The changes announced by W.H. Clune for advancing his popular Broadway theater still further, are now taking place. In the future this splendid theater will give big feature film dramas with much of local interest interspersed. Yesterday, however, the ever popular “Adventures of Kathlyn” entertained capacity crowds the entire day.
Here is a recap of the sale by Grauman in March 1923, from the LA Times:
DOWNTOWN PLAYHOUSE NOW SOLD
Grauman and Lasky Turn Over Metropolitan Theater to New Owners
Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater, Sixth and Hill Streets, with the property on which it stands, was sold yesterday by Sid Grauman and the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation to a syndicate of local and San Francisco business men headed by A.C. Blumenthal of A.C. Blumenthal and Company, for $4,000,000, according to announcement last night of Mr. Grauman.
The theater changed hands in September 1947, according to the LA Times:
Pan-Pacific Sold to Cord in $2,250,000 Deal
In a $2,250,000 transaction, stockholders of the Pan-Pacific Corp. yesterday sold the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, Theater and Bowling Alley and the Los Angeles ice hockey team franchise to E. L. Cord, former automobile manufacturer.
WOMAN CASHIER THUG’S VICTIM.
ROBBED AND DEALT BLOW UPON BASE OF SKULL
Lies Unconscious in Lot for an Hour, Then Walks to Her Home Where Medical Attention Is Secured—Accompanies Police on Search for Assailant.
Slugged in the head by a pursesnatcher on Tenth street near Grand avenue, early last evening. Miss Nellie Hartman, a pretty young woman of 25, cashier of the Alhambra Theater, lay in a semi-conscious condition.
BANDITS ROB ON BROADWAY
Twelve Hundred Dollars Taken From Messengers in Theater Crowd at Eighth Street
As they were about to drive away from the crowded corner of Eighth street and Broadway shortly after 10 o'clock last night with $1200 in cash and 6000 theater tickets, R.W. Neily and F.W. Peters, messengers for the Grauman Rialto Theater, were held up and robbed by three men in a large automobile.
Here is a very early photo from the LAPL. You can see the Normal School up the street which preceded the LA Library. Also the Biltmore has not yet been constructed: http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068275.jpg
An article in today’s LA Times discussed a proposal to turn Broadway between 2nd and 9th into a pedestrian mall with a busway. This had been proposed in 1977, but nothing came of it. The general manager of the Los Angeles theater was quoted favorably on the issue. I recall that this was done on Chestnut Street in the 80s with limited success. I think that street is once again open to traffic.
THEATER PANIC BARELY HALTED
Smoke from Bakery Blaze Starts Exodus
Manager Reassures Crowd and Stops Rush
Cafe Employees Driven to Street by Fire.
A panic was narrowly averted in Bard’s Cinema Theater, 444 South Hill street, late yesterday, when a fire originating in the storeroom of the M. Lowis bakery and cafe, next door, raged for nearly an hour, threatening for a time to spread to the theater.
There was a fire on 9/16/96, according to the LA Times:
A COSTLY BLAZE.
PHONOGRAPH PARLORS BADLY SCORCHED LAST EVENING. The Fire was Caused by an Electric-light Wife—Vitascope Damaged and Valuable pictures Destroyed.
Fire in Tally’s phonograph parior at No. 311 South Spring street last night did damage to the amount of several thousand dollars in less than a quarter of an Hour.
OLD BROADWAY LANDMARK PASSES INTO HISTORY
Ten-Story Building Will Replace Famous Early Motion-Picture Playhouse
PASSING of practically the last of Broadway’s interesting old landmarks took place recently when workmen removed the last of Tally’s “New Broadway” Theater to make way for erection of the new $2,000,000 addition to the May Company’s building between Eighth and Ninth on Broadway.
This article was in the LA Times on ¼/85. It turned out OK, at least:
La Reina Theatre Developer’s Ax Poised Over Landmark Movie House
The news saddened Encino resident Anna Tulanian Boyajian, 61, who grew up with La Reina. She recalled that her parents used to take her there to see Shirley Temple films and that a beau escorted her to a matinee on her first date.
