The last movie listing I can find for this theater is for Jan. 2, 1950. It was showing Beyond The Forest (The worst/best Bette Davis movie) and Kid From Cleveland. Then nothing shows up until 1957 when the address is a Goodyear tire store from then on.
Anyone know where Owensmouth was/is? I assume this was a different Madrid Theater:
(July 3, 1927 LA Times)
RESEDA TO GET FIRST THEATER
RESEDA, July 2.-Reseda is to have its first motion-picture theater-a building that is to cost $35,000. This is the announcement made by N. Scheinberg and M.P. Horwitz, owners and operators of the Van Nuys Theater, and the Madrid Theater at Owensmouth. The Reseda house will be erected on Reseda Boulevard, north of Sherman Way. The Sloan Building Company of Los Angeles will have charge of construction. Plans will be by Roy Reeves, Van Nuys architect. Scheinberg and Horwitz are well-known Van Nuys men. Following their success at Van Nuys, they built the Owensmouth house a few months ago, with the promise that a similar playhouse would be erected in Reseda.
(Nov. 14, 1926 LA Times)
THEATER PARTY
At the recent meeting of the Southwest Branch, Los Angeles Realty Board, plans were bared for a theater party at the New Madrid Theater at Eighty-second and Vermont avenue on the 17 inst. There will be no extra charge for tickets, it is said.
Sounds like it was called ‘New Madrid’ for awhile when it first opened since the new is capitalized.
The theater must have been called The Gem after the 1929 article posted above. This is from March 26, 1930 in the LA Times:
ROBBERIES CONFESSED BY YOUTHS
Six Drug Stores, Theater and Oil Station Declared to Have Been Held Up
Robbery of six drug stores, one theater and one oil station was confessed yesterday by Milton Wilkinson, 25 years of age, and Bert Slight, 21, both of 653-A Brooks avenue, Venice, according to Detective Lieutenants Heintelzman and Board.
The men were arrested on the 21st inst. by Officers Schmidt and Dorsey when they recognized the license number of the pair’s automobile as that reported by Joe Shea as having been on the car of two bandits who held him up in his drug store at 5851 West Boulevard on the 14th inst.
Identified by Shea, according to the detectives, the youths readily confessed and implicated themselves voluntarily in the other robberies. The theater hold-up was that of H.H. Hicks in the Gem Theater at 2488 West Washington Boulevard on the 16th inst.
Does anyone know if this theater listing refers to the theater on this page?…or is it the Maynard?
(March 9, 1914 LA Times)
Comfortably Heated-THE
ARLINGTON THEATER
John J Tully Proprietor
Washington at Arlington Sts.
Admission 10 cents
Changes of Program Sunday Monday Wednesday Friday
The last mention of the Vogue Theater that I can find in the LA Times movie listings is from June 11, 1966. The ad is for Mary Poppins. It just says: Vogue, Montebello PAI-1225
The first I could find is this: August 26, 1938 VOGUE MONTEBELLO “Fast Company” “Always Goodbye”
This article dates the name change from Majestic to Mayfair:
LA Times(September 30, 1967)
Double Bill Will Open Mayfair Theater
The Mayfair Theater, formerly the Majestic, in Santa Monica, will have its grand opening Friday at 7 p.m. The opening attraction is "The Long Duel" starring Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard, together with Otto Preminger’s "Hurry Sundown" with Jane Fonda and Michael Caine.
If he came to Santa Monica in 1920, he would be the 2nd or 3rd owner of the theater since it was built in 1911.
(October 16, 1934)
Robert Armour Is Dead at Home
SANTA MONICA, Oct. 15.-Robert Armour, 71 years of age, owner of the Majestic, Santa Monica’s oldest theater, died today at his home, 25 Alta avenue, after a lingering illness. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he came to the United States in 1906. He formerly was in business in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Butte and Spokane and came to Santa Monica in 1920. Besides his widow he leaves one brother and one sister in Australia. Funeral services will be Thursday.
Maybe the economy put a stop to it. When I was there they were doing all kinds of things inside. There was a lot of construction equipment and it looked like they were trying to save as much as possible. It was really dark and kind of eerie inside.
