In October 1971, the Harbor was showing “Omega Man” with Charlton Heston. I know that the apartment complex on the site opened in 1973, so adding in construction time the drive-in must have been on its last legs: http://tinyurl.com/yulsg6
I guess anyone who wants some last photos should head out there in the next week or so. I know I will. You never know what will happen with the building.
A little help? This photo was in a book I was reading at the LA library today. It should be around 1994, and the caption says Western Avenue. It doesn’t say north or south, though. I’m pretty sure this is now demolished, given the shape it was in then, so if anyone recognizes this delerict let me know and we will give it a proper home: http://tinyurl.com/2e4tsp
This is a 1988 photo from Michael Putnam’s book “Silent Screens”. The theater was a daycare center then. Sorry about the quality of the photo, however. I recommend the book: http://tinyurl.com/2meesm
I was there last summer. Shoot, I could have taken some pictures of this. Oatman is an old west town on Route 66. There are many wild burros left over from the mining days. They sell carrots which you can feed to the burros, but then they don’t leave you alone. It’s worth a side trip if you’re in Laughlin or Las Vegas.
Chicago (UPI)– Joseph Wade was watching a horror flick called “The Creeper” at a downtown theater when a rat bit him on the ankle. Wade said he thought at first that he had been kicked by the woman seated next to him. When he figured out what really happened, “the theater manager wouldnt believe him and originally called the police to eject him,” his attorney said. Michael Olson, a supervisor for the firm that runs the Woods Theater, said the company will pay for Wade’s treatment at a hospital, which included a tetanus shot.
There was a long article in the LA Times on 2/22/81 about Downey’s changing ethnic makeup. At that time, the Avenue was owned by the three Bueno brothers, Javier, Jorge and Juan, and was showing Spanish films. Someone took exception and fired a few shots into the theater’s front door.
A boy was killed and two persons were wounded early Saturday during a shooting spree at a drive-in theater in Baldwin Park. Police attributed the shootings to youth gangs. A bystander, 13, was fatally wounded while watching police question youths in a van parked in the Edgewood Drive-In Theater’s back row.
Police were called by the theater manager after he heard gun shots in the early morning hours Saturday. Led to the van by an unidentified girl who later disappeared, officers were questioning the van’s occupants when shots were fired from outside the fenced drive-in, hitting the three people. Occupants of the van did not return the fire, but were arrested when police found a shotgun in the vehicle.
100 Rioting Youths Tear Up West L.A. Theater, 6 Arrested
About 100 youths rioted Friday night at a theater showing the black-oriented films “J.D.’s Revenge”, “Cooley High” and “Cornbread, Earl and Me”. Police said the youths threw objects through the screen, tore up seats and wrecked the box office of the Lido Theater at 8607 W. Pico Boulevard.
After the manager called police and closed the theater, the youths spilled outside and began breaking windows along Pico Boulevard. Officers said 600 to 800 persons were watching the program when a fight broke out at about 8:15 p.m. Police said older members of the audience got up on the stage and appealed to the brawling youths to quiet down, to no avail. Sx juveniles were arrested.
An article in the LA Times dated 1/19/66 describeda contentious hearing in which a neighborhood group was attempting to revoke the Park Theater’s police permit. The charge was that the “art” films the Park was showing were lewd and obscene.
Within fifteen minutes last night two San Pedro motion picture theaters were held up by bandits, apparently operating independently of each other, who escaped with about $2500 in cash.
The first robbery was at the Fox Grand Theater at Tenth Street and Pacific Avenue. The men escaped wih $850. Fifteen minutes later police were called to the Warner Brothers Theater at Sixth Street and Pacific Avenue, where a bandit forced the manager of the theater into a large safe after taking $1800.
This photo is not the Orpheum, I don’t think. It doesn’t look too historic. The blogster said he saw the latest Star Wars film in Kodiak at this theater: http://tinyurl.com/yt3byp
In October 1971, the Harbor was showing “Omega Man” with Charlton Heston. I know that the apartment complex on the site opened in 1973, so adding in construction time the drive-in must have been on its last legs:
http://tinyurl.com/yulsg6
Here is an ad from the LA Times in September 1939:
http://tinyurl.com/34pob3
Here is a June 1935 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2k4wue
Here is a June 1940 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2m89p4
Here is another ad from September 1966:
http://tinyurl.com/3333rv
Here are some photos from one of the Theater Historical Society’s annuals. The graininess is due to the LA library’s cheap photocopiers:
http://tinyurl.com/3cg4el
http://tinyurl.com/2onepe
http://tinyurl.com/2rbwdh
http://tinyurl.com/2utmul
http://tinyurl.com/2j62pg
http://tinyurl.com/2mnq9k
http://tinyurl.com/3239ky
http://tinyurl.com/3y73ox
Here is a photo, circa 1994:
http://tinyurl.com/2fwpcg
Here is a photo, circa 1994:
http://tinyurl.com/2bkn59
I guess anyone who wants some last photos should head out there in the next week or so. I know I will. You never know what will happen with the building.
