot back in 2000 of the marquee before it closed down:
View link
The State Theatre nearly had a much larger theater as a neighbor. In 1927, the October 8 edition of Building and Engineering News reported that architect B. Marcus Priteca was preparing the working plans for a seven-story theater, commercial and office building at the southwest corner of Colorado and Hudson in Pasadena. Had it been built, the new theater, which was to be leased to the Pantages circuit, would have seated about 2,200, making it a little over two thirds the size of the Hollywood Pantages, opened in 1930. The theater portion of the Pasadena Pantages was to have been 110x170 feet, and the frontage building containing the entrance and lobby would have been 116x90 feet.
Another Pasadena theater that was planned but never built was a large house for Warner Bros., also to have been designed by Priteca, and slated for the corner of Colorado and Euclid, which is very near where the Arclight Pasadena is now located. This theater probably would have been very much like the Warner houses Priteca designed for Beverly Hills, Huntington Park, and San Pedro at about the same time.
I remember they screened Run Lola Run here. Sad when it was shut down. Things change. sometimes not for the better. isn’t there a Liberty tax there now?