One man nearly sacrificed himself yesterday to stop a fire which later got beyond his control and gutted the New York Theater, a little moving picture show place at 255 S. Main Street.
Ralph Miller, 22 years old, was turning the reel when the celluloid caught fire. Immediately it puffed into a vicious flame. Realizing the panic that would come in the crowded theater below if the alarm spread, Miller staid (sic) in his sheet-iron coop, fighting heroically to stop the flames before they could burn him out of his nest.
Before Miller could save himself he was terribly burned about the head and hands. He was taken to the Receiving Hospital and later to his home. Miller, however, had not succeeded in preventing a panic. He was still fighting the fire when the smoke crawled through the lantern window and soared over the audience. A rush followed, and with the mass of patrons that came trooping out was an old rat, weak from age and also panic-stricken. It got out under the feet of the crowd without an injury and and walked to the end of the sidewalk, where he stood sniffing for safety directly under the feet of the horses, who were more afraid of the rat than he was of them.
The Woodley theater opened on 9/25/13. It was on Broadway between 8th and 9th. It’s not the Majestic or the Garrick. What other theaters do we have on that block?
People’s Theater address was 523 S. Main, per an ad in the LA Times dated 11/29/08. Another ad on the same page touts Long Beach as “The Atlantic City of the Pacific”, which I liked. Nobody touts my hometown any more except compulsive gamblers.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 12/25/15:
BY WAY OF CLIMAX
A film depicting a fat woman slugging a tall, thin man exploded in the Western motion picture theater, No. 255 South Main Street, yesterday, causing a temporary panic among several hundred patrons who were deep in giggles when the alarm occurred. The flames shot from the machine cage.
The crowd made a rapid exit, and the loss was confined to $300 by the quick work of the house attaches. W.B. Allan, in charge of the projecting machine, averted serious damage by closing the door to the cage as he escaped.
Crime in El Segundo on 10/29/79, according to the LA Times:
Three Arrested in Theater Hold Up
El Segundo police arrested three men on suspicion of robbing the employees and patrons of a silent movie theater at gunpoint, and beating the manager when he attempted to escape.
After robbing the employees and firing one pistol shot at the projection room ceiling, the pair forced the employees into the theater auditorium and told the patrons they were going to be robbed. Moviegoers at first thought it was a Halloween prank, but quickly complied with orders to hand over their valuables when three more shots were fired into the ceiling. Owner William Coffman, 53, was beaten when he tried to escape.
When the bandits fled with their loot in a trash sack, they discovered that El Segundo detectives had been watching the compact car in which a confederate was waiting for them. Coffman was treated at the scene by paramedics and was released for treatment by a private physician.
I think the address was 6201 W. 3rd Street. That address shows up in some LA Times articles from the fifties about shootings and other problems at the drive-in.
This article was in the LA Times, 12/25/15. The Western would have been a few doors down from the Arrow/Linda Lea. Maybe Joe Vogel can tell us if there’s another name for the Western.
BY WAY OF CLIMAX
A film depicting a fat woman slugging a tall, thin man exploded in the Western motion picture theater, No. 255 South Main Street, yesterday, causing a temporary panic among several hundred patrons who were deep in giggles when the alarm occurred. The flames shot from the machine cage.
The crowd made a rapid exit, and the loss was confined to $300 by the quick work of the house attaches. W.B. Allan, in charge of the projecting machine, averted serious damage by closing the door to the cage as he escaped.
This December 1933 article was in the Oakland Tribune:
Chain Group Buys Martinez Theater
MARTINEZ, Dec. 18â€"Sale of the Avalon Theater to T & D Jr. Enterprises, operator of the State Theater, Martinez' second playhouse, was announced today. At the same time it was stated that the Avalon will be closed temporarily for repairs. J. N. Tocchini, who opened the Avalon two years ago, will devote his interests to theaters which he operates in Napa and Santa Rosa.
This letter to the LA Times was written by a Mr. R.A. Simon on 7/24/77. It does not appear that Mr. Simon was a patron of the Pussycat Theater:
“This is part of a letter written to Councilman Joel Wachs. Certain tragic circumstances have come to my notice that the old El Portal Theater is being sold and is to be razed shortly and the Guild Theater is to be to become a porno house.
