Golden Gate Theatre
5176 Whittier Boulevard,
East Los Angeles,
CA
90022
5176 Whittier Boulevard,
East Los Angeles,
CA
90022
22 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 157 comments
Most people that I’ve asked remember the Two Guys store on Whittier Blvd. just east of Goodrich Ave., but they don’t remember that when that building first went up it was Unimart. Just thought I’d add that. Is there any pictures out there of East L.A. in the 50’s or 60’s?
What a great design: unique and elegant but not overstated. Too bad it has ended up as it has. Any indication as to how much of the auditorium is intact?
thanks, ken mc for the great pictures. my faint memory of the that haunting interior became clear and defined once again as if it were yesterday. i can still hear the classical music playing while waiting for the movie to start.
Here are two interior photos from the LA Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015324.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015323.jpg
WoW Ralvarez! That was beautiful. Beatiful doesnt even cut it…
I had no idea that Two Guys had stores in California. There was one in Atlantic City when I was a kid.
To any residents of E.L.A./Boyle Heights for the last twenty years or more, Cesar Chavez
Av. will always be Brooklyn Av. Having said that, i was born, raised in and will always relate to my Boyle Heights roots. Lincoln Hospital was my birthplace in 1954. We lived on Gleason Av. near Lorena. I remember street looking out at the fourth street bridge from our front steps, seeing the first 747 fly overhead, street football games, the Mercado on First Street under construction and shaking Bobby Kennedy’s hand as he drove by it during his 1968 campaign. That was a rush. I remember walking to Our Lady of Talpa through all the alleys in my neighborhood. Seeing the narrow column of black smoke from the Evergreen Cememtary Cremetorium. Later years would find me waxing my 64' Chevy under a shady tree in that cemetary. i recall shopping up and down first street , taking the bus a few blocks with my mother to The First Street Store. Walking into Lee Mars Mens Clothing Store, where i later attempted to get a job that never materialized. The Unique theatre , where my grandmother would take me to see Spanish Language movies. Back Then i never understood one word. It wasn’t until high school (Salesian) that i began to learn. Then having a Tom’s Burger for lunch. The warm summer nights would find us at the corner of indiana and Third Street where my dad would buy a huge bucket of raspadas with extra juice that we would take back to eat on our front lawn and stay there till one or two in the morning. Ha! try doing that now. I remember waiting for my dad to get home on Fridays so we could go to either Thrifty’s at Atlantic Square for all you can eat fish dinner or to the Triangle Bowl , yes, it was later called Lucky Lanes, where i would have one of huge burgers on a sesame seed bun and these huge fries and a coke. I was the luckiest kid in the world. Who needed an Ipod. Before the 60 fwy. there was a restaurant on Atlantic with a pig on it’s sign, wish i remembered the name. the best blue cheese dressing on a cold crispy salad. i remember Two Guys dept. store and Atlantic Savings , where my aunt worked. She and my cousins lived on Amalia St. Largo’s Mitote Restaurant , maybe still standing, where my Sunday dinner consisted of Chorizo and eggs. The best brownies at the Jewish Bakery near Soto and Brooklyn. The RTD turnaround at Rowan and Brooklyn. El Tepeyac, the bonfires at Evergreen Playground, buying 45’s at the Mercado record store, gettin my hair cut by Dan’s Barber shop on Third street, where he once proclaimed That FM radiio would be the wave of the future, and buying firecrackers from a robed woman on Concord Av. Certainly i remember the cold nights at the Golden Gate Theatre where my mom wrap a blanket around me on our walk to and from the theatre after a late night movie where the whole time, i was obsessed with the majestic and scary architecture of it’s interior. …Whew! sorry i was in a zone. thanks for the memories…
The Metro station that was originally planned there was moved to the corner of Atlantic and 3rd St.
Thanks for the response, Fez. I was actually arguing both sides, which is what they teach us in law school to avoid taking any responsibility when other people disagree with us.
To Ken mc,
Most people in East L.a. dont care if a street name is a relection of the community.They hated the name because they were not consulted or were allowed to vote on it.Its about tradition and history.With your argument you could say for example, the people of Santa Barbara have no connection to the street names,which a majority are in spanish and most of people that live in there are not.
found this link of what the mta or metro could be planing for the site check it out
View link
There are two ways to look at the name change. It’s good that some people make an effort to keep continuity between the former Jewish population and the current Hispanic one. Brooklyn Avenue was obviously a nod to the NY ex-patriate roots. However, you could argue that the street name should be a reflection of the community. How many people living in East LA today have any connections to Brooklyn, or speak Yiddish for that matter?
Mr.Davila regarding your post written 12/22/04,a very well written piece and I agree with totally.I know its a late response but I just came across this website and it brought a lot of memories.I agree with your position about the Brooklyn ave name change to Ceasar Chavez blvd,they should have never changed it.You can thank Gloria Molina for that.I also remember the head shop,bongs, rolling papers and the L.a. free press.
