Crest Theatre
4275 Atlantic Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90807
4275 Atlantic Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90807
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Sensurround was used for presentations of ‘Earthquake’, ‘Battle of Midway’, and ‘Roller Coaster’. Buildings were pre-checked for structural soundness before Sensurround could be installed. What wonderful memories there are of The Crest, the likes of which we will never see again.
I went to Jordan High School on N. Atlantic Ave. back in the late fiftys and used to walk by the Crest and the Atlantic Theaters every school day. Nearly every weekend my brother and I would go to the either the Crest or the Atlantic (which is still there although not as a Theater) but I can’t believe the Crest was torn down, it was very luxurious and you got a sense of wonder when you were there. I got kicked out once when I played a miniature one inch long Harmonica during the movie. Wish I could go back in time and see it before it was demolished.
it was a magicial place where a child loke me could sit in air condition darkness on a hot summer day with buttered popcorn and soda in hand watch the silver screen and dream of who we’d want to be…I was Bond, James Bond.
Southwest Builder and Contractor, issue of September 26th, 1945, says that the plans for the Crest were made by Kaiser Engineers.
The Crest was the best! The upper balcony could not be beat. The movies came alive. Sad to see it gone, but not surprised. Thanks for the memories.
I saw several of my first movies at the Crest in the 60s, including, “Around the World in 80 Days,” “The Sound of Music,” “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines,” and I THINK the first movie I ever saw, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” (though maybe this was at one of the other theatres on Atlantic) As I was only 3, I slept through most of that one, though I remember seeing Mary and baby Jesus, and making the visual connection to similar images on Christmas cards—hey, I was only 3!
I clearly remember the opening cartoon titles of “Magnificent Men…”, and my Mom telling me that the words I saw flying across the screen were the names of the people who made the movie, and that these words were called “credits."
My most vivid memory of the interior was that the ladies restroom had red and white checkered tile walls. I was taken to that room by my Mom, since I was too young to use the men’s restroom by myself. I do have a vague memory of the curved couches in the lobby next to the passage to the sunken restrooms, and I remember the shape of the vertical sign tower. Later, seeing pictures in the Preston Kaufman "Skouras-ized for Showmanship” publication confirmed these memories.
I worked with Harry Francis in 1980/1981 at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood. He was quite well known by many celebs. One afternoon he pulled me aside to get refreshments (On him) for his friend who ended up being Natalie Wood with her kids. Oh, was she beautiful. I think the butter on the popcorn melted more when she smiled at me. Later the next year she passed away.
I was an usher at the Crest! I worked there when Earthquake was playing there..the arc light simplex projectors…excellent!! I also remember spending many a summer going to movies there in the 60’s.. Beautiful //// say does any body remember Welches restaurant up the street on San Antonio next to the Towne Theater and across from Grisengers?
This theatre is one of some 200 that could be described as “Skouras-ized For Showmanship” which is the title of the ANNUAL of 1987 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America. In the late 1930s through the 1950s, there occurred on the west coast of the United States a phenomenon known as the ‘Skouras style’ in recognition of the oversight of the Skouras brothers in their management of several cinema chains. They employed a designer by the name of Carl G. Moeller to render their cinemas/theatres in a new style best described as ‘Art Moderne meets Streamlined.’ The then new availability of aluminum sheeting at low cost was the principal material difference to this style allowing for sweeping, 3-dimensional shapes of scrolls to adorn walls and facades in an expression that would have been much more expensive and not at all the same in plaster. With the use of hand tinted and etched aluminum forms, the designers could make ornaments in mass production that allowed much greater economies of scale. The ANNUAL also show in its 44 pages how some 20 theatres were good examples of this combining of aluminum forms with sweeping draperies heavily hung with large tassels, and with box offices and facades richly treated with neon within the aluminum forms. Few of these examples survive today, but it was a glorious era while it lasted, and this collection of crisp b/w photos is a fitting epitaph by the late Preston Kaufmann.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either “Marquee” or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link “PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List” and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The “Marquee” magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall (‘portrait’) format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long (‘landscape’) format, and are anywhere from 26 to 44 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to lend it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]
Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.
Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at:
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)
Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM—4PM, CT)
Growing up in the 50s found me spending much of my time at the Crest Theatre. My uncle, Paul King, was the projectionist and often let me explore the wonders of the booth and snack bar. He also had a band, the Paul King Trio which played at the Riviera Hotel.
I will always remember the lighting under the stairs and the ornate metal work on the walls. In memory, the theater seemed huge and cathedral like. My mother would take me every Wednesday night for “Dinnerware Night” where everyone got a free dish or some such. During some contest, at four years old I won a cowboy shirt(!). Interesting, snaps instead of buttons. Who would have thought?
Back in the days where you would dress-up to go to the movies, I remember seeing “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and many more.
Theaters like this will be missed by us dwindling numbers of baby boomers.
I used to visit the Crest in the 1950s and my strongest memory is of the rather unique ticket booth, which was encased in a silvery metal sculpture like stylized flower petals or “stiffened” whipped cream. The Crest and the nearby ultra-modern Towne were the most unusual and interesting movie houses in my area of attendance at that time (within easy reach of South Gate).