It would appear that the filth-peddlers, being forced out of Hollywood proper, are spreading their disease to the suburbs. Since the only other theater in North Hollywood (the old Lankershim Theater) is also porno, perhaps the City Council should consider making this a “red-light district” and bring to the residents the crime, pimping and prostitution that go hand-in-hand.
It seems to me that the theater owners are determined to sell to any get-rich-quick artist who doesn’t give a damn for the residents."
Unless there was two of them, this LA Times article from 3/12/14 has the Mission sold to A.E. Cornell:
A.E. Cornell, of Postville, Iowa, today closed the deal purchasing the Mission Theater, Monrovia’s largest moving picture house, from Mr. and Mrs. H. Widosky. Mr. Cornell has owned and operated hotels and apartment houses in Iowa and Los Angeles for twenty years, but has decided to go into the theater business here and expects to make Monrovia his home.
Here is an LA Times article from 10/22/49 about the sale of the theater:
Four Santa Ana Theaters Sold
Charles V. Walker and his son, Victor M. Walker, Orange County theater owners for the past thirty five years, announced that ownership of their four Santa Ana theaters would be assumed by Milton B. and Harry Arthur, owners of the Cabart Theater Corp.
The Walker’s, State, Yost and Princess theaters transaction represents one of the largest major business deals ever made here although no consideration was announced pending completion of escrow proceedings.
George A. King, president of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce and manager of the five West Coast theaters in Orange County, is a brother-in-law of the Arthur brothers and has represented the family interests in Orange County. The late Harry Arthur Sr. was a long-time theater operator in Anaheim and his sons have extensive theater holdings, with head offices in Long Beach.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 5/3/41:
Patrons Flee Theater Fire in Santa Ana
Several hundred patrons filed from the Princess Theater without injury tonight as fire broke out in the projection booth, manager Daryl Johnson reported. Amount of damage to the theater, which is located at 4th and Spurgeon Streets, was not estimated, although it was reported that the booth and a portion of the balcony were burned.
In 1933, the State was operated by T&D Enterprises, according to this article from the Oakland Tribune:
Chain Group Buys Martinez Theater
MARTINEZ, Dec. 18â€"Sale of the Avalon Theater to T & D Jr. Enterprises, operator of the State Theater, Martinez' second playhouse, was announced today. At the same time it was stated that the Avalon will be closed temporarily for repairs. J. N. Tocchini, who opened the Avalon two years ago, will devote his interests to theaters which he operates in Napa and Santa Rosa.
Two Theaters Damaged by Blasts â€" Official Points to Leniency on Picketing
Picketing “for no good reason†which has been “virtually sanctioned†by local judges, was given tonight by William F.X. Geoghan, District Attorney of King’s County, as the underlying cause of the two theater bombings which occurred early today in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The statement was made in connection with the bombing of the Forty-sixth-street Theater, New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn, and the Canal Theater, 31 Canal Street, New York, both operated by the Loew’s chain.
The bombings, which took place at a time when the theaters were empty, were believed by police investigators to be a direct result of the union war being waged by members of the Moving Pictures Operators’ Union No. 36, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and the Empire State Moving Picture Operators’ Union, an independent organization recognized by the state. It is believed that the attack was not aimed particularly at the Loew’s chain but that the two theaters were merely selected as a convenient battleground.
LA Times reported another significant fire at the Los Angeles theater on 10/21/99. The theater was being used for plays at that time, which is not surprising given the date.
The Kent and the New Arnold were listed as theaters in Arnold in July 1941, according to the Monessen Independent, so the Kent must have been around for a while.
The immortal Howdy Forrester earned $3 for playing at the Strand in Dawson Springs, according to this ad for a biography. Please note that no other books besides this one have concerned this legendary fiddler: http://tinyurl.com/37tr88
The Lyceum building is a four-story stone structure containing offices of the theater and several art and musical studios, among them the Marceau photographic gallery on the top floor. Water, which caused most of the damage, deluged the interior of the theater proper. Attaches of the theater announced at midnight, however, that no real damage has been done to the interior of the playhouse.
