I think we’ve gt an ID problem here. Note the location of the Mirror next door to the Capitol in the postcard view Lost Memory linked to on February 14, 2008. Then note the position of the Telenews in the later postcard view ken mc linked to on December 24, 2008. The Telenews and the Mirror were not in the same location. The Mirror is gone in the second view, and its building either replaced or chopped down to one floor. The Telenews was in a building adjacent to the Mirror’s location.
The Telenews opened late in 1941, and an article about it was published in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. There were quotes from the architect, Jack Corgan, and the impression I got from the article was that the Telenews was entirely new construction.
The photo would confirm that the La Shell was built as a theater, though.
I really don’t see how the Oriental could have been at the address the library gives. If they’d said 4321, where there is now a building built in 1948, it would be plausible, but the spot they say it was in there’s only that 1924 building that couldn’t possibly have been a theater. If there had been a theater there, and it had been demolished and the stores in front preserved and reduced to one story, then the Assessor’s office would have given an effectively-built date for it.
The stage house of the La Shell was apparently removed in the 1933 rebuilding, after the earthquake. The Southwest Builder & Contractor article said that the back of the building and stage house were to be rebuilt, but the La Shells must have decided to leave the stage house off. I still think it’s most likely that the library got the address wrong. Their photo collection is full of such errors.
The buildings actually look remarkably similar to me. The four wide second floor windows of the old building could have easily been narrowed into the eight windows of the La Shell, and the La Shell’s tower was undoubtedly part of the 3828 sq. ft. 1939 addition. That’s probably when the building got its Art Deco look.
Yes, the Boxoffice article confirms 1948 as the year the Nevada became the Crest. It was apparently called the Nevada for less than six full years, as the 1942 article said it had been the Wigwam before that year’s remodeling. I can’t find any earlier references to the Wigwam, so I don’t know how old it was when it became the Nevada.
One 1948 Boxoffice issue included an architects rendering of the remodeled Crest, but didn’t give the architect’s name. It was most likely done in-house by Fox, which means the lead architect would almost certainly have been Carl G. Moeller, who handled most of Fox’s designs during the Skouras era. In the pictures it certainly looks like his work.
The library also has this 1920’s photo, unearthed by ken mc, which depicts an Oriental Theatre, identified by the library as being at 5341 Long Beach Boulevard, which would have been across the street and down a block from the La Shell. Could the library have gotten the address wrong? Is it possible that Oriental was an earlier name of the La Shell?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives the construction date of the building on the parcel where the Oriental should have been as 1924, but that building bears no resemblance to a theater.
The remodeling of the Crystal Theatre to the Art Deco style was done in 1936. Architects for the remodeling were Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen. A rendering of their design was published in the November 11, 1936, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, though the caption misspelled Jorgensen as Torgensen.
The Boller-designed Princess was a replacement for an older Princess Theater which was damaged beyond repair by a fire in March, 1943. Lead architect Robert Boller wrote an article about the reconstructed theater which was published in the July 21, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The original Princess Theatre’s building had been built as a National Guard Armory in 1900. In 1907, it was converted to an opera house, with the addition of a stage and balcony. The building had become dilapidated by 1922, when it was repaired and converted into a movie house by D.E. Pitton and J. Glenn Caldwell. Caldwell eventually became sole owner, and in 1939 he gave the Princess a complete modernization.
Following the fire, despite wartime restrictions and shortages of labor and materials, with considerable assistance from other businesses in Aurora Caldwell managed to get the Princess Theatre rebuilt and opened before the end of 1943.
From Boxoffice Magazine, February 3, 1951: “The remodeled Covell Theatre in Modesto was opened recently. Bert Henson, manager for Modesto Theatres, said the cost exceeded $50,000.”
When the house was still called the Princess, it was closed following a fire, reopening in mid-1944. The June 3, 1944, issue of
Boxoffice described extensive repairs and renovations to the theater. It also noted that William B. David was the vice president and general manager of the circuit that operated Modesto Theatres. David was apparently involved in the design of the repairs and renovation, but the magazine didn’t say he was the architect.