What a movie theatre! I grew up in the Long Beach area, and the Crest was my favorite. I saw the movie Mary Poppins in early 65'. I also saw Slap Shot in the mid 70’s. I now live in Indiana, but what memories!
i love the comments just above…i grew up in long beach and spent a lot of time at the crest…my brother and I lived to go there and the Towne..which was just 2 blocks away…Crest was unique for a lot of reasons…I recall that it had very plush red carpeting…and that the theater area was accessible from curving walkways aisles that led into the seating area.
It also had a really plush lounge..sunken and accessible down several stairs that had a tv in it…It seemed strange for the theater to have a tv…but it was a really nice place at one time.
The first film I remember seeing there was Howard Hawks The Thing From Another World(James Arness)in 1951..Scared the heck out of me..
The upper loges were great with a date
On a whim I cchecked to see if the Crest was still open. I am sad to hear it was demolished. I remember it fondly from the fifties when we lived in No. LB. I continually tell people stories of how when all us kids would get rambunctious, the manager would stop the show, come out and threaten all of us. He would always retreat as the flattened popcorn box would soar by his head. Nothing too criminal. Boxes of Good and Plenty shaken to sound like a train during the ads for the refreshment counter and getting our candy from a nearby store in Bixby Knolls so we could afford the ticket price. I love the old theaters. We have the oldest surviving movie theater up in Humboldt County at Arcata – Minor Theater.\
Regards
don
I remember attending the Crest as a teenager with buzzmyers (his comments are above)and another friend Brendan Lawler. The theater was spectacular, once inside every movie goer felt like a king, it truly was designed and detailed as a movie palace. I distinctly remember the floral patterns in the carpet and the grand moderne light fixtures.
At that time and later, attendance was in decline. The baby boomers were all growing up and there were fewer children in the area. Because of this decline, Brendan and I were able to get into R-rated movies, even though we were under age. I remember my Father once coming and pulling me and Brendan out during one of these films. The Crest is were I first saw Saturday Night Fever and Jaws.
Other stores on Atlantic at the time included Horrace and Green Hardware, TG&Y, the Town Theater, and the Tenderloin and Alfred’s Restaurants. I was able to salvage the “cocktails” sign from Pucchinis Restaurant before it was demolished.
It’s unfortunate the building wasn’t adapted to another use, such as a bookstore, independent theater or community center-all uses adopted by other theaters in Southern California. It was replaced by a cheap strip center with no cultural or architectural significance.
The earliest movie I can distintly remember seeing at THE CREST was Bedknobs and Broomsticks(1971) when I was 8 years old. I remember walking with my 13 year old aunt around the front of the theater with our tickets as we searched for the end of the line. It ran all the way down the side of the building to the back then partially across the HUGE parking lot that separated it fromt the next business, Pucchinis Restaraunt. I grew up just behind THE CREST; across the alley and down about 5 houses. I spent many afternoons of my childhood and youth under its ornately decorated ceiling. I loved to sit there in my seat before the movie started and trace with my eyes the spirals and flourishes of the painted walls and ceilings. I think I recall highly stylized deco, aluminum light fixtures which I’d count one by one. The front marquee, the mosaic floor at the entrance, the ticket booth, the sunken smoking lounge, the entire building was a marvel to my eyes. When the movie Earthquake came out in 1974 it boasted being played in “sensaround” the vibration of which we could feel at home and see ripple the water of our swimming pool. Once or twice, when feeling particularly daring I think was let in by friends through the back door or vice versa. I loved that movie theater like no other place in the landscape of my childhood.
My first year in high school (1979) I remember waiting each morning to catch the public bus that stopped right in front of THE CREST. Then a sign was put up signalling the end. Even when it closed, it was there to shelter me from the rain, where I’d stand under the marquee till the bus arrived. Later that year, I remember my best friend, Mike, and I searching through the ruins of the building once they’d smashed it down. I don’t remeber what was there in the destruction, but I wish I’d taken some small momento. Even more, I wish I had been aware of my own power to have stopped it, but I was just a teenager and had no sense of empowerment. It was a huge loss to Bixby Knolls, the village-like neighborhood where I once lived. There is almost nothing left there now, the Hollywood nightclub Welch’s, Brownie’s Toy Store, the small department stores Roberts and Anthonys and Thrifty’s with its nickel-a-scoop ice cream cones and cafe are all gone. What did they build in the lot created by demolition THE CREST, as I recall it was a Subway Sandwich and a Mattress King, neither of which I ever went into.
I recall with fondness going to this picture palace in the late 1960s, and especially its beautiful yellow polychrome color and its spectacular marquee and tower, decorated with neon. Its demise was a tragic loss of art and cinema history for North Long Beach. I used to go to Norm’s coffee shop, or Grisinger’s in Bixby Knolls, for dinner and then zip over to the Crest to see a first-run movie like “Midnight Cowboy” there.
The Crest Theatre was located at 4275 Atlantic Blvd. and seated 1149 people.
Sadly, this theater was demolished in the late 1970’s