I thought I posted these photos on here but I guess I didn’t. These are pictures are from a few years ago when they were converting the theater into some sort of nightclub. I don’t know if it’s open as anything yet:
I’ve been looking into the Crystal on Main also. That address was a Premier car dealership starting in 1907. There’s one mention in 1911 of a tame African Lion on stage at the Crystal Theater but no address is given. It’s listed throughout 1914 and then doesn’t show up until 1934 when it’s a furniture auction house. If you look up the address on google maps and look at the street view, the building looks pretty old. I wonder if it’s the same building.
It’s very strange that there is no mention of a Henty Jensen or any Jensen’s theater or theatre or theaterium in the LA Times. Is there some source somewhere that mentions those names? I’m curious.
I searched through the movie listings in the LA Times and the name changed from Hollyway (or Holly-Way) to the shortened Holly on Sept. 29, 1941. I haven’t seen anything about Jensen’s Theaterium. It’s pretty consistent in the listings as The Globe #3 for a very short time and then The Sunset until the mid-20’s. Then it’s the Hollyway until the date above.
Here’s an excerpt from someone at the Echo Park Historical Society on this page: View link
“In its earliest years, the Ramona was one of two Echo Park theaters. The other stood at 1624 Sunset Blvd and now houses the Gualupana Market, across from the old Pioneer Market building. It started as the Globe Theater in 1912 and later became the Hollyway Theater. By the 1950s, the Hollyway had been converted into a branch of Citizen’s Bank. —EPHS”
I doubt that this is the same theater since its a few years too early and looks very different, but does anyone know if the Globe Theater #3 was ever built on Sunset in Echo Park? If so, does it have a page here? Here’s a link to the article and a grainy photo:
The last movie listing I can find for this theater is for Jan. 2, 1950. It was showing Beyond The Forest (The worst/best Bette Davis movie) and Kid From Cleveland. Then nothing shows up until 1957 when the address is a Goodyear tire store from then on.
Anyone know where Owensmouth was/is? I assume this was a different Madrid Theater:
(July 3, 1927 LA Times)
RESEDA TO GET FIRST THEATER
RESEDA, July 2.-Reseda is to have its first motion-picture theater-a building that is to cost $35,000. This is the announcement made by N. Scheinberg and M.P. Horwitz, owners and operators of the Van Nuys Theater, and the Madrid Theater at Owensmouth. The Reseda house will be erected on Reseda Boulevard, north of Sherman Way. The Sloan Building Company of Los Angeles will have charge of construction. Plans will be by Roy Reeves, Van Nuys architect. Scheinberg and Horwitz are well-known Van Nuys men. Following their success at Van Nuys, they built the Owensmouth house a few months ago, with the promise that a similar playhouse would be erected in Reseda.
(Nov. 14, 1926 LA Times)
THEATER PARTY
At the recent meeting of the Southwest Branch, Los Angeles Realty Board, plans were bared for a theater party at the New Madrid Theater at Eighty-second and Vermont avenue on the 17 inst. There will be no extra charge for tickets, it is said.
Sounds like it was called ‘New Madrid’ for awhile when it first opened since the new is capitalized.
It was still around in 1946:
(Nov. 8, 1946 LA Times)
MADRID, 8140 S. Vermont—-Centennial Summer; Wanderer of Wasteland
The theater must have been called The Gem after the 1929 article posted above. This is from March 26, 1930 in the LA Times:
ROBBERIES CONFESSED BY YOUTHS
Six Drug Stores, Theater and Oil Station Declared to Have Been Held Up
Robbery of six drug stores, one theater and one oil station was confessed yesterday by Milton Wilkinson, 25 years of age, and Bert Slight, 21, both of 653-A Brooks avenue, Venice, according to Detective Lieutenants Heintelzman and Board.
The men were arrested on the 21st inst. by Officers Schmidt and Dorsey when they recognized the license number of the pair’s automobile as that reported by Joe Shea as having been on the car of two bandits who held him up in his drug store at 5851 West Boulevard on the 14th inst.
Identified by Shea, according to the detectives, the youths readily confessed and implicated themselves voluntarily in the other robberies. The theater hold-up was that of H.H. Hicks in the Gem Theater at 2488 West Washington Boulevard on the 16th inst.
