Here is an excerpt from an LA Times article of 9/21/75. I assume Walnut Park and Huntington Park are interchangeable, unless it was a typo:
Scandalous, said the Walnut Park neighbors of the once palatial Lyric Theater. The old movie house was a public scandal. The source of the outrage was film content. The Lyric had switched from a steady diet of Spencer Tracy films to what homeowners in 1955 sneeringly called ‘girlie films".
The flesh flashed on the Lyric’s screens was accompanied by whispered rumors of raunchy stag films slipped in from Mexico and shown at midnight. Stories of a bookie joint in the same block heightened the area’s unsavory reputation. But that was 20 years ago, before X-rated films had taken on an aura of fashionability.
In those older days, homeowners were incensed about the showing of the so-called skin flicks. Public meetings condemning the theater were held. Outrage was expressed. Protests planned. Lawsuits mulled.
But nothing really happened. And nothing really changed. Today the old Lyric Theater grinds out the likes of “Love, Lust and Violence” and “Tower of Love”, both rated “Super-X”.
In 1919 the Roxy Theater in Whittier was called “the latest word in motion picture circles” and “one of the finest motion picture houses in the Southland”. Vaudeville acts shared the Roxy’s spotlight and stage with flimed silent screen classics.
The price for a night out at the raucous Roxy was high, fifty cents a person. By 1971, the cost of one of the wooden seats had inflated to 65 cents, but even at that price there were no takers. The old theater was deteriorating. The mortar used to hold its brick facade together was crumbling. The neon-lighted marquee blinked if it worked at all. The quality of clientele dropped. Parents didn’t want their children going inside.
On September 29, 1971, the old Roxy burned to the ground. Firemen said the blaze was set deliberately. An arson investigation launched. The old theater became a dirt parking lot.
Excerpt from an article in the LA Times dated 9/21/75:
It was billed as a marriage of culture and cinema a half-century ago when the staid Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Art moved into the same building as the elegant Maywood Fox Egyptian Theater. On the surface, it appeared an unlikely match, but somehow the bizarre blend of Beethoven sonatas and Ben Turpin two-reelers inspired one pompous city official to brand the new theater “a center of culture for all time”.
He was wrong. Today the Fox Maywood, that all-time cultural center, is the Tri-City Gun Shop, Rifle and Pistol Shooting Range. The L.A. Conservatory has vanished.
A story in the LA Times dated 8/2/59 describes a play being put on at this theater by the LaShell Players. The address is given as 5384 Long Beach Blvd, which would correspond with my observation above. So the theater is closed but not demolished.
The article goes on to say that one of the actors put on a one man show at the Oriental Theater, which was torn down to build the LaShell. The article further states that the movie theater closed as a victim of television. The chronology would be movie theater, play house and then retail.
This blurb was in the LA Times, 12/15/44. I couldn’t figure out if the jailbird was Ginger Rogers or Shirley Temple:
Unusual Film Announced for Three Theaters
“I’ll Be Seeing You” will begin extended engagements at Carthay Circle, United Artists and Fox Wilshire Theaters. Starring Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple, the picture is a romantic drama of a soldier who is given a Christmas furlough after being released from a long hospitalization. He meets a girl who has been given a similar holiday leave from a woman’s penitentiary for good behavior. Assisting the stars are Spring Byington, Chill Wills and others.
Featured on 9/15/72 – “Teenage Slaves” (world premiere). “Young girls beware – you may become a teenage slave!” Rated X. Free refreshments – Coke, candy & popcorn.
On 9/15/72, the Mayan was advertising “The Vice Girls” plus “Secret Infidelity”, both rated X. The ad also promises free popcorn, which I thought was a nice touch. Other theaters showing the same program (but without the free popcorn, I guess) were the Fine Arts in San Bernardino, the Ritz in Ontario, Savoy in San Diego, Roxy in Long Beach and Wilshire in Fullerton.
On 9/15/72, the Mayan was advertising “The Vice Girls” plus “Secret Infidelity”, both rated X. The ad also promises free popcorn, which I thought was a nice touch. Other theaters showing the same program (but without the free popcorn, I guess) were the Fine Arts in San Bernardino, the Ritz in Ontario, Savoy in San Diego, Roxy in Long Beach and Wilshire in Fullerton.
LA Times was advertising another Tomkat theater at 9055 Santa Monica on 9/15/72. The theater on this page was still showing straight porn at that time, according to the info above. Does anyone recall a theater on CT listed at the 9055 address?
