Fuji Kan Theatre
324 E. 1st Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
324 E. 1st Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
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The Fuji Kan was demolished by 1964, which is the original construction date of the structure currently on the site according to the L.A. County Assessor’s office. I have a vague memory of having seen the old building about 1962 or 1963, and I’m pretty sure the theater was still in operation at that time.
Now a bank and a parking structure.
The Linda Lea moved to the theater at 249 S. Main Street by 1954.
That theater was formerly the Arrow, then the Azteca.
See the entry under Linda Lea.
Still operating as a Japanese movie house in 1963 when it was listed in the city directory as the Kinema Theatre.
Actually built in 1925, according to this page at the ArchitectDB.
Closed during the early years of WWII, it reopened as the Linda Lea Theatre in 1945, featuring movies and live acts catering to the largely African-American population which had filled the apartments and houses vacated by the interned Japanese-American population. Some information about it can be seen on this page of the Bronzeville L.A. website.
Here is an uncropped version of the photo at the top of the page:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015318.jpg
The Fuji Kan Theatre was later renamed the Linda Lee Theatre during the 50’s. It seated 354 people. There is another Linda Lea Theatre located at 251 Main Street, which was formerly the Civic Theatre before it was renamed Linda Lea in the 60’s.