Damage totaling several thousand dollars was done to the Majestic Bar at no. 225 S. Spring Street, the O.L. Wuerker jewelry house at No. 229 and offices in the Theater Mechanics Association building at No. 231. Dick Ferris, the theatrical manager and promoter, created a furor in saving manuscript and valuable papers from his office facing South Spring Street on the second floor. The building was for years known as the Orpheum Theater building and the name was changed when the Orpheum sought new quarters.
Scores of merrymakers were dining in the Rathskeller at No. 235 ½ South Spring Street, when proprietor Matthewson quietly announced that there was a fire in the theater building and that the diners might leave the restaurant without paying their checks if they wished. There was a rush for the door and in less than half a minute the restaurant was cleared. No damage was done there, however, and many of the guests returned to complete their midnight dinners after the fire lines were withdrawn.
Advertised as Toho La Brea on 9/15/74 – feature was “Sword of Vengeance, Part 5”.
Open on 9/15/74 – features were “Kung-Fu Savage” and “Golden Swallow”.
This is from the LA Times, dated 11/20/13:
TRIES TO STOP THEATER PANIC
One man nearly sacrificed himself yesterday to stop a fire which later got beyond his control and gutted the New York Theater, a little moving picture show place at 255 S. Main Street.
Ralph Miller, 22 years old, was turning the reel when the celluloid caught fire. Immediately it puffed into a vicious flame. Realizing the panic that would come in the crowded theater below if the alarm spread, Miller staid (sic) in his sheet-iron coop, fighting heroically to stop the flames before they could burn him out of his nest.
Before Miller could save himself he was terribly burned about the head and hands. He was taken to the Receiving Hospital and later to his home. Miller, however, had not succeeded in preventing a panic. He was still fighting the fire when the smoke crawled through the lantern window and soared over the audience. A rush followed, and with the mass of patrons that came trooping out was an old rat, weak from age and also panic-stricken. It got out under the feet of the crowd without an injury and and walked to the end of the sidewalk, where he stood sniffing for safety directly under the feet of the horses, who were more afraid of the rat than he was of them.
The Woodley was at 840 S. Broadway.
The Woodley theater opened on 9/25/13. It was on Broadway between 8th and 9th. It’s not the Majestic or the Garrick. What other theaters do we have on that block?
People’s Theater address was 523 S. Main, per an ad in the LA Times dated 11/29/08. Another ad on the same page touts Long Beach as “The Atlantic City of the Pacific”, which I liked. Nobody touts my hometown any more except compulsive gamblers.
The Civic is an aka for the Arrow/Linda Lea.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 12/25/15:
BY WAY OF CLIMAX
A film depicting a fat woman slugging a tall, thin man exploded in the Western motion picture theater, No. 255 South Main Street, yesterday, causing a temporary panic among several hundred patrons who were deep in giggles when the alarm occurred. The flames shot from the machine cage.
The crowd made a rapid exit, and the loss was confined to $300 by the quick work of the house attaches. W.B. Allan, in charge of the projecting machine, averted serious damage by closing the door to the cage as he escaped.
Thanks to both.
Crime in El Segundo on 10/29/79, according to the LA Times:
Three Arrested in Theater Hold Up
El Segundo police arrested three men on suspicion of robbing the employees and patrons of a silent movie theater at gunpoint, and beating the manager when he attempted to escape.
After robbing the employees and firing one pistol shot at the projection room ceiling, the pair forced the employees into the theater auditorium and told the patrons they were going to be robbed. Moviegoers at first thought it was a Halloween prank, but quickly complied with orders to hand over their valuables when three more shots were fired into the ceiling. Owner William Coffman, 53, was beaten when he tried to escape.
When the bandits fled with their loot in a trash sack, they discovered that El Segundo detectives had been watching the compact car in which a confederate was waiting for them. Coffman was treated at the scene by paramedics and was released for treatment by a private physician.
I think the address was 6201 W. 3rd Street. That address shows up in some LA Times articles from the fifties about shootings and other problems at the drive-in.
