Bill Robinson Theatre
4219 S. Central Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
4219 S. Central Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 42 comments found
Here is a larger version of the marquee photo posted by Joe Vogel on 6/3/07:
http://tinyurl.com/cbhpoj
Saw the second movie but not the first one.
Advertised in the LA Times in January 1960. Double feature on 1/22/60 was “Sad Horse” and “Sound & The Fury”. Admission was fifty cents.
Los Angeleno: The theater on Central at Jefferson is listed at Cinema Treasures as the Florence Mills Theatre. It is the oldest of the three theaters you mention, having been erected in 1912, and known to have been operating as the Globe Theatre in 1914.
Here’s an old theater on the corners of Central and Jefferson Ave. that’s standing.
View link
I’m sure it hard to have been built around the same time as the Robinson to the north and the Lincoln theater to the south. All three within a few miles of each other, all on Central Ave.
It was finally torn down after the Sylmar earthquake of 1971. Here is where it used to stand
View link
Do you know what year it was demolished?
The Robinson theater was located on Central Ave, between 43rd St. and 43rd Pl. on the west side of the street. Directly across the street from the Los Angeles Sentinel news paper, Civic meat market, and Lucy’s Supermarket.
I’m sure that everyone would like to know the answer to that.
When was it demolished?
As a small child, my family took me to the Robinson Theater to see Ben Hur. It was our neighborhood theater. As a young boy, I got a job cleaning and stacking bricks that were the remains of the demolished theater. Both the Robinson Theater, and the Dunbar Hotel were our pyramids of Giza, monuments of a civilization that had long since become passed away.
Okay, thanks Joe. I’ll use Main Street for its location. When the San Jacinto Theater is posted, we can carry on this discussion there.
Back to the Bill Robinson Theater…..
L.A. library’s index cards use the American dating system, with the month first.
I’ve been unable to determine if the Soboba theatre was on East or West Main Street.
Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mr. Robinson,
We’ll get back to you eventually.
One other question. Did the Soboba Theater open on September 2 or September 9? The index card reads “Grand Opening 9/2/27”.
Oh Bill Robinson, where have you gone…lost in San Jacinto.
I think I have enough information to add this theater. Was any address or location given for the Soboba Theater? If not, I’ll use the Main St location given for the San Jacinto Theater. One question, would it be east or west Main St?
You can see that the theater is already gone in this 1987 photo:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics30/00034842.jpg
Soboba was the original name of the theatre, probably named after the Soboba band of Luiseno Indians. There is also a Soboba Hot Springs in the area. The name Sabada has no local associations that I can find. It seems most likely that the FDY was in error.
My source for the opening date and closing year, as well as the correct name and the building’s destruction by fire, is the California Index at the L.A. Library website. Here are two cards citing the L.A. Times:
View link
View link
I’m not sure if the Soboba was the same theatre as the San Jacinto, but it seems likely. In the 1950s, San Jacinto was still a very small town and it was rather isolated. I doubt it would have supported two theatres.
The photo to which Lost Memory linked above confirms that the theatre ran movies. The marquee advertises the 1946 film Murder in the Music Hall with Vera Hruba Ralston and William Marshall.
Thanks Ken. Okay, lets see if I understand this. The name Soboba on the photo is incorrect and the correct name is Sabada. Did the Sabada Theater become the San Jacinto Theater around 1943, or were these two different theaters? Judging from the seat count, it appears that the Sabada Theater was renamed the San Jacinto Theater.
Joe & LM; The 1941 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists a 738 seat Sabada Theatre, San Jacinto. The 1943 edition of F.D.Y. lists the 738 seat San Jacinto Theatre. In 1950 & 1952 the San Jacinto Theatre, Main Street, San Jacinto has a seating capacity of 612.
Thanks Joe. Was the Soboba a movie theater? I found a movie theater for San Jacinto. Its name was the San Jacinto Theater with 700+ seats. I haven’t found a timeline, but it was operating in the 1940s. Could they both be the same theater, or did San Jacinto have more than one movie theater?
Lost Memory: The pueblo style theatre in San Jacinto was called the Soboba. It opened on September 9, 1927 and closed in 1951. The building was destroyed by fire in December of 1968. Here’s another photo, dated 1936, before the movie-style marquee was added.
Art Deco sounds good. I found a photo of a theater in San Jacinto, Ca. Any idea what theater this could be?
I would say the style is Art Deco, based on the marquee at least.
This is a larger photo of the Bill Robinson Theater marquee previously posted by Joe Vogel.