American Theatre
452 South Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
452 South Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
5 people
favorited this theater
There’s an L.A. Sports Shoes in the shell of this theatre now…
Contributed by
MagicLantern
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
A property report generated for 452 Broadway by the city planning department’s zoning information system gives the address as 450 and 452 S. Broadway, and says the building was erected in 1908. The small building at left in ken mc’s photo (linked in his comment of January 15) must be the former home of the American Theatre.
Here is a January 1948 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2eg9ze
Here’s what looks like a nickelodeon at left in this photo of 5th and Broadway in 1917. (CHS-9694, should the link change.) Could it be the American?
The small theater near 5th on Broadway in that 1917 photo has an eagle (which looks to be covered in light bulbs) above the entrance, which would certainly fit with the name American Theatre. I have no doubt that it is the American Theatre, as it’s definitely in the building I cited in my comment of Sep 27, 2007, above.
The URL of the picture has changed, but pasting the call number CHS-9694 into the Digital Archive’s search box still brings it up.
Before it disappears for good, I saved it here. Thanks for finding the photo, Nick.
http://tinyurl.com/4wu8l6
Why would the photo disappear for good? Wouldn’t the link just change and a new one could be posted?
Here it is again, back from the dead.
Ken – I recently found that my mystery building (in my posts above) was constructed in 1914. Do you have any archival info for that time frame?
lll
I have a photograph of what is apparently the interior of the American Theater. In the bottom corner of the picture is an imprint with the name of H. Devorkin and 452 ½ S. Broaway, Los Angeles. If you have any questions please contact me at My name is Marc, from San Diego.