If La Reina is demolished, it would leave only two other single-screen theaters in the Valley showing English-language pictures-the Studio in Studio City and the Holiday in Canoga Park. Seven other large Valley theaters have featured Spanish-language films since the late 1970s. It was then that theater chains began vacating single-screen theaters because they were too difficult to keep filled.
Dennis Bass said he sympathizes with members of the community who would like to see La Reina stay, but added, “It’s totally impractical. From the standpoint of the theater in today’s marketplace, you cannot operate with one screen.”
After 33 Years, the Main Street Gym Is Being Turned Into a Parking Lot
It Was Here That Dreams Came True
The Main Street Gym has been at its present address since 1951, ever since the original across the street burned down. Not much has changed. The ring floors, lately more electrician’s tape than canvas, have to be original issue.
Here is an LA Times blurb from 2/24/83. “Sure, we demolished the theater, but we named the office building for it, so we’re square, right?”
Culver Rebuilds
$4-Million Plaza on Old Meralta Theater Site First Major Project in Once-Ignored Downtown
Demolition has started on an entire block of old buildings in downtown Culver City to make way for the first of three major redevelopment projects—a $4-million, three-story office building called Meralta Plaza.
This is from the LA Times dated 3/14/65. Who says irony is dead?
Self-Park Structure to Replace RKO Hillstreet
Another step in the revitalization of the downtown Los Angeles area will get under way April 1 with the demolition of a famous Los Angeles landmark, the RKO Hillstreet Theater building.
Sam Hall Kaplan reported the imminent demise of the Wiltern on 4/15/79. How close was this theater to becoming a parking lot?
PERMIT SOUGHT FOR DEMOLITION
Landmark Theater in Jeopardy
A beneficent buyer is needed to save the historic Wiltern Theater from becoming just another vacant lot on Wilshire Blvd. with a forsaken “for sale” sign on it.
This blurb from the LA Times is dated 5/13/14. It doesn’t seem to correspond with the opening date of any Riverside theater listed, so perhaps the construction was delayed or canceled:
NEW BUILDING REPLACING OLD.
Riverside to Have Theater on Modern Lines
RIVERSIDE, May 12.—Plans for the demolition of a good building in the heart of the business district and the erection on the site of a motion picture theater to cost $75,000, were announced today.
True crime in September 1932, as reported (breathlessly) by the LA Times:
Two Bandits Escape With $1000 After Forcing Theater Manager to Open Vault
WILSHIRE FILM HOUSE ROBBED Pair Bind Executive, but Fail to Open Money Box Prisoner Then Freed to Work Combination
Two bandits obtained nearly $1000 from the safe of the Fox Ritz Theater at 5214 Wilshire Boulevard early yesterday after they had forced the manager. M. Spencer Leve, to accompany them from his home, 902 Shenandoah Street, and open the vault, Leve told Wilshire police.
Hawaii Theater to Open Tomorrow in Film City
Structure Introduces Numerous Unique Innovations in Design and Construction CINEMA STRUCTURE OF UNIQUE CHARM READY HAWAII THEATER TO OPEN TOMORROW IN FILM CITY
Ready for its formal dedication tomorrow night is Hollywood’s new $250,000 Hawaii Theater, unique in architectural design and structural innovations.
Here is a blurb from the LA Times on the State’s opening, dated 11/12/21:
DOORS TO OPEN TONIGHT.
State Theater Will be Honored by Presence of Many Stars of Stage and Screenland. STATE THEATER OPENS TONIGHT. Distinguished Guests, Will View First Program
Screen Stars to Appear in Impromptu Stunts
“Liliom” in Film Version is Headliner. Playing Leading Roles in Housewarming. STATE THEATER OPENS TONIGHT.
With Gov. Stephens in one box and Mayor Cryer in the other, and Marcus Loew, together with at least thirty noted motion-picture stars in the audience, Loew’s State Theater will open its doors tonight. A feature program is announced, to be preceded by many clever impromptu stunts in which some of the most prominent members of the local theatrical world will appear.
I will pick up my LAPL card on Tuesday, so I will get back to you on the access issue. Here is a lengthy but interesting article from the Times dated 6/5/39. It doesn’t name any specific theater, but the Banner will do:
Main St. “Flop†Theaters Present Gloomy Parade
Untold Stories of Misery and Broken Hopes Evident in Patronage of All Night Movies
“Open all nightâ€.