Suit for $468,000 damages was filed in Federal court yesterday by Dave Rector, Long Beach independent theater operator, against Milton Arthur Cabart Theaters and 15 major producers and distributors.
The action charges violation of anti-trust laws in restraint of trade in that the defendants allegedly conspired to relegate the plaintiff’s theater to the position of a “last-run” theater, making it impossible for him to compete on a fair basis.
Rector operates the Ebell Theater in Long Beach. Pending hearing of the suit, Rector asks for an injunction restraining the defendants from the asserted discrimination.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 11/26/59:
KIDDY HOLIDAY FARE OFFERED
Thanksgiving fun for the entire family comes to local theaters Friday afternoon when Walt Disney’s festival of famous color cartoons, exciting Disney short subjects, plus the Three Stooges' feature length Fun-O-Rama, plays a special performance.
Theaters showing the all-fun program are the Paradise, Westchester; Cornell, Encino and Reseda in the Valley area; the Stadium, Torrance; Garmar, Montebello; Park, Gardena; Star, La Puente; and the Towne, Atlantic and Cabart in Long Beach. Doors will open at 12 noon with pictures starting at 1 p.m.
It could be demolished if there were two similar wings for the building in the photo above. The building on the corner of LB Blvd looks remarkably similar to the 1947 photo above, but that address is a little north of 5364. I took some photos which I will post soon. Current occupants are a beauty salon and furniture store.
Here is an excerpt from an LA Times article of 9/21/75. I assume Walnut Park and Huntington Park are interchangeable, unless it was a typo:
Scandalous, said the Walnut Park neighbors of the once palatial Lyric Theater. The old movie house was a public scandal. The source of the outrage was film content. The Lyric had switched from a steady diet of Spencer Tracy films to what homeowners in 1955 sneeringly called ‘girlie films".
The flesh flashed on the Lyric’s screens was accompanied by whispered rumors of raunchy stag films slipped in from Mexico and shown at midnight. Stories of a bookie joint in the same block heightened the area’s unsavory reputation. But that was 20 years ago, before X-rated films had taken on an aura of fashionability.
In those older days, homeowners were incensed about the showing of the so-called skin flicks. Public meetings condemning the theater were held. Outrage was expressed. Protests planned. Lawsuits mulled.
But nothing really happened. And nothing really changed. Today the old Lyric Theater grinds out the likes of “Love, Lust and Violence” and “Tower of Love”, both rated “Super-X”.
And there hasn’t been a protest in years.
Excerpt from an LA Times article on 9/21/75:
In 1919 the Roxy Theater in Whittier was called “the latest word in motion picture circles” and “one of the finest motion picture houses in the Southland”. Vaudeville acts shared the Roxy’s spotlight and stage with flimed silent screen classics.
The price for a night out at the raucous Roxy was high, fifty cents a person. By 1971, the cost of one of the wooden seats had inflated to 65 cents, but even at that price there were no takers. The old theater was deteriorating. The mortar used to hold its brick facade together was crumbling. The neon-lighted marquee blinked if it worked at all. The quality of clientele dropped. Parents didn’t want their children going inside.
On September 29, 1971, the old Roxy burned to the ground. Firemen said the blaze was set deliberately. An arson investigation launched. The old theater became a dirt parking lot.
Excerpt from an article in the LA Times dated 9/21/75:
It was billed as a marriage of culture and cinema a half-century ago when the staid Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Art moved into the same building as the elegant Maywood Fox Egyptian Theater. On the surface, it appeared an unlikely match, but somehow the bizarre blend of Beethoven sonatas and Ben Turpin two-reelers inspired one pompous city official to brand the new theater “a center of culture for all time”.
He was wrong. Today the Fox Maywood, that all-time cultural center, is the Tri-City Gun Shop, Rifle and Pistol Shooting Range. The L.A. Conservatory has vanished.
A story in the LA Times dated 8/2/59 describes a play being put on at this theater by the LaShell Players. The address is given as 5384 Long Beach Blvd, which would correspond with my observation above. So the theater is closed but not demolished.
The article goes on to say that one of the actors put on a one man show at the Oriental Theater, which was torn down to build the LaShell. The article further states that the movie theater closed as a victim of television. The chronology would be movie theater, play house and then retail.
