The August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine announced that the Dickinson Circuit would take over the Show Theatre on September 1. It also said that the Show had originally opened in September, 1947. Dickinson intended to remodel the house and give it a new name. It was to be operated as a first-run theater. Seating capacity was given as 876.
Before the 1949 remodeling, the Fayette had been called the Paramount. The new owner, Edwin P. Brown, was also the operator of the Soisson Theatre. This information is from an item in the August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the new Lund Theatre in Carmichaels had opened on August 5th. The new theater was adjacent to the previous Lund Theatre, which was to be closed and converted to a storeroom. The new building was 60'x140' and had a 28'x30' stage. The seating capacity of the new house was given as 800. The proprietors were named as John Lund and his son, Werner “Fuzzy” Lund.
When this theater opened, Boxoffice Magazine’s headline writer apparently conflated the location of the theater with the town its owners lived in. Under the headline “Opens Redwood City Paris” in their August 21, 1961, issue is a brief item saying that Jean Renoir’s “Picnic On the Grass” had been the opening attraction at the new “…Paris Theatre and espresso house….” The owners were named as Mr. and Mrs. Harold Snyder, of Redwood City.
Richard D. King was apparently not the architect of the El Portal. A Southwest Builder & Contractor article from May 13, 1924, said that he was designing a theater and office building for Las Vegas, but that was four years before the El Portal opened. It’s pretty much certain that the architect of the El Portal was Charles Alexander MacNelledge, as the plaque on the building (seen on this page) says. I don’t know if King’s 1924 project was carried out or not, but if it was it has to be some other theater.
An extensive remodeling of the El Portal in 1961, including enlarging the lobby, some alterations to the auditorium, the installation of a new marquee and vertical sign, and redecoration throughout, was handled by architect J. Maher Weller, according to an article in the August 21 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year.
I’ve come across another Redwood City puzzler. Under the headline “Opens Redwood City Paris” in the August 21, 1961, issue of Boxoffice Magazine is a brief item saying that Jean Renoir’s “Picnic On the Grass” had been the opening attraction at the new “…Paris Theatre and espresso house….” No address is given, but the owners were named as Mr. and Mrs. Harold Snyder of Redwood City.
Anybody know anything about this theater? Boxoffice sometimes got details wrong, so the new theater might have actually been in a nearby town.
Looking at the 1932 photo again, I notice that there is equipment hanging from the roof sign, and the marquee attraction board is empty. I’d say it’s likely the theatre was not yet open when the photo was taken. The photo might date from early August.
Gerald: I think it probably says “Metropolitan” on the front of the marquee. Here are a couple of excerpts from an article in the September 1, 1932, issue of New England Film News: [quote]“August 25 at 10 o'clock a.m., marked the opening of "Jake” Conn’s new 4100 seat Metropolitan Theatre here….
“‘Jake’…stated that never in his opening of 16 theatres has he ever been accorded such a grand ovation as on the opening of the new Conn’s Metropolitan.”[/quote]
The article also noted that the Metropolitan would be operated as a subsequent-run house with “…admissions scaled to a 30-cent top at all times.”
Conn’s Metropolitan should probably be listed as an aka.
I’ve come across a couple of references that must be to this theater, in issues of Boxoffice Magazine dating from 1937. They mention the operator as A.L Woods or Ashley Woods, but cite him as the operator of the “Chino Theatre, Chino.” I wonder if Chino Theatre was an actual aka for the house before it became the Woods, or if Boxoffice was just careless about the name?
From Boxoffice Magazine, October 8, 1938: “Lou Berkoff, owner of the La Tosca Theatre here, will start construction immediately on a new 600-seat house at Pico Blvd. and Manhattan Ave. Plans have been approved and Berkoff is awaiting a building permit.”
The Lewis and Clark Theatre was designed by the Seattle firm of John Graham & Associates, which also designed numerous major office buildings, hotels, and shopping malls in the northwest through the first two thirds of the twentieth century. Their most famous work is undoubtedly Seattle’s Space Needle. Decoration of the theater was done by the A.B. Heinsbergen Co. The orginal single screen auditorium had 2200 seats.
The mid-century modern facade of the Lewis and Clark Theatre was featured on the cover of the March 7, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The October 19 issue of Boxoffice that same year published three additional photos of the theatre, including two of the lobby and one showing the free-standing sign and attraction board.
The lobby was 112 feet long, with a 24x48 foot TV and smoking lounge at one end. The lobby walls were mostly glass, and fronted a broad loggia with a boxoffice that featured glass walls tapering upward to the ceiling from counter height. The exterior corners of the original building were faced with rough native stone. All of this was drastically altered when the four additional auditoriums were added to the house.
Architectural plans of the Meadowbrook Theatre are listed in the finding aid of the J. Evan Miller Collection of Cinerama Theater Plans at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Meadowbrook, opened in 1949, was designed by New York City architect E.C.A. Bullock, a nephew of George and Cornelius Rapp who had worked in their Chicago firm for many years before establishing his own practice. The Syosset Theatre, a few miles from East Meadow, was another theater he designed.
The architect of the Syosset Theatre was E.C.A. Bullock, who also designed the Meadowbrook Theatre in East Meadow, NY., as well as the U.S. Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Mars Theatre, Mars, Pennsylvania. Bullock was a nephew of George and Cornelius Rapp, and worked in their firm for many years following his graduation from the University of Illinois in 1910.