A little help? This photo was in a book I was reading at the LA library today. It should be around 1994, and the caption says Western Avenue. It doesn’t say north or south, though. I’m pretty sure this is now demolished, given the shape it was in then, so if anyone recognizes this delerict let me know and we will give it a proper home:
http://tinyurl.com/2e4tsp
This is a 1988 photo from Michael Putnam’s book “Silent Screens”. The theater was a daycare center then. Sorry about the quality of the photo, however. I recommend the book:
http://tinyurl.com/2meesm
There was a freeway proposed through Beverly Hills in the 60s, but the idea was put to rest rather quickly.
I was there last summer. Shoot, I could have taken some pictures of this. Oatman is an old west town on Route 66. There are many wild burros left over from the mining days. They sell carrots which you can feed to the burros, but then they don’t leave you alone. It’s worth a side trip if you’re in Laughlin or Las Vegas.
It looked to be in good shape when I was in there last month.
From the LA Times, 2/23/82
Chicago (UPI)– Joseph Wade was watching a horror flick called “The Creeper” at a downtown theater when a rat bit him on the ankle. Wade said he thought at first that he had been kicked by the woman seated next to him. When he figured out what really happened, “the theater manager wouldnt believe him and originally called the police to eject him,” his attorney said. Michael Olson, a supervisor for the firm that runs the Woods Theater, said the company will pay for Wade’s treatment at a hospital, which included a tetanus shot.
There was a long article in the LA Times on 2/22/81 about Downey’s changing ethnic makeup. At that time, the Avenue was owned by the three Bueno brothers, Javier, Jorge and Juan, and was showing Spanish films. Someone took exception and fired a few shots into the theater’s front door.
From the LA Times, 8/22/76:
Boy Killed, Two Wounded in Shootings at Drive-In
A boy was killed and two persons were wounded early Saturday during a shooting spree at a drive-in theater in Baldwin Park. Police attributed the shootings to youth gangs. A bystander, 13, was fatally wounded while watching police question youths in a van parked in the Edgewood Drive-In Theater’s back row.
Police were called by the theater manager after he heard gun shots in the early morning hours Saturday. Led to the van by an unidentified girl who later disappeared, officers were questioning the van’s occupants when shots were fired from outside the fenced drive-in, hitting the three people. Occupants of the van did not return the fire, but were arrested when police found a shotgun in the vehicle.
From the LA Times, 12/11/76
100 Rioting Youths Tear Up West L.A. Theater, 6 Arrested
About 100 youths rioted Friday night at a theater showing the black-oriented films “J.D.’s Revenge”, “Cooley High” and “Cornbread, Earl and Me”. Police said the youths threw objects through the screen, tore up seats and wrecked the box office of the Lido Theater at 8607 W. Pico Boulevard.
After the manager called police and closed the theater, the youths spilled outside and began breaking windows along Pico Boulevard. Officers said 600 to 800 persons were watching the program when a fight broke out at about 8:15 p.m. Police said older members of the audience got up on the stage and appealed to the brawling youths to quiet down, to no avail. Sx juveniles were arrested.
An article in the LA Times dated 1/19/66 describeda contentious hearing in which a neighborhood group was attempting to revoke the Park Theater’s police permit. The charge was that the “art” films the Park was showing were lewd and obscene.
Sloppy reporting in the LA Times, 1/3/33:
BANDITS ROB PLAYHOUSES AT HARBOR
Within fifteen minutes last night two San Pedro motion picture theaters were held up by bandits, apparently operating independently of each other, who escaped with about $2500 in cash.
The first robbery was at the Fox Grand Theater at Tenth Street and Pacific Avenue. The men escaped wih $850. Fifteen minutes later police were called to the Warner Brothers Theater at Sixth Street and Pacific Avenue, where a bandit forced the manager of the theater into a large safe after taking $1800.
B7804 through B7807 in the Tulsa Library series are more interior photos of the Star.
Here is a 1949 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2clzrm
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/25qeh6
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/3yftuo
This photo is not the Orpheum, I don’t think. It doesn’t look too historic. The blogster said he saw the latest Star Wars film in Kodiak at this theater:
http://tinyurl.com/yt3byp