Behind those beckoning words which surmount the placard-cluttered foyers of Main Street nickel and dime houses are countless untold stories of misery and broken hopes. Hundreds of men – young, old and “on the bum†– nightly make their way to the tawdry all night theaters which for lack of any other address they sardonically call home.
A while ago the City Council was presented with a plan by the Police Commission to close these cheap movies. It was suggested that some $25,000 be appropriated to look after the itinerants who would be left “homeless†by such a move. Much councilmanic to-do about the matter ended when the city fathers – by two votes â€" killed the plan.
What caused the sudden furor? To find out, a Times reporter last night donned old clothes and a weary look and visited the half-dozen all night movies on Main Street. The junket was no picnic. In each smoke-choked, inadequately ventilated theater, the men â€" and a few women â€" who a few hours before deserted their aimless strolling outside. They slumbered fitfully while a projector unreeled three, four or more ancient films.
Their heads, supported by arms propped against the seat in front or flung back over the edge of the chair backs, nodded into consciousness only when the sound track blared unusually loud during a melodramatic sequence. A few patrons watched the pictures, mostly antiquated westerns and mysteries. You could tell the men who were awake because they smoked cigarettes incessantly in defiance of illuminated signs reading “Positively No Smoking. Fine $25.†But entertainment is not the purpose of these places. They are admittedly open for the convenience of vagabonds who are dog tired from tramping hard sidewalks.
The preferred position for “flops†seems to be along the sides of the narrow theaters, where a man could slouch against the wall in some semblance of comfort for his 40 winks. Once in position, shoes were removed and hats tipped over eyes. Now and then a drunk staggered down the aisle and collapsed into a seat. Soon he was snoring loudly. Sometimes five or six drunks snored in unison. Sometimes one became sick â€" and did not bother to leave his seat.
The atmosphere was stale and musty, an accumulation of ugly odors. The sleepers breathed heavily and their breaths were tainted with wine or cheap whisky. Trash littered the uncarpeted floors. Someone snapped peanut shells. Occasionally someone kicked an empty, discarded bottle and cursed audibly. A ripple of excitement stirred the patrons of one place when three husky rats engaged in a brief free for all in the side aisle. At the conclusion of one picture, a boy with a tray walked up the aisle mumbling “Ice cream and sandwiches, popcorn five centsâ€. No one paid him any attention. It was sleep they wanted for their nickel.
That’s the depressing picture of an all-night flop theater. Why do they keep open? Do they make any money? An assistant manager of a 5-cent house had this to say:
“Sure we make money, or we’d close. We’ve got regular customers. One man has been coming to this same theater every night for a year and a half. They panhandle enough for a pint of wine and save a nickel to sleep on. Fights? Naw. We don’t have any trouble with the customers.â€
“If we were closed up they’d find some other place to sleep. Along the streets somewhere, I guess. None of them have homes. But there’s no law that can make us close up. You can fall asleep in a show if you want. That’s your business, isn’t it? We try to keep the place clean. We spray it every morning, you know, for bugs and things. When you’ve got 5000 bums sleeping in these Main Street theaters every week, you’ve got to be a little but careful.â€
“Our place is known all over. We get fellows from all over the country and as soon as they hit town they come here for a flop. You know, you can’t flop in a show in the east for less than ten cents. We do all right. Guys like to flop in a theater because at the missions they make them come in at a certain hour and they’ve got to obey rules. Here they just come and go as they please.â€
The assistant manager did not mention, however, that the best thing about sleeping in a nickel theater is being able to walk out.
I recall talking to someone years ago about buying a loft in the Skid Row area. This must have been in the early or mid 90s. I think the asking price was $30,000. Too bad I passed it up.
From the LA Times, 5/20/14:
The changes announced by W.H. Clune for advancing his popular Broadway theater still further, are now taking place. In the future this splendid theater will give big feature film dramas with much of local interest interspersed. Yesterday, however, the ever popular “Adventures of Kathlyn” entertained capacity crowds the entire day.