The Syosset Theatre was featured in a two-page spread in the January 5, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
An item in the August 26, 1939, issue of Boxoffice Magazine probably referred to this theatre, though the item was datelined Bell, California (Bell Gardens did not incorporate until 1961, and in 1939 the magazine may have simply assumed it was part of the city of Bell.) It said that the new Towne Theatre was scheduled to open on August 30. The owners and builders of the Towne were named as Al Bowman and M. Kaplan. The house was to have 650 seats.
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives 1922 as the original construction date for this building. With the other evidence in comments above, that should confirm that this theater was the Maybell, opened in 1922, and remodeled by S. Charles Lee in 1937.
The Nuart probably opened in 1930. Southwest Builder & Contractor’s issue of March 21, 1930, carried an item about the construction contracts for the theater. Motion Picture Herald of March 26, 1932, mentioned a management change at the Nuart Theatre in Sawtelle. In 1939, the house was already being remodeled and redecorated and getting a new marquee, according to an item in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of August 5th that year.
Oh, you can also use the Live Search link in my comment immediately above to fetch a bird’s-eye view of the Riviera itself, or just drag the view back and forth between the two buildings (or all over town.)
A brief item from the July 9, 1938, issue of Boxoffice Magazine mentions three theaters operating in Avalon at the time: “Visitors… Art LaShell, manager of the Avalon, Riviera, and Samoa in Catalina, accompanied by Ernie Gans, who will produce a stage show at the Samoa shortly.”
There was nothing about whether the Samoa also ran movies, but as it was managed by the same guy who managed the Avalon and Riviera, it seems likely that it did. Avalon wasn’t a very large town, but it had a huge tourist population and probably could have supported three movie houses during the season. I wonder if the Samoa could have been the 1924-25 project by Webber, Staunton & Spaulding which was later converted into the post office?
Avalon’s post office is currently located on Metropole Avenue, in a newer building, but there’s a building at 409 Crescent Avenue that looks as though it could have been a theater, having what seems to be a former stage tower. The building currently has a courtyard, but the L.A. County Assessor’s office gives it an original construction date of 1926, and an effective construction date of 1941, so the courtyard might date from the rebuilding at that latter date.
Google Maps has no street views of Avalon, but a bird’s-eye view of the building can be seen at Live Search. Search on 409 Crescent Av., Avalon Ca.
Boxoffice Magazine of September 18, 1937, carried an article about the recent opening of the Liberty Theatre in Ellensburg. The owner of the theater was Frederick Mercy. The house had 750 seats on opening, and was designed by Seattle architect Bjerne Moe, designer of many theaters in the Pacific Northwest.
From Boxoffice Magazine, September 18, 1937: “Roy Irvine has opened his new theatre in Ritzville, Wash. The house seats 450 and was designed by Bjarne Moe.”
Bjarne Moe was the architect of the Roxy Theatre, Bremerton; the Crest Theatre in Seattle; the Lake City Theatre, Seattle; the Bungalo Theatre, St. Maries, Idaho; and the Liberty Theatre, Ellensburg. There are probably quite a few others, but I haven’t unearthed them yet. In addition, he was the architect for many theatre remodeling jobs.
A 1944 issue of Boxoffice featured a photo of many employees of the Seattle office of the B.F. Shearer Co., a theater supply and design house. Bjarne Moe was among them.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of March 11, 1950, contained an item saying that the Sutter Theatre was nearly ready to open, and that the date would be either March 15 or March 21, depending on the timely completion of some remaining interior work.
Roger G: Sorry it took so long for me to get back to t his page. My e-mail service quit sending notifications from Cinema Treasures and I haven’t gotten around to changing my address, so I don’t know when I get replies.
Anyway, the photo link still works for me. Maybe Flickr was sown when you clicked it. Just in case it’s some other problem, here’s the bare link:
The August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine announced that the Dickinson Circuit would take over the Show Theatre on September 1. It also said that the Show had originally opened in September, 1947. Dickinson intended to remodel the house and give it a new name. It was to be operated as a first-run theater. Seating capacity was given as 876.
Before the 1949 remodeling, the Fayette had been called the Paramount. The new owner, Edwin P. Brown, was also the operator of the Soisson Theatre. This information is from an item in the August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the new Lund Theatre in Carmichaels had opened on August 5th. The new theater was adjacent to the previous Lund Theatre, which was to be closed and converted to a storeroom. The new building was 60'x140' and had a 28'x30' stage. The seating capacity of the new house was given as 800. The proprietors were named as John Lund and his son, Werner “Fuzzy” Lund.
When this theater opened, Boxoffice Magazine’s headline writer apparently conflated the location of the theater with the town its owners lived in. Under the headline “Opens Redwood City Paris” in their August 21, 1961, issue is a brief item saying that Jean Renoir’s “Picnic On the Grass” had been the opening attraction at the new “…Paris Theatre and espresso house….” The owners were named as Mr. and Mrs. Harold Snyder, of Redwood City.
Thanks, Larry. I’ll put the information about the opening on the Paris page.
Richard D. King was apparently not the architect of the El Portal. A Southwest Builder & Contractor article from May 13, 1924, said that he was designing a theater and office building for Las Vegas, but that was four years before the El