So far I’ve found no references in Boxoffice from when the house was called the National Theatre. That might have been the opening name, as is suggested by the Historic Modesto web site. Unless the house was called the Covell only briefly after opening, my guess would be that the organ installed in the Covell Theatre in 1920 was ordered before the building was completed and the theater named, so the Wurlitzer company recorded the sale under the name of the hotel project.
Most likely the house was operated for some time under lease by the National Theatres Syndicate, which was based in San Francisco and which was well-established throughout California by the mid-1920s. Many of their theaters bore the company name, especially in the Central Valley.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
“What used to be he Nevada Theatre here is being transformed into the swank new Crest under a $100,000 improvement program. Fox West Coast is turning it into a first run showcase.”
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.
I’m cross-posting this comment to the Nevada Theatre page, as they are the same theater. The Nevada Theatre page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
“What used to be he Nevada Theatre here is being transformed into the swank new Crest under a $100,000 improvement program. Fox West Coast is turning it into a first run showcase.”
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.
My guess would be that the scan of the Nevada State Journal from which Ken got the 1943 opening date was a bit blurry, and was actually from 1948.
The July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice ran a line saying that the renovated Wigwam Theatre in Reno would reopen as the Nevada “next week.” This page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was apparently the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada Theatre in any case.
The El-Jon Theatre opened on March 23, 1945. There were 472 seats. It was designed by Kansas City architect Al Hauetter, who also designed the NRHP-listed Burlington Opry in Burlington, Kansas. He gave the El-Jon Theater a simple, streamline moderne facade of ceramic tiles in shades of rose, cream, and granite red.
The walls of the auditorium were covered with acoustic tiles laid in a pattern of light coral and buff. A ceiling tray held indirect lighting as well as the outlets for the air conditioning. The seats had plush upholstery, and the aisles featured the same carpeting as was used in the lobby.
An unusual feature of the new house was a basement recreation room with a juke box, cold drink bar, and a dance floor. This was called the Fiesta Room, and was decorated in bright colors with a Mexican theme.
The El-Jon was featured in an article in Boxoffice Magazine, July 21, 1945. The house was built for Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bills, whose Roxy Theatre in Brunswick had burned to the ground in 1943. The new building was built of fireproof masonry.
The August 24, 1946, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Park Theatre was under construction and expected to open in November that year. It was designed by San Francisco architect O.A. Deichmann (Otto Deichmann.) He also designed the Del Rio Theatre in Riverbank, California.
The March 22, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said: “Bob McNeil of Golden State gave a gala reception at his home last week following the opening of the Park Theatre at Menlo Park. Looks like the opening was a bit behind schedule.
The June 21, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said the the new Del Rio Theatre had opened recently. The owner was William Peters, who also owned the El Rey Theatre in Manteca, the Rio Theatre in Ripon, and the Lyric Theatre in Escalon.
The Del Rio had 750 seats, 135 of them loges. The architect was O.E. Deichmann of San Francisco, who also designed the Park Theatre in Menlo Park.
A later issue of Boxoffice says that the Lindsay Theatre was the one in Lindsay, so that’s cleared up. I’ve found references to the Rio Theatre in Merced as far back as 1940.
The January 8, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported that the RKO Proctor’s Theatre had been reseated, reducing capacity to 2,688. Seats in some sections of the main floor had been staggered to improve sight lines, thus reducing the number of seats in alternate rows from 12 to 11. The ends of the 11-seat rows featured extra-wide standards. The theater’s side boxes had been removed at the same time, to enlarge the floor area for regular seating.
The January 8, 1949, issue of Boxoffice gives the seating capacity of the Shoals Theatre as 1,166, with 974 Ideal Slide-Back chairs on the main floor and 192 in the balcony. The standee area would accommodate about 150 additional patrons, the article said.
The U.A. Marketplace isn’t listed yet. Neither is the ex-AMC Old Town 8 multiplex that Laemmle recently closed. I think the U.A. opened in late 1986, because construction was underway when I was last in Pasadena in August that year. It closed in 2004. The AMC opened late in 1991. A Boxoffice article I’ve lost track of said it had about 2000 seats.
I saw something about an independent operator planning to reopen the 8-plex this year, but I’ve lost track of that too. If they do then something else is bound to close. The whole region from Glendale to Monrovia is saturated with theaters, and it will get worse when (or if) AMC’s 14 screen in Atlantic Times Square opens in Monterey Park.