This blurb was in the LA Times, 12/15/44. I couldn’t figure out if the jailbird was Ginger Rogers or Shirley Temple:
Unusual Film Announced for Three Theaters
“I’ll Be Seeing You” will begin extended engagements at Carthay Circle, United Artists and Fox Wilshire Theaters. Starring Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple, the picture is a romantic drama of a soldier who is given a Christmas furlough after being released from a long hospitalization. He meets a girl who has been given a similar holiday leave from a woman’s penitentiary for good behavior. Assisting the stars are Spring Byington, Chill Wills and others.
Except for the enormous parking lot across the street (see Hippodrome).
Advertised as the Left Bank Theater at 7734 Santa Monica in July 1969, per the LA Times. Featured were “Split-Level Lovers” and “Male Call”.
Advertised in the LA Times on 7/16/69 – “Twilight Girls” and “Hot Skin”.
An ad in the LA Times in July 1969 puts the theater at 8816 ½ Sunset – “Skin-Beautiful and Graphic”.
It was open in July 1969, according to the LA Times.
Open only on weekends in the late sixties, per the LA Times.
Featured on 7/16/69 – “Peter Pan” and “Alaskan Eskimo”. Phone number was 943-8312. Address was 10125 Whitwood.
Advertised at 4762 Whittier Boulevard in the LA Times on 7/16/69. Featured films were “All Male-All Gay-All Color, continuous from 10 a.m.”
There was an adult film theater down the street in the late sixties – Cluny’s, 604 S. Alvarado, “torrid girlie films-for men only”.
Featured on 9/15/72 – “Teenage Slaves” (world premiere). “Young girls beware – you may become a teenage slave!” Rated X. Free refreshments – Coke, candy & popcorn.
Here is an ad in the LA Times dated 9/15/72:
Cinematheque 16 – Adult Movie Theater
8816 Sunset – 1 Block east of Larrabee on the Strip
Intimate Erotic Action – Double Features
Show in our large, comfortable theater
Continuous 10 am to 2 am, Friday & Saturday till 4 am
Complete new show every Friday
On 9/15/72, the Mayan was advertising “The Vice Girls” plus “Secret Infidelity”, both rated X. The ad also promises free popcorn, which I thought was a nice touch. Other theaters showing the same program (but without the free popcorn, I guess) were the Fine Arts in San Bernardino, the Ritz in Ontario, Savoy in San Diego, Roxy in Long Beach and Wilshire in Fullerton.
On 9/15/72, the Mayan was advertising “The Vice Girls” plus “Secret Infidelity”, both rated X. The ad also promises free popcorn, which I thought was a nice touch. Other theaters showing the same program (but without the free popcorn, I guess) were the Fine Arts in San Bernardino, the Ritz in Ontario, Savoy in San Diego, Roxy in Long Beach and Wilshire in Fullerton.
LA Times was advertising another Tomkat theater at 9055 Santa Monica on 9/15/72. The theater on this page was still showing straight porn at that time, according to the info above. Does anyone recall a theater on CT listed at the 9055 address?
The Harbor was still around in November 1965. Admission was $1.80 per car. Features on November 21 were “35 Hours” and “Children of the Damned”.
Litigation in December 1947, per the LA Times:
THEATER MAN CHARGES TRUST
Suit for $468,000 damages was filed in Federal court yesterday by Dave Rector, Long Beach independent theater operator, against Milton Arthur Cabart Theaters and 15 major producers and distributors.
The action charges violation of anti-trust laws in restraint of trade in that the defendants allegedly conspired to relegate the plaintiff’s theater to the position of a “last-run” theater, making it impossible for him to compete on a fair basis.
Rector operates the Ebell Theater in Long Beach. Pending hearing of the suit, Rector asks for an injunction restraining the defendants from the asserted discrimination.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 11/26/59:
KIDDY HOLIDAY FARE OFFERED
Thanksgiving fun for the entire family comes to local theaters Friday afternoon when Walt Disney’s festival of famous color cartoons, exciting Disney short subjects, plus the Three Stooges' feature length Fun-O-Rama, plays a special performance.
Theaters showing the all-fun program are the Paradise, Westchester; Cornell, Encino and Reseda in the Valley area; the Stadium, Torrance; Garmar, Montebello; Park, Gardena; Star, La Puente; and the Towne, Atlantic and Cabart in Long Beach. Doors will open at 12 noon with pictures starting at 1 p.m.
2157 is a vacant lot.
It could be demolished if there were two similar wings for the building in the photo above. The building on the corner of LB Blvd looks remarkably similar to the 1947 photo above, but that address is a little north of 5364. I took some photos which I will post soon. Current occupants are a beauty salon and furniture store.
No trace of the theater today. There is an office building at that address.