Riviera Theatre

5002 W. Adams Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90016

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Related Websites

Riviera Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Western Amusement Company Inc.

Functions: Special Events

Previous Names: Fremont Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Riviera Theatre

The Riviera Theatre was opened in 1925, at the southwest corner of W. Adams Boulevard and Longwood Avenue, just east of La Brea Avenue in the then-fashionable West Adams district of Los Angeles. The owner was a Mr. Miguel Montijo. It was independently operated and was open in the early-1940’s. On February 16, 1944 it was renamed Fremont Theatre, reopening with Olivia De Haviland in “Government Girl” & Ginger Rogers in “Tender Comrade”. It was closed in 1951 and converted into retail use.

By 2022 it had reopened as a live events venue and reverted back to its orininal Riviera Theatre name.

Contributed by Joe Vogel

Recent comments (view all 12 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 11, 2007 at 10:12 pm

Featured on 6/26/35 – “Society Doctor” and “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 16, 2007 at 11:34 pm

Looks from the pictures like this is another building converted to a single use and thus probably using a single address. If that address is 5000 W. Adams (I can’t find a current listing for 5002 W. Adams), then the current occupant is a home & garden-related shop going by the strange but euphonious name Chestnuts Papayas.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 16, 2007 at 11:43 pm

No, it turns out that it’s called Chestnuts & Papaya and its business is furniture and accessory rentals for film productions.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on March 15, 2008 at 12:31 am

Function should be retail.

montijo
montijo on September 20, 2014 at 5:26 pm

My Grandfather built this theater in 1925. We lived in a three story house on longwood with a vacant lot betwen us and the theater building. There was a candy store on the corner and on the other side of the movie theater was a small store. My Grandfather died in 1931, and my father lost the property about 1932 or 3.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 2, 2016 at 7:36 pm

On our page for the Variety Theatre, Cinema Treasures member Rongee, who grew up in the neighborhood, says that the Riviera Theatre was renamed the Fremont Theatre. This is confirmed by the Riviera’s entry at Bill Counter’s Los Angeles Movie Palaces. The house was being advertised in movie listings as the Fremont by 1945.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 2, 2016 at 8:07 pm

The October 24, 1924, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had this item about the house that would open as the Riviera Theatre:

“Motion Picture Theater—Scott Building Company has contract for 1-story motion picture theater at southwest corner of Adams and Longwood for Miguel Montijo, 5000 West Adams; 50 x 166…seating capacity 801 people, large lobby, rest rooms, organ loft, foyer; $30,000”
The December 26 issue of the same publication said that the Lowith Iron Works would erect an ornamental iron marquee at 5000 W. Adams Blvd. “…for M.M. Mantijo” [sic] at a cost of $800. Given the publication dates, it seems likely the project would have been completed fairly early in 1925.

rivest266
rivest266 on September 29, 2019 at 12:12 pm

This became the Fremont theatre on February 16th, 1944 and closed in 1951. 1st ad in the LA Times posted.

Jonathan Wells
Jonathan Wells on February 24, 2023 at 2:11 am

Now a private events venue going by its original name The Riviera Theatre

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