According to Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of January 8, 1949, the Surf Theatre had recently opened. It was designed by Palm Beach architect Frederick G. Seelman, and was originally operated by Tellco Theatres. It was described as a masonry and steel building with a marble front, a triangular marquee, and a two story pylon bearing the name Surf in red and blue neon.
The auditorium ceiling was painted in pastel shade of lavender and rose, the proscenium was surrounded with detailed molding to suggest a giant picture frame, and there was a deep red stage curtain. Carpeting was green, gray, and red.
The July 17, 1948, issue of Boxoffice contained an announcement that Seelman was designing a theater of about 1000 seats in West Palm Beach for Tellco, but this item said that the theater was to be called the Town. I don’t know of this was the house that became the Surf, or if Seelman designed two theaters for Tellco at about the same time.
I can’t find any other references to a Town Theatre in West Palm Beach, so I’d guess it was the Surf. There are no other references to Frederick Seelman in Boxoffice, either, so this might have been the only theater he ever designed.
The April 26, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an article about the recent remodeling of the Hillstreet Theatre, with several photographs. The remodeling was designed by the A.B. Heinsbergen Company.
In the 1940s and earlier, and probably at least as late as 1953, there was a second movie house in Lewistown, called the Broadway Theatre. The April 21, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Broadway Theatre in Lewistown had been redecorated and was reopening after having been closed for several years. The theater would be open only Saturday and Sundays.
The December 13, 1952, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Don Campbell, manager of the Broadway and Judith Theatres, had announced that the Broadway would show only western movies and would be open only on Saturdays and Sundays. Campbell said that the house might go to seven-day operation later that winter, but I’ve found no later references to the Broadway Theatre.
But then, from 1953 to 1958 there are a few items in Boxoffice referring to a Fergus Theatre in Lewistown. Might this have been the Broadway Theatre, renamed?
The Circle Theatre was designed by the architectural firm Bennett & Straight. There was a photo of it in the February 11, 1939, issue of Boxoffice magazine.
I think we’ve gt an ID problem here. Note the location of the Mirror next door to the Capitol in the postcard view Lost Memory linked to on February 14, 2008. Then note the position of the Telenews in the later postcard view ken mc linked to on December 24, 2008. The Telenews and the Mirror were not in the same location. The Mirror is gone in the second view, and its building either replaced or chopped down to one floor. The Telenews was in a building adjacent to the Mirror’s location.
The Telenews opened late in 1941, and an article about it was published in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. There were quotes from the architect, Jack Corgan, and the impression I got from the article was that the Telenews was entirely new construction.
The photo would confirm that the La Shell was built as a theater, though.
I really don’t see how the Oriental could have been at the address the library gives. If they’d said 4321, where there is now a building built in 1948, it would be plausible, but the spot they say it was in there’s only that 1924 building that couldn’t possibly have been a theater. If there had been a theater there, and it had been demolished and the stores in front preserved and reduced to one story, then the Assessor’s office would have given an effectively-built date for it.
The California Index has a card for a book that mentions the Alhambra Theatre in San Pedro. Card.
The stage house of the La Shell was apparently removed in the 1933 rebuilding, after the earthquake. The Southwest Builder & Contractor article said that the back of the building and stage house were to be rebuilt, but the La Shells must have decided to leave the stage house off. I still think it’s most likely that the library got the address wrong. Their photo collection is full of such errors.
The buildings actually look remarkably similar to me. The four wide second floor windows of the old building could have easily been narrowed into the eight windows of the La Shell, and the La Shell’s tower was undoubtedly part of the 3828 sq. ft. 1939 addition. That’s probably when the building got its Art Deco look.
Yes, the Boxoffice article confirms 1948 as the year the Nevada became the Crest. It was apparently called the Nevada for less than six full years, as the 1942 article said it had been the Wigwam before that year’s remodeling. I can’t find any earlier references to the Wigwam, so I don’t know how old it was when it became the Nevada.
One 1948 Boxoffice issue included an architects rendering of the remodeled Crest, but didn’t give the architect’s name. It was most likely done in-house by Fox, which means the lead architect would almost certainly have been Carl G. Moeller, who handled most of Fox’s designs during the Skouras era. In the pictures it certainly looks like his work.
