Miss Betty Wallace, 18, died yesterday in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital from injuries suffered Wednesday night when her dress caught fire in the tiny ticket booth at the Embassy Theater, 331 S. Western Avenue. Scores of people gathered outside the theater to attend a bank night drawing were unable to help, as Miss Wallace’s dress, ignited by an electric stove, became a pillar of flame.
Here is an approximate timeline regarding the various incarnations of this building. Some of the akas are missing from the caption.
980 Market:
Lesser Nickelodeon 1909
Grauman’s 1910
Maio Biograph 1912-1924
Circle 1924-1932
New Circle 1932-1939
Newsreel 1939-1949
Cinema 1949-1958
Crest 1958-1978
Crest Theatre in 1967.
Egyptian 1978-1981
Electric 1981-1994
Crazy Horse 1994-
This April 1967 NYT item gives the address as 1590 Flatbush Avenue.
A two-alarm fire swept through nine three-story buildings at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn last night and early this morning, causing heavy damage and injuring four firemen. The nearby College Theater, a movie house at 1590 Flatbush Avenue, was also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
There was an ad in the October 4, 1947 issue of Boxoffice magazine that mentioned the Carroll Theater in Iowa, so it may have opened before the date given above.
A couple of determined women, one a theater cashier and the other a waitress, brought a one-man robbery spree to an ignominious halt in Santa Monica last night. The waitress added the crushing blow when she took the man’s gun away from him.
Booked at Santa Monica jail for investigation of armed robbery was David Ott, 25, of Ocean Park, who told police he tried two robberies, armed with a cap pistol, because he lost his job last week and wanted his wife and baby to have a good Christmas.
Detectives said the first holdup try occurred at the Majestic Theater, 214 Santa Monica Boulevard, when a man pointed a gun at the cashier, Miss Nancy Pollock, 16, and told her to put all the money in a paper bag. She looked over her shoulder and then replied, “Just a minute. Here comes the manager”. The would-be bandit then ran away.
About an hour later and a block away a man answering the same description ordered a cup of coffee in the Broadway Steak House at 119 Broadway, then poked a pistol across the counter at the waitress, Mrs. Claire Irene Ray, 24, and again demanded that all the money be put into a paper bag.
Mrs. Ray said she tried to stall him by saying she’d go out back to get a bag, but he told her “never mind” and put some money on the counter. “When he looked down at the money, I grabbed the gun”, she told police. “He let go of the gun, snatched up a roll of nickels and ran”.
A woman carrying a knitting bag and wearing a decorative bandana over her head held up the cashier of the West Coast Theater in Long Beach and escaped with more than $100, Long Beach police reported.
Miss Betty Courim, 20, told officers the woman walked up to the ticket window Saturday night, placed the knitting bag on the counter and said, “I have a gun in this bag. Give me all the bills”. Miss Courim said she handed over the cash, and the woman stuffed it into the bag, then hurried away. The woman was about 35 or 40, slender and was wearing a “shortie” coat.
Here is a June 2004 photo from the opening of “Fahrenheit 9/11':
http://tinyurl.com/7lk7dc
Here is a June 2004 photo from Michael Moore’s website:
http://tinyurl.com/84yxkf
Here is a June 2004 photo from the opening of “Fahrenheit 9/11”:
http://tinyurl.com/8myh9n
Here is a June 2004 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/8f9bpc
Here is a June 2004 photo from Michael Moore’s website:
http://tinyurl.com/7lufu9
Here is a June 2004 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/93y4bk
Here is a June 2004 photo from Michael Moore’s website:
http://tinyurl.com/7qhov7
Here is a June 2004 photo when Fahrenheit 9/11 opened at the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/968brj
Here is a June 2004 photo from filmmaker Michael Moore’s website:
http://tinyurl.com/8mm8rp
Here is a photo showing the opening of Fahrenheit 9/11 in June 2004:
http://tinyurl.com/9xesuv
Here is another photo of the sign:
http://tinyurl.com/axnn9f
Here is a 1965 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/7jv9fv
From the LA Times, 2/12/37:
Theater Booth Fire Fatal to Trapped Girl Cashier
Miss Betty Wallace, 18, died yesterday in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital from injuries suffered Wednesday night when her dress caught fire in the tiny ticket booth at the Embassy Theater, 331 S. Western Avenue. Scores of people gathered outside the theater to attend a bank night drawing were unable to help, as Miss Wallace’s dress, ignited by an electric stove, became a pillar of flame.
Here is an approximate timeline regarding the various incarnations of this building. Some of the akas are missing from the caption.
980 Market:
Lesser Nickelodeon 1909
Grauman’s 1910
Maio Biograph 1912-1924
Circle 1924-1932
New Circle 1932-1939
Newsreel 1939-1949
Cinema 1949-1958
Crest 1958-1978
Crest Theatre in 1967.
Egyptian 1978-1981
Electric 1981-1994
Crazy Horse 1994-
This April 1967 NYT item gives the address as 1590 Flatbush Avenue.
A two-alarm fire swept through nine three-story buildings at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn last night and early this morning, causing heavy damage and injuring four firemen. The nearby College Theater, a movie house at 1590 Flatbush Avenue, was also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
The explosion was in March 1963:
http://tinyurl.com/a5dwyj
Crime in 1955:
http://tinyurl.com/8khd9d
Google does not recognize Chatham Street in Independence. Can anyone confirm the address of this theater?
There was an ad in the October 4, 1947 issue of Boxoffice magazine that mentioned the Carroll Theater in Iowa, so it may have opened before the date given above.
Part of an LA Times article dated 11/30/54:
A couple of determined women, one a theater cashier and the other a waitress, brought a one-man robbery spree to an ignominious halt in Santa Monica last night. The waitress added the crushing blow when she took the man’s gun away from him.
Booked at Santa Monica jail for investigation of armed robbery was David Ott, 25, of Ocean Park, who told police he tried two robberies, armed with a cap pistol, because he lost his job last week and wanted his wife and baby to have a good Christmas.
Detectives said the first holdup try occurred at the Majestic Theater, 214 Santa Monica Boulevard, when a man pointed a gun at the cashier, Miss Nancy Pollock, 16, and told her to put all the money in a paper bag. She looked over her shoulder and then replied, “Just a minute. Here comes the manager”. The would-be bandit then ran away.
About an hour later and a block away a man answering the same description ordered a cup of coffee in the Broadway Steak House at 119 Broadway, then poked a pistol across the counter at the waitress, Mrs. Claire Irene Ray, 24, and again demanded that all the money be put into a paper bag.
Mrs. Ray said she tried to stall him by saying she’d go out back to get a bag, but he told her “never mind” and put some money on the counter. “When he looked down at the money, I grabbed the gun”, she told police. “He let go of the gun, snatched up a roll of nickels and ran”.
Robbery foiled in June 1950:
http://tinyurl.com/7gp3q3
Another robbery in July 1952:
A woman carrying a knitting bag and wearing a decorative bandana over her head held up the cashier of the West Coast Theater in Long Beach and escaped with more than $100, Long Beach police reported.
Miss Betty Courim, 20, told officers the woman walked up to the ticket window Saturday night, placed the knitting bag on the counter and said, “I have a gun in this bag. Give me all the bills”. Miss Courim said she handed over the cash, and the woman stuffed it into the bag, then hurried away. The woman was about 35 or 40, slender and was wearing a “shortie” coat.
Here is a December 2008 artiole from the Belton Journal:
http://tinyurl.com/a6j526
Best to everyone in the upcoming year. Feliz Ano Novo!
Here is a December 2008 article from the OC Register:
http://tinyurl.com/6bg8kq