Bridge Theater

330 W. Las Tunas Drive,
San Gabriel, CA 91776

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Edwards Cinemas

Architects: Clifford A. Balch

Styles: Spanish Colonial

Previous Names: San Gabriel Theater, Edwards San Gabriel, Edwards Century Theater, Kuo Hwa Theater

Nearby Theaters

Kuo Hwa Theater 1984

Built in 1941, the theater had Spanish roofing tiles at corners of facade. The San Gabriel Theater was opened February 18, 1942 with Greta Garbo in “Two Faced Woman” & Claudette Colbert in “Remember the Day”. In 1980, it was renamed the Kuo Hwa Theatre, showing Chinese films (saw Jackie Chan’s “City Hunter” there) and was torn down in 1996 or 1997. There were seven vertically stacked squares above marquee that spelled EDWARDS. The letters were later covered with Chinese characters.

When the building was being torn down, a beam under the marquee was exposed with the words “Edwards Century” written on it. There was a crescent moon in the center of the marquee.

Contributed by Chris Brame

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 26, 2004 at 10:17 pm

The exact address of this theater was 330 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, California, 71776.

jmarellano
jmarellano on March 18, 2005 at 6:14 pm

The Kwo-Hwa 2 was located on Valley Blvd and not Las Tunas. Today the site is a lot.

jmarellano
jmarellano on March 19, 2005 at 1:01 pm

manwithnoname, you must live really close to me. I live not far from San Gabriel.

jmarellano
jmarellano on March 20, 2005 at 8:18 pm

Haha. Thats funny manwith. I’m in Monterey Park as well.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 23, 2007 at 8:12 pm

I found this on the LA Library database. I can’t add it as a new theater as they don’t provide the name:
http://tinyurl.com/2m6fvm

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 13, 2009 at 1:59 am

This is a 1982 photo. I think the photo has been reversed.
http://tinyurl.com/pu263e

cphillips5
cphillips5 on September 2, 2011 at 1:02 pm

Went here many a weekend in the early 90’s to feast on the glory of HK Cinema and BBQ shrimp crackers with my pal, Jeff.

Bijoudarma
Bijoudarma on January 21, 2018 at 2:09 am

The Edwards became a Chinese Language cinema originally in 1980, named the Kuo Hwa, it ran Shaw Brother’s films, for it’s first few months and then became the home for all of Golden Harvest’s releases. When it closed (date unknown), the theatre was rechristened The Bridge, where it continued to run Golden Harvest titles until The Whittier Earthquake finally ended the run of this little house.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 21, 2018 at 9:09 pm

The Whittier Narrows earthquake struck on the morning of October 1, 1987, so if that event led to the permanent closure of this theater, the last show must have been run on the evening of September 30.

PaulMartinez
PaulMartinez on January 17, 2022 at 5:29 am

I recall a few visits as a kid in the early 70s when living in Monterey Park. My parents took me to a double feature of “Diamonds are Forever” and a bullfighting documentary narrated by Anthony Quinn called “Arruza”. Another time I went was a double feature of “Snoopy Come Home” with Disney’s “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” (Kurt Russell) – must have been 1972. Two other screenings I didn’t attend – “The Other (1972), where they were offered free admission to any identical twins on the opening Wednesday. Another time, a gory horror film, "Mark of the Devil”; I think was rated R. It was a small quaint theatre, with not that huge a screen, but had a welcoming ambiance.

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