This article was in the LA Times, 12/25/15. The Western would have been a few doors down from the Arrow/Linda Lea. Maybe Joe Vogel can tell us if there’s another name for the Western.
BY WAY OF CLIMAX
A film depicting a fat woman slugging a tall, thin man exploded in the Western motion picture theater, No. 255 South Main Street, yesterday, causing a temporary panic among several hundred patrons who were deep in giggles when the alarm occurred. The flames shot from the machine cage.
The crowd made a rapid exit, and the loss was confined to $300 by the quick work of the house attaches. W.B. Allan, in charge of the projecting machine, averted serious damage by closing the door to the cage as he escaped.
This December 1933 article was in the Oakland Tribune:
Chain Group Buys Martinez Theater
MARTINEZ, Dec. 18â€"Sale of the Avalon Theater to T & D Jr. Enterprises, operator of the State Theater, Martinez' second playhouse, was announced today. At the same time it was stated that the Avalon will be closed temporarily for repairs. J. N. Tocchini, who opened the Avalon two years ago, will devote his interests to theaters which he operates in Napa and Santa Rosa.
This letter to the LA Times was written by a Mr. R.A. Simon on 7/24/77. It does not appear that Mr. Simon was a patron of the Pussycat Theater:
“This is part of a letter written to Councilman Joel Wachs. Certain tragic circumstances have come to my notice that the old El Portal Theater is being sold and is to be razed shortly and the Guild Theater is to be to become a porno house.
It would appear that the filth-peddlers, being forced out of Hollywood proper, are spreading their disease to the suburbs. Since the only other theater in North Hollywood (the old Lankershim Theater) is also porno, perhaps the City Council should consider making this a “red-light district” and bring to the residents the crime, pimping and prostitution that go hand-in-hand.
It seems to me that the theater owners are determined to sell to any get-rich-quick artist who doesn’t give a damn for the residents."
Unless there was two of them, this LA Times article from 3/12/14 has the Mission sold to A.E. Cornell:
A.E. Cornell, of Postville, Iowa, today closed the deal purchasing the Mission Theater, Monrovia’s largest moving picture house, from Mr. and Mrs. H. Widosky. Mr. Cornell has owned and operated hotels and apartment houses in Iowa and Los Angeles for twenty years, but has decided to go into the theater business here and expects to make Monrovia his home.
Here is an LA Times article from 10/22/49 about the sale of the theater:
Four Santa Ana Theaters Sold
Charles V. Walker and his son, Victor M. Walker, Orange County theater owners for the past thirty five years, announced that ownership of their four Santa Ana theaters would be assumed by Milton B. and Harry Arthur, owners of the Cabart Theater Corp.
The Walker’s, State, Yost and Princess theaters transaction represents one of the largest major business deals ever made here although no consideration was announced pending completion of escrow proceedings.
George A. King, president of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce and manager of the five West Coast theaters in Orange County, is a brother-in-law of the Arthur brothers and has represented the family interests in Orange County. The late Harry Arthur Sr. was a long-time theater operator in Anaheim and his sons have extensive theater holdings, with head offices in Long Beach.
Here is an article from the LA Times dated 5/3/41:
Patrons Flee Theater Fire in Santa Ana
Several hundred patrons filed from the Princess Theater without injury tonight as fire broke out in the projection booth, manager Daryl Johnson reported. Amount of damage to the theater, which is located at 4th and Spurgeon Streets, was not estimated, although it was reported that the booth and a portion of the balcony were burned.
Here is a photo, circa 1960s:
http://tinyurl.com/ysjpfq
This is from urbanitebaltimore.com:
The recent opening of Woodward’s Antiques Gallery and Auction Theatre is the best old news. The antique gallery and auction house has found a home in what was once the Ideal Theatre (built in 1908) on The Avenue in Hampdenâ€"the perfect location for vintage. In their 5,500-square-foot space, Woodward’s houses a varied selection of nostalgiaâ€"everything from jewelry to mid-century furniture. Hard-to-find gems like Ringling Bros. Circus banners and Chicago Opera House stage props have been sighted there. Though the marquee is long gone, the original stage of the theater remains, providing the perfect setting for the store’s monthly auctions. A pleasant contrast to the new plasma televisions and sound system within the renovated auction area (installed specifically for the auction arena) are light fixtures that are both originals or reproductions from the theater’s early years. If anything, Woodward’s twists the cliché: Out with the new, in with the old. Open Monâ€"Sat 10 a.m.â€"7 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m.â€"5 p.m. 903 West 36th Street; 410-662-1875.