Here is a recap of the sale by Grauman in March 1923, from the LA Times:
DOWNTOWN PLAYHOUSE NOW SOLD
Grauman and Lasky Turn Over Metropolitan Theater to New Owners
Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater, Sixth and Hill Streets, with the property on which it stands, was sold yesterday by Sid Grauman and the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation to a syndicate of local and San Francisco business men headed by A.C. Blumenthal of A.C. Blumenthal and Company, for $4,000,000, according to announcement last night of Mr. Grauman.
The theater changed hands in September 1947, according to the LA Times:
Pan-Pacific Sold to Cord in $2,250,000 Deal
In a $2,250,000 transaction, stockholders of the Pan-Pacific Corp. yesterday sold the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, Theater and Bowling Alley and the Los Angeles ice hockey team franchise to E. L. Cord, former automobile manufacturer.
True crime in April 1914, from the LA Times:
WOMAN CASHIER THUG’S VICTIM.
ROBBED AND DEALT BLOW UPON BASE OF SKULL
Lies Unconscious in Lot for an Hour, Then Walks to Her Home Where Medical Attention Is Secured—Accompanies Police on Search for Assailant.
Slugged in the head by a pursesnatcher on Tenth street near Grand avenue, early last evening. Miss Nellie Hartman, a pretty young woman of 25, cashier of the Alhambra Theater, lay in a semi-conscious condition.
True crime in February 1922, from the LA Times:
BANDITS ROB ON BROADWAY
Twelve Hundred Dollars Taken From Messengers in Theater Crowd at Eighth Street
As they were about to drive away from the crowded corner of Eighth street and Broadway shortly after 10 o'clock last night with $1200 in cash and 6000 theater tickets, R.W. Neily and F.W. Peters, messengers for the Grauman Rialto Theater, were held up and robbed by three men in a large automobile.
Here is a very early photo from the LAPL. You can see the Normal School up the street which preceded the LA Library. Also the Biltmore has not yet been constructed:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068275.jpg
An article in today’s LA Times discussed a proposal to turn Broadway between 2nd and 9th into a pedestrian mall with a busway. This had been proposed in 1977, but nothing came of it. The general manager of the Los Angeles theater was quoted favorably on the issue. I recall that this was done on Chestnut Street in the 80s with limited success. I think that street is once again open to traffic.
It sounded pretty grim, didn’t it?
aka Bard’s Cinema Theater? LA Times, 8/8/22:
THEATER PANIC BARELY HALTED
Smoke from Bakery Blaze Starts Exodus
Manager Reassures Crowd and Stops Rush
Cafe Employees Driven to Street by Fire.
A panic was narrowly averted in Bard’s Cinema Theater, 444 South Hill street, late yesterday, when a fire originating in the storeroom of the M. Lowis bakery and cafe, next door, raged for nearly an hour, threatening for a time to spread to the theater.
There was a fire on 9/16/96, according to the LA Times:
A COSTLY BLAZE.
PHONOGRAPH PARLORS BADLY SCORCHED LAST EVENING. The Fire was Caused by an Electric-light Wife—Vitascope Damaged and Valuable pictures Destroyed.
Fire in Tally’s phonograph parior at No. 311 South Spring street last night did damage to the amount of several thousand dollars in less than a quarter of an Hour.
End of the road, 7/7/29:
OLD BROADWAY LANDMARK PASSES INTO HISTORY
Ten-Story Building Will Replace Famous Early Motion-Picture Playhouse
PASSING of practically the last of Broadway’s interesting old landmarks took place recently when workmen removed the last of Tally’s “New Broadway” Theater to make way for erection of the new $2,000,000 addition to the May Company’s building between Eighth and Ninth on Broadway.
Maybe they had some extra rooms in the back? This is from the LA Times dated 9/21/27:
Los Angeles City Club luncheon meeting, clubhouse, 833 South Broadway, noon. Alexander Bevanl will speak on “Italy As I Found It Under Mussolini.”
This article was in the LA Times on ¼/85. It turned out OK, at least:
La Reina Theatre Developer’s Ax Poised Over Landmark Movie House
The news saddened Encino resident Anna Tulanian Boyajian, 61, who grew up with La Reina. She recalled that her parents used to take her there to see Shirley Temple films and that a beau escorted her to a matinee on her first date.