Does anyone remember the Monkey Oodle hamburger stand behind W.T.Grants next to the bus stop on Kern ave? The best hamburgers!Or the lunch counter at W.T.Grants,great hot dogs.there also use to be a hamburger stand at n/e corner of whittier and atlantic blvd, I dont recall the name, it was back in the early 1960s.
I had lunch today at a restaurant directly behind this theater. Out of pure kindness, I will not reveal the name of this dubious establishment, the food of which leaves much to be desired. restaurant. The theater is still standing, but has not been converted into a Walgreens, Blockbuster, Starbucks or Photomat. The front entrance is covered with graffiti. It doesn’t look like anyone plans to use this building in the near or distant future.
Sure. Go to www.lapl.org and click on browse the photo collection. Type in Golden Gate Theatre, and you will find four photos of the theater…
WHOA…this gorgeous theatre is still standing. I’m glad they haven’t torn it down and built a walmart. Does anyone have any links or pictures of the Golden Gate theatre’s interior? Please share them with me, I had the misfortune of being born in the 80s and never got to go inside.
Here is a little bit about what I think is this theater before it was built:
(Feb. 9, 1927)
LA Times
This week will mark the beginning of building operations on the theater project on Whittier Boulevard in Golden Gate Square. The theater proper will seat about 1500 persons, it is declared and will contain thirteen stores. There will also be several apartment units. It is planned as a legitimate playhouse, but will be equipped for motion pictures as well.
The photo at the top of the page is by William Reagh:
View link
One more:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015322.jpg
Here is a picture, courtesy of the LA Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015321.jpg
DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET THE FLOOR PLANS FOR THE GOLDEN GATE THEATRE??????? I NEED TO KNOW FOR A PROJECT. I AM IN 7TH GRADE AND WE NEED TO BUILD A MODEL OF A THEATRE AND I CHOSE “THE GOLDEN GATE THEATRE” SO IF U DO PLEASE REPLY ASAP! THANKS A LOT.
Dear Rich Wojcik,
Yes, I remember Pete Richey. I think he lived on Fernfield or Gleason in Monterey Park. Sorry to hear about what happened to him though. He was dealing drugs in the late ‘60’s, so I am not surprised about what happened. There but for the grace of God… .
Did you know a guy named Mike Velasco? He lived on Fernfield, near Wilcox. He lives up here near Seattle and he graduated from MHS in ‘67 I think.
Yeah, the Garmar and Golden Gate were great theaters, especially the Golden Gate. They just aren’t built like that anymore.
How excited I am to see how many wonderful people share the same memories and dreams I have from that magical palace called the Golden Gate theater, I was born in Brooklyn New York in 1958 my parents moved out to California in 1964 my sister Yvette, and I were raised in East Los Angeles we lived at 749 South Sadler, it was a property that had 3 small homes and a garage/appartment in back owned by my grand parents. When I was a kid the fist movie my parents took me to see at the Golden Gate was Gold finger and every 007 movie after that. I moved back to New York in 1982 but the most memorable movie that I saw in that magical palace was the re-released THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, even though I saw many movies there, the reason this movie was so perfect was because of the theater’s interior, plush red velvet curtains and seats, and it’s Roman like columns if I remember correctly.
My name is Bryant Cordova I went to Schurr High School from 1974-1977 I now reside in Florida, am 45yrs old now but in reading all the above testimonies, and even though I was not raised in LA until the mid-60’s I somehow feel close to all of you even though you all don’t know me but we share almost the same memories. Here is a funny memory that I personally have of the Golden Gate, my Grandfather always took me all over New York by subway, and I remember when we moved to ELA one day my grandfather and I walk from Sadler to the Golden Gate and I saw the corner of the plaza across the street and it reminded me of the subway entrance in Brooklyn and I yelled out saying LETS GO ON THE SUBWAY TO DOWNTOWN!! and that was the day I learned that LA had no subways, (well at least not then) well needless to say I cried, but East LA and it’s great people embraced my family and I, we made many friends there I remember growing up with Johnny Krantz Jr. Joe Cruse, Ronny Martinez, Dean Cooper, Danny Sardinia, and many others up the street.
Yes I still think about the old magical movie palace called the GOLDEN GATE, how I wish the old theater could come back. I believe the generation of today can take all their modern technology of today and pour it into a movie house like the GOLDEN GATE and with it’s big screen, and they would experience an AWESOME move night just like we all did the first time we walked through it’s doors.
David Grisanti,
I am very sad to learn that your sister died in 1990. Even though I didn’t know her well I do remember her at Montebello. And because over the years while occasionally browsing through my “archive” I would run into her Derrick Diary article and her picture, she has always been in some way a part of my life. So I am sad at your loss and, in my own way, my loss.
If you can’t find the article I have, I’ll be happy to email you an attachment of it if you give me your email address. Mine is
How funny about Anthony Loya Studio!
Best,
John Ferry