The L.A. Library has this view of the La Shell, dated 1947.
The library also has this 1920’s photo, unearthed by ken mc, which depicts an Oriental Theatre, identified by the library as being at 5341 Long Beach Boulevard, which would have been across the street and down a block from the La Shell. Could the library have gotten the address wrong? Is it possible that Oriental was an earlier name of the La Shell?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives the construction date of the building on the parcel where the Oriental should have been as 1924, but that building bears no resemblance to a theater.
The remodeling of the Crystal Theatre to the Art Deco style was done in 1936. Architects for the remodeling were Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen. A rendering of their design was published in the November 11, 1936, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, though the caption misspelled Jorgensen as Torgensen.
The Boller-designed Princess was a replacement for an older Princess Theater which was damaged beyond repair by a fire in March, 1943. Lead architect Robert Boller wrote an article about the reconstructed theater which was published in the July 21, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The original Princess Theatre’s building had been built as a National Guard Armory in 1900. In 1907, it was converted to an opera house, with the addition of a stage and balcony. The building had become dilapidated by 1922, when it was repaired and converted into a movie house by D.E. Pitton and J. Glenn Caldwell. Caldwell eventually became sole owner, and in 1939 he gave the Princess a complete modernization.
Following the fire, despite wartime restrictions and shortages of labor and materials, with considerable assistance from other businesses in Aurora Caldwell managed to get the Princess Theatre rebuilt and opened before the end of 1943.
From Boxoffice Magazine, February 3, 1951: “The remodeled Covell Theatre in Modesto was opened recently. Bert Henson, manager for Modesto Theatres, said the cost exceeded $50,000.”
When the house was still called the Princess, it was closed following a fire, reopening in mid-1944. The June 3, 1944, issue of
Boxoffice described extensive repairs and renovations to the theater. It also noted that William B. David was the vice president and general manager of the circuit that operated Modesto Theatres. David was apparently involved in the design of the repairs and renovation, but the magazine didn’t say he was the architect.
So far I’ve found no references in Boxoffice from when the house was called the National Theatre. That might have been the opening name, as is suggested by the Historic Modesto web site. Unless the house was called the Covell only briefly after opening, my guess would be that the organ installed in the Covell Theatre in 1920 was ordered before the building was completed and the theater named, so the Wurlitzer company recorded the sale under the name of the hotel project.
Most likely the house was operated for some time under lease by the National Theatres Syndicate, which was based in San Francisco and which was well-established throughout California by the mid-1920s. Many of their theaters bore the company name, especially in the Central Valley.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.I’m cross-posting this comment to the Nevada Theatre page, as they are the same theater. The Nevada Theatre page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.My guess would be that the scan of the Nevada State Journal from which Ken got the 1943 opening date was a bit blurry, and was actually from 1948.
The July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice ran a line saying that the renovated Wigwam Theatre in Reno would reopen as the Nevada “next week.” This page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was apparently the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada Theatre in any case.
The El-Jon Theatre opened on March 23, 1945. There were 472 seats. It was designed by Kansas City architect Al Hauetter, who also designed the NRHP-listed Burlington Opry in Burlington, Kansas. He gave the El-Jon Theater a simple, streamline moderne facade of ceramic tiles in shades of rose, cream, and granite red.
The walls of the auditorium were covered with acoustic tiles laid in a pattern of light coral and buff. A ceiling tray held indirect lighting as well as the outlets for the air conditioning. The seats had plush upholstery, and the aisles featured the same carpeting as was used in the lobby.
An unusual feature of the new house was a basement recreation room with a juke box, cold drink bar, and a dance floor. This was called the Fiesta Room, and was decorated in bright colors with a Mexican theme.
The El-Jon was featured in an article in Boxoffice Magazine, July 21, 1945. The house was built for Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bills, whose Roxy Theatre in Brunswick had burned to the ground in 1943. The new building was built of fireproof masonry.
I forgot to close my quotes. The last sentence in that comment wasn’t in the Boxoffice item.
The August 24, 1946, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Park Theatre was under construction and expected to open in November that year. It was designed by San Francisco architect O.A. Deichmann (Otto Deichmann.) He also designed the Del Rio Theatre in Riverbank, California.