If La Reina is demolished, it would leave only two other single-screen theaters in the Valley showing English-language pictures-the Studio in Studio City and the Holiday in Canoga Park. Seven other large Valley theaters have featured Spanish-language films since the late 1970s. It was then that theater chains began vacating single-screen theaters because they were too difficult to keep filled.
Dennis Bass said he sympathizes with members of the community who would like to see La Reina stay, but added, “It’s totally impractical. From the standpoint of the theater in today’s marketplace, you cannot operate with one screen.”
This is from the LA Times, 11/1/84:
After 33 Years, the Main Street Gym Is Being Turned Into a Parking Lot
It Was Here That Dreams Came True
The Main Street Gym has been at its present address since 1951, ever since the original across the street burned down. Not much has changed. The ring floors, lately more electrician’s tape than canvas, have to be original issue.
Here is an LA Times blurb from 2/24/83. “Sure, we demolished the theater, but we named the office building for it, so we’re square, right?”
Culver Rebuilds
$4-Million Plaza on Old Meralta Theater Site First Major Project in Once-Ignored Downtown
Demolition has started on an entire block of old buildings in downtown Culver City to make way for the first of three major redevelopment projects—a $4-million, three-story office building called Meralta Plaza.
This is from the LA Times dated 3/14/65. Who says irony is dead?
Self-Park Structure to Replace RKO Hillstreet
Another step in the revitalization of the downtown Los Angeles area will get under way April 1 with the demolition of a famous Los Angeles landmark, the RKO Hillstreet Theater building.
Sam Hall Kaplan reported the imminent demise of the Wiltern on 4/15/79. How close was this theater to becoming a parking lot?
PERMIT SOUGHT FOR DEMOLITION
Landmark Theater in Jeopardy
A beneficent buyer is needed to save the historic Wiltern Theater from becoming just another vacant lot on Wilshire Blvd. with a forsaken “for sale” sign on it.
This blurb from the LA Times is dated 5/13/14. It doesn’t seem to correspond with the opening date of any Riverside theater listed, so perhaps the construction was delayed or canceled:
NEW BUILDING REPLACING OLD.
Riverside to Have Theater on Modern Lines
RIVERSIDE, May 12.—Plans for the demolition of a good building in the heart of the business district and the erection on the site of a motion picture theater to cost $75,000, were announced today.
True crime in September 1932, as reported (breathlessly) by the LA Times:
Two Bandits Escape With $1000 After Forcing Theater Manager to Open Vault
WILSHIRE FILM HOUSE ROBBED Pair Bind Executive, but Fail to Open Money Box Prisoner Then Freed to Work Combination
Two bandits obtained nearly $1000 from the safe of the Fox Ritz Theater at 5214 Wilshire Boulevard early yesterday after they had forced the manager. M. Spencer Leve, to accompany them from his home, 902 Shenandoah Street, and open the vault, Leve told Wilshire police.
This is from the Times, dated 5/5/40:
Hawaii Theater to Open Tomorrow in Film City
Structure Introduces Numerous Unique Innovations in Design and Construction CINEMA STRUCTURE OF UNIQUE CHARM READY HAWAII THEATER TO OPEN TOMORROW IN FILM CITY
Ready for its formal dedication tomorrow night is Hollywood’s new $250,000 Hawaii Theater, unique in architectural design and structural innovations.
Here is a blurb from the LA Times on the State’s opening, dated 11/12/21:
DOORS TO OPEN TONIGHT.
State Theater Will be Honored by Presence of Many Stars of Stage and Screenland. STATE THEATER OPENS TONIGHT. Distinguished Guests, Will View First Program
Screen Stars to Appear in Impromptu Stunts
“Liliom” in Film Version is Headliner. Playing Leading Roles in Housewarming. STATE THEATER OPENS TONIGHT.
With Gov. Stephens in one box and Mayor Cryer in the other, and Marcus Loew, together with at least thirty noted motion-picture stars in the audience, Loew’s State Theater will open its doors tonight. A feature program is announced, to be preceded by many clever impromptu stunts in which some of the most prominent members of the local theatrical world will appear.
