LaShell Theater
5384 Long Beach Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90805
5384 Long Beach Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90805
1 person
favorited this theater
A small neighborhood theater that had no real distinctive features other than a small Art Deco style marquee. Unable to locate any info elsewhere.
Contributed by
dougsarvis
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
The theatre was located between Gloria’s Salon and Van’s Nails. And with your info from LoopNet it looks like it was turned into a warehouse. That’s why there is a large door on the rear of the house.
The address for Van’s Nails is 5382 Long Beach Blvd so 5384 Long Beach Blvd would be the warehouse.
or the former theatre.
The stage house is long gone from the building.
The L.A. Library has this view of the La Shell, dated 1947.
The library also has this 1920’s photo, unearthed by ken mc, which depicts an Oriental Theatre, identified by the library as being at 5341 Long Beach Boulevard, which would have been across the street and down a block from the La Shell. Could the library have gotten the address wrong? Is it possible that Oriental was an earlier name of the La Shell?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives the construction date of the building on the parcel where the Oriental should have been as 1924, but that building bears no resemblance to a theater.
I thought about that Joe, but the two buildings appear dissimilar. Did you see the large add-on in the back of the Oriental? I don’t think that was ever part of the LaShell.
The stage house of the La Shell was apparently removed in the 1933 rebuilding, after the earthquake. The Southwest Builder & Contractor article said that the back of the building and stage house were to be rebuilt, but the La Shells must have decided to leave the stage house off. I still think it’s most likely that the library got the address wrong. Their photo collection is full of such errors.
The buildings actually look remarkably similar to me. The four wide second floor windows of the old building could have easily been narrowed into the eight windows of the La Shell, and the La Shell’s tower was undoubtedly part of the 3828 sq. ft. 1939 addition. That’s probably when the building got its Art Deco look.
If you’re correct the new listing would have to be deleted and Oriental given as an AKA for this theater.
The photo would confirm that the La Shell was built as a theater, though.
I really don’t see how the Oriental could have been at the address the library gives. If they’d said 4321, where there is now a building built in 1948, it would be plausible, but the spot they say it was in there’s only that 1924 building that couldn’t possibly have been a theater. If there had been a theater there, and it had been demolished and the stores in front preserved and reduced to one story, then the Assessor’s office would have given an effectively-built date for it.
Does anyone remember the double features, news reels, cartoons, and serials and the cheap prices? Seems like there was a 12,5 cent price for a while? Good memories – remember the Abbott and Costello movies and the war movies.