In 1933, the State was operated by T&D Enterprises, according to this article from the Oakland Tribune:
Chain Group Buys Martinez Theater
MARTINEZ, Dec. 18â€"Sale of the Avalon Theater to T & D Jr. Enterprises, operator of the State Theater, Martinez' second playhouse, was announced today. At the same time it was stated that the Avalon will be closed temporarily for repairs. J. N. Tocchini, who opened the Avalon two years ago, will devote his interests to theaters which he operates in Napa and Santa Rosa.
This is from the LA Times, dated 9/11/32:
UNION WAR BLAMED IN BOMBINGS
Two Theaters Damaged by Blasts â€" Official Points to Leniency on Picketing
Picketing “for no good reason†which has been “virtually sanctioned†by local judges, was given tonight by William F.X. Geoghan, District Attorney of King’s County, as the underlying cause of the two theater bombings which occurred early today in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The statement was made in connection with the bombing of the Forty-sixth-street Theater, New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn, and the Canal Theater, 31 Canal Street, New York, both operated by the Loew’s chain.
The bombings, which took place at a time when the theaters were empty, were believed by police investigators to be a direct result of the union war being waged by members of the Moving Pictures Operators’ Union No. 36, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and the Empire State Moving Picture Operators’ Union, an independent organization recognized by the state. It is believed that the attack was not aimed particularly at the Loew’s chain but that the two theaters were merely selected as a convenient battleground.
LA Times reported another significant fire at the Los Angeles theater on 10/21/99. The theater was being used for plays at that time, which is not surprising given the date.
The Kent and the New Arnold were listed as theaters in Arnold in July 1941, according to the Monessen Independent, so the Kent must have been around for a while.
The immortal Howdy Forrester earned $3 for playing at the Strand in Dawson Springs, according to this ad for a biography. Please note that no other books besides this one have concerned this legendary fiddler:
http://tinyurl.com/37tr88
Earthquake damage, 1979:
http://tinyurl.com/399os9
This is from the LA Times, dated 5/3/13. Hard to imagine throngs of pedestrians downtown at midnight, nowadays:
LYCEUM THEATER BLAZE CREATES CAFÉ PANIC
Fire in the Lyceum Theater building at 225-227-229 South Spring Street, between 11 o’clock and midnight last night resulted in a loss of approximately $10,000, caused a panic in the Rathskeller Café and blocked traffic for an hour and a half. Flames shooting to the top of the building illuminated the sky for blocks downtown and thousands of late pedestrians and throngs from the theaters gave the police a lot of trouble crowding beyond the fire lines.
The Lyceum building is a four-story stone structure containing offices of the theater and several art and musical studios, among them the Marceau photographic gallery on the top floor. Water, which caused most of the damage, deluged the interior of the theater proper. Attaches of the theater announced at midnight, however, that no real damage has been done to the interior of the playhouse.
Damage totaling several thousand dollars was done to the Majestic Bar at no. 225 S. Spring Street, the O.L. Wuerker jewelry house at No. 229 and offices in the Theater Mechanics Association building at No. 231. Dick Ferris, the theatrical manager and promoter, created a furor in saving manuscript and valuable papers from his office facing South Spring Street on the second floor. The building was for years known as the Orpheum Theater building and the name was changed when the Orpheum sought new quarters.
Scores of merrymakers were dining in the Rathskeller at No. 235 ½ South Spring Street, when proprietor Matthewson quietly announced that there was a fire in the theater building and that the diners might leave the restaurant without paying their checks if they wished. There was a rush for the door and in less than half a minute the restaurant was cleared. No damage was done there, however, and many of the guests returned to complete their midnight dinners after the fire lines were withdrawn.