Balboa Theatre
8713 S. Vermont Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90044
8713 S. Vermont Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90044
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
article:
Balboa theatre opening Sun, Apr 4, 1926 – 61 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com
No grand opening ad posted.
The building is now home to the Pan Andreas West Theatre Studios. The 23,000 square foot facility consist of 5 studio sound stages with 3 levels, several dressing rooms,and make-up and wardrobe rooms.
Wow… what a blast from the past… Platt’s records and taps on our shoes. The older I get, the more I realize how lucky we were to grow up in the 50’s and 60’s. I went to Mount Carmel for one year, and then moved to San Diego with my parents in 1965. I make it back to L.A. about once a year, and try to drive by the old house on 85th St. I just retired after 38 years from the Port of San Diego. I’ve bought a fixer-upper at the beach, just to keep my old ass busy. Between fishing, surfing, my Photography bussiness, and the house… I’ll have plenty of things to keep me occupied. And Bill, yes, Roberta DiMartini was quite pretty, if I do recall. My old cohort John Vignery told me she married Wayne Philips after high school. As I look back, it’s nice to see all the positive memories of childhood in L.A. shine through. Take care. E-mail me if you want. Steve
I lived at 624 East 91st Street when my next door neighbors the DeContreas' at 626 went to Mount Carmel. I attended manu a night game and watched Mount Carmel beat Serra in our great brown and white uniforms. Teh I moved to 9001 Orchard Avenue at 90th and Hoover for Bret Harte Junior High. This is when I discovered the Balboa of course. Remember the Congress Theater down on 76th and Vermont? Platt’s Records? We finally moved to 109th Place and Normandie for Washington High. Finley was on Classmates under Bret Harte for awhile. Steve Cannon is probably still on Classsmates inder Washington High. Im e mail is jimmypage2622002 at yh dot com.
I remember that Steve Cannon. He was a grade ahead of me and had a really pretty girlfriend named Roberta! I spent many Saturday afternoons at the Balboa watching the matinees. What a beautiful place! I also went to St. Michael’s Elementary School and Mt. Carmel. In fact, I went to a reunion at SMS a few years ago. They also have a website. Great memories of the Balboa. When I moved to Northern California in the early 70s, I discovered a similar theater treasure in the Senator Theater in Chico, CA. It seemed quite similar to the Balboa until it was cut up into a multiplex then restored as a concert venue.
Hello To Steve Cannon and Allen Finley. Jimmy Page here. Let’s go dwon to Machester and one half block east and get taps on our shoes again!
The mosque has moved out. The building is for sale.
Here are some photos taken yesterday:
http://snipurl.com/ihyds
http://snipurl.com/ihyiw
http://snipurl.com/ihyob
Here is a 1983 photo, pre-mosque:
http://tinyurl.com/dn9wl7
Jim Wurbel… I have no idea what happened to St. Michaels Girl’s High School. Mount Carmel is long gone… but still has all-years Reunions. I was in L.A. last year for a birthday for Uncle Joe… 98 years young. I drove by the church on Manchester… there was a wedding taking place… bride and groom on the front steps… pictures being taken, rice being thrown… St. Michaels looked like a cathedral. It’s good to know people are still participating in the parish. Maybe I’ll have to attend a Sunday Mass after I retire. I hope all is well with, and those you love in this New Year… Steve Cannon
Here is part of an LA Times article dated 10/31/33:
Kidnapped by two bandits and forced to drive around for more than four hours with a gun poked in his side, George F. Rehers, manager of the Balboa Theater at 8713 S. Vermont, was released late yesterday after he had been relieved of two bank pouches containing $500 cash and more than $300 in checks, according to police reports.
Rehers told police he had left the theater office about 11:30 a.m. en route to a neighborhood bank and was just entering his automobile when the two men, one of whom carried an automatic pistol, appeared on the opposite side of the car.
Not gone, exactly. The Balboa and Congress are still with us, just not theaters anymore.
I lived on 83rd st and Vermont. Spent many afternoon’s at the Balboa and the Congress. Use to sell news papers on the corner of Manchester and Vermont in the 50’s. Left the area in 1963 sad it is all gone.
Allen Finley
Steve,
Thanks for the reply and your memory is correct. My dad moved everyone to Phoenix in 1961. They moved back to Orange County in 1965, but I stayed. I tried to keep up with some of my St Michael’s classmates, but for the most part, I haven’t had any communication for a number of years. A little sad, but so it goes.
One question if you know. What happened to St Michael’s girl’s high school? I know Mount Carmel is gone.
Take care. Jim
I just drove by this theater today. I pointed it out to my wife, along with the Southside and the Congress. Kind of a mini-CT tour.
Jim… yes I have a brother named Jerry, and I assume you were the older brother of Chris and Burt… if my memory serves me right. The Balboa was great… as were the Rio and Academy. We left L.A. in 1965 for San Diego. I’ve been here ever since… very few visits back to old neighborhood… take care, Steve
If Steve Cannon is still out there, I would be curious to know if he has a brother named Jerry. I am from the old neighborhood as you call it and went to St Michael’s grade school. I spent a lot of time at the Saturday matinees. I recall that you could get in for 9 cents in the 50’s. That number makes no sense today and I could be wrong. A great place to go though.
Here is a 1954 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2lpw9o
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 4/4/26:
NEW ADDITION TO SHOWHOUSE CHAIN
Another neighborhood theater, the West Coast Balboa, located at Eighty-Seventh and Vermont, has been completed and will open on the 6th, according to Mr. Gore, heaad of West Coast Theaters, Inc. This is the sixth theater that the organization has opened in the past ninety days. Twenty more are in the course of construction.
The Balboa Theater represents an investment of more than $250,000 and is of Class A construction. The lot is 80x130 feet on the west side of Vermont, just south of Eighty Seventh Street. The building was designed by L.A. Smith, and is of the Spanish type. It will seat 1250, and is designed in an intimate, cozy style which makes it an ideal neighborhood house, and the policy of the management will be to present the finest feature pictures and as complete a program as can be seen at any of the downtown theaters.
The LA Times was advertising a Jurdan theater at 8717 S. Vermont on 9/6/25. It would have been just south of the Balboa, which opened in 1926. Unless someone has some information to the contrary, this is not a listed theater.
Mary Louise Marquess???
Any of the neighborhood kids still around? From the 50’s or 60’s… The Balboa was the place to go… Steve
Here are some photos from June 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/2gvwdk
http://tinyurl.com/2aeq5p
http://tinyurl.com/2gvwdk
Another great piece of American history now off limits to Americans
The Balboa was my childhood/early teen playground in the 50’s and early 60’s. I stole more than one kiss from girls from St Michael’s. I saw “West Side Story” there on a Saturday afternoon… against my parent’s advice. The balcony was open to those of us with a little cunning… as were the “bird cages” on the side… and the alley exit. The last movie I saw there was “Morgan the Pirate”, starring Steve Reeves… maybe ‘62 or '63 … a free movie on Washington’s Birthday. It turned into a riot… shades of a future L.A. … one heck of a place to grow up. Get back to me with your stuff about the neighborhood… Steve Cannon