The March 22, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said: “Bob McNeil of Golden State gave a gala reception at his home last week following the opening of the Park Theatre at Menlo Park. Looks like the opening was a bit behind schedule.
That’s supposed to be O.A. Deichmann.
The June 21, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said the the new Del Rio Theatre had opened recently. The owner was William Peters, who also owned the El Rey Theatre in Manteca, the Rio Theatre in Ripon, and the Lyric Theatre in Escalon.
The Del Rio had 750 seats, 135 of them loges. The architect was O.E. Deichmann of San Francisco, who also designed the Park Theatre in Menlo Park.
A later issue of Boxoffice says that the Lindsay Theatre was the one in Lindsay, so that’s cleared up. I’ve found references to the Rio Theatre in Merced as far back as 1940.
The January 8, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported that the RKO Proctor’s Theatre had been reseated, reducing capacity to 2,688. Seats in some sections of the main floor had been staggered to improve sight lines, thus reducing the number of seats in alternate rows from 12 to 11. The ends of the 11-seat rows featured extra-wide standards. The theater’s side boxes had been removed at the same time, to enlarge the floor area for regular seating.
The January 8, 1949, issue of Boxoffice gives the seating capacity of the Shoals Theatre as 1,166, with 974 Ideal Slide-Back chairs on the main floor and 192 in the balcony. The standee area would accommodate about 150 additional patrons, the article said.
The U.A. Marketplace isn’t listed yet. Neither is the ex-AMC Old Town 8 multiplex that Laemmle recently closed. I think the U.A. opened in late 1986, because construction was underway when I was last in Pasadena in August that year. It closed in 2004. The AMC opened late in 1991. A Boxoffice article I’ve lost track of said it had about 2000 seats.
I saw something about an independent operator planning to reopen the 8-plex this year, but I’ve lost track of that too. If they do then something else is bound to close. The whole region from Glendale to Monrovia is saturated with theaters, and it will get worse when (or if) AMC’s 14 screen in Atlantic Times Square opens in Monterey Park.
According to Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of January 8, 1949, the Surf Theatre had recently opened. It was designed by Palm Beach architect Frederick G. Seelman, and was originally operated by Tellco Theatres. It was described as a masonry and steel building with a marble front, a triangular marquee, and a two story pylon bearing the name Surf in red and blue neon.
The auditorium ceiling was painted in pastel shade of lavender and rose, the proscenium was surrounded with detailed molding to suggest a giant picture frame, and there was a deep red stage curtain. Carpeting was green, gray, and red.
The July 17, 1948, issue of Boxoffice contained an announcement that Seelman was designing a theater of about 1000 seats in West Palm Beach for Tellco, but this item said that the theater was to be called the Town. I don’t know of this was the house that became the Surf, or if Seelman designed two theaters for Tellco at about the same time.
I can’t find any other references to a Town Theatre in West Palm Beach, so I’d guess it was the Surf. There are no other references to Frederick Seelman in Boxoffice, either, so this might have been the only theater he ever designed.
The April 26, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an article about the recent remodeling of the Hillstreet Theatre, with several photographs. The remodeling was designed by the A.B. Heinsbergen Company.
From Boxoffice Magazine, February 1, 1941: “Roy Starling, owner of the Grove, opened his new Urban Theatre in the Urbandale section last Thursday.”
In the 1940s and earlier, and probably at least as late as 1953, there was a second movie house in Lewistown, called the Broadway Theatre. The April 21, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Broadway Theatre in Lewistown had been redecorated and was reopening after having been closed for several years. The theater would be open only Saturday and Sundays.
The December 13, 1952, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Don Campbell, manager of the Broadway and Judith Theatres, had announced that the Broadway would show only western movies and would be open only on Saturdays and Sundays. Campbell said that the house might go to seven-day operation later that winter, but I’ve found no later references to the Broadway Theatre.
But then, from 1953 to 1958 there are a few items in Boxoffice referring to a Fergus Theatre in Lewistown. Might this have been the Broadway Theatre, renamed?
The Circle Theatre was designed by the architectural firm Bennett & Straight. There was a photo of it in the February 11, 1939, issue of Boxoffice magazine.