Does anyone know if this theater listing refers to the theater on this page?…or is it the Maynard?
(March 9, 1914 LA Times)
Comfortably Heated-THE
ARLINGTON THEATER
John J Tully Proprietor
Washington at Arlington Sts.
Admission 10 cents
Changes of Program Sunday Monday Wednesday Friday
There is a great photo of the theater as the Pix here: View link
Here is a Sanborn map from 1906 showing the orientation of the Mason Opera House:
View link
The last mention of the Vogue Theater that I can find in the LA Times movie listings is from June 11, 1966. The ad is for Mary Poppins. It just says: Vogue, Montebello PAI-1225
The first I could find is this: August 26, 1938 VOGUE MONTEBELLO “Fast Company” “Always Goodbye”
Here’s an LA Times article from today about the theater:
View link
This article dates the name change from Majestic to Mayfair:
LA Times(September 30, 1967)
Double Bill Will Open Mayfair Theater
The Mayfair Theater, formerly the Majestic, in Santa Monica, will have its grand opening Friday at 7 p.m. The opening attraction is "The Long Duel" starring Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard, together with Otto Preminger’s "Hurry Sundown" with Jane Fonda and Michael Caine.
If he came to Santa Monica in 1920, he would be the 2nd or 3rd owner of the theater since it was built in 1911.
(October 16, 1934)
Robert Armour Is Dead at Home
SANTA MONICA, Oct. 15.-Robert Armour, 71 years of age, owner of the Majestic, Santa Monica’s oldest theater, died today at his home, 25 Alta avenue, after a lingering illness. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he came to the United States in 1906. He formerly was in business in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Butte and Spokane and came to Santa Monica in 1920. Besides his widow he leaves one brother and one sister in Australia. Funeral services will be Thursday.
Maybe they removed the top to restore it and replace later…who knows.
I took these today. I can’t imagine this being called anything other than a demolition:
View link
Here is an old Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing the Belasco and the Mayan.
View link
Maybe the economy put a stop to it. When I was there they were doing all kinds of things inside. There was a lot of construction equipment and it looked like they were trying to save as much as possible. It was really dark and kind of eerie inside.
I thought I posted these photos on here but I guess I didn’t. These are pictures are from a few years ago when they were converting the theater into some sort of nightclub. I don’t know if it’s open as anything yet:
View link
I’ve been looking into the Crystal on Main also. That address was a Premier car dealership starting in 1907. There’s one mention in 1911 of a tame African Lion on stage at the Crystal Theater but no address is given. It’s listed throughout 1914 and then doesn’t show up until 1934 when it’s a furniture auction house. If you look up the address on google maps and look at the street view, the building looks pretty old. I wonder if it’s the same building.
It’s very strange that there is no mention of a Henty Jensen or any Jensen’s theater or theatre or theaterium in the LA Times. Is there some source somewhere that mentions those names? I’m curious.
Here’s the article about the conversion to the bank:
View link
I searched through the movie listings in the LA Times and the name changed from Hollyway (or Holly-Way) to the shortened Holly on Sept. 29, 1941. I haven’t seen anything about Jensen’s Theaterium. It’s pretty consistent in the listings as The Globe #3 for a very short time and then The Sunset until the mid-20’s. Then it’s the Hollyway until the date above.
Here’s an excerpt from someone at the Echo Park Historical Society on this page: View link
“In its earliest years, the Ramona was one of two Echo Park theaters. The other stood at 1624 Sunset Blvd and now houses the Gualupana Market, across from the old Pioneer Market building. It started as the Globe Theater in 1912 and later became the Hollyway Theater. By the 1950s, the Hollyway had been converted into a branch of Citizen’s Bank. —EPHS”
I figured it out….the one in that article is on the Holly theater page. Here’s a listing from 1914 with a bunch of theaters:
View link
I guess for a time it was also called Sunset:
View link
Actually, when this theater first opened it was called the Globe #3. Here’s an article from April 7, 1912 about it:
View link
I doubt that this is the same theater since its a few years too early and looks very different, but does anyone know if the Globe Theater #3 was ever built on Sunset in Echo Park? If so, does it have a page here? Here’s a link to the article and a grainy photo:
View link