I will pick up my LAPL card on Tuesday, so I will get back to you on the access issue. Here is a lengthy but interesting article from the Times dated 6/5/39. It doesn’t name any specific theater, but the Banner will do:
Main St. “Flop†Theaters Present Gloomy Parade
Untold Stories of Misery and Broken Hopes Evident in Patronage of All Night Movies
“Open all nightâ€.
Behind those beckoning words which surmount the placard-cluttered foyers of Main Street nickel and dime houses are countless untold stories of misery and broken hopes. Hundreds of men – young, old and “on the bum†– nightly make their way to the tawdry all night theaters which for lack of any other address they sardonically call home.
A while ago the City Council was presented with a plan by the Police Commission to close these cheap movies. It was suggested that some $25,000 be appropriated to look after the itinerants who would be left “homeless†by such a move. Much councilmanic to-do about the matter ended when the city fathers – by two votes â€" killed the plan.
What caused the sudden furor? To find out, a Times reporter last night donned old clothes and a weary look and visited the half-dozen all night movies on Main Street. The junket was no picnic. In each smoke-choked, inadequately ventilated theater, the men â€" and a few women â€" who a few hours before deserted their aimless strolling outside. They slumbered fitfully while a projector unreeled three, four or more ancient films.
Their heads, supported by arms propped against the seat in front or flung back over the edge of the chair backs, nodded into consciousness only when the sound track blared unusually loud during a melodramatic sequence. A few patrons watched the pictures, mostly antiquated westerns and mysteries. You could tell the men who were awake because they smoked cigarettes incessantly in defiance of illuminated signs reading “Positively No Smoking. Fine $25.†But entertainment is not the purpose of these places. They are admittedly open for the convenience of vagabonds who are dog tired from tramping hard sidewalks.
The preferred position for “flops†seems to be along the sides of the narrow theaters, where a man could slouch against the wall in some semblance of comfort for his 40 winks. Once in position, shoes were removed and hats tipped over eyes. Now and then a drunk staggered down the aisle and collapsed into a seat. Soon he was snoring loudly. Sometimes five or six drunks snored in unison. Sometimes one became sick â€" and did not bother to leave his seat.
The atmosphere was stale and musty, an accumulation of ugly odors. The sleepers breathed heavily and their breaths were tainted with wine or cheap whisky. Trash littered the uncarpeted floors. Someone snapped peanut shells. Occasionally someone kicked an empty, discarded bottle and cursed audibly. A ripple of excitement stirred the patrons of one place when three husky rats engaged in a brief free for all in the side aisle. At the conclusion of one picture, a boy with a tray walked up the aisle mumbling “Ice cream and sandwiches, popcorn five centsâ€. No one paid him any attention. It was sleep they wanted for their nickel.
That’s the depressing picture of an all-night flop theater. Why do they keep open? Do they make any money? An assistant manager of a 5-cent house had this to say:
“Sure we make money, or we’d close. We’ve got regular customers. One man has been coming to this same theater every night for a year and a half. They panhandle enough for a pint of wine and save a nickel to sleep on. Fights? Naw. We don’t have any trouble with the customers.â€
“If we were closed up they’d find some other place to sleep. Along the streets somewhere, I guess. None of them have homes. But there’s no law that can make us close up. You can fall asleep in a show if you want. That’s your business, isn’t it? We try to keep the place clean. We spray it every morning, you know, for bugs and things. When you’ve got 5000 bums sleeping in these Main Street theaters every week, you’ve got to be a little but careful.â€
“Our place is known all over. We get fellows from all over the country and as soon as they hit town they come here for a flop. You know, you can’t flop in a show in the east for less than ten cents. We do all right. Guys like to flop in a theater because at the missions they make them come in at a certain hour and they’ve got to obey rules. Here they just come and go as they please.â€
The assistant manager did not mention, however, that the best thing about sleeping in a nickel theater is being able to walk out.
Since my links have expired, here is a color postcard showing the Reseda Theater:
http://tinyurl.com/ypa33o
Here is a more contemporary photo of the marquee:
http://tinyurl.com/ywxlwc
This is from an interesting blog – author unknown, so thanks to whomever:
http://tinyurl.com/34urw2
I recall talking to someone years ago about buying a loft in the Skid Row area. This must have been in the early or mid 90s. I think the asking price was $30,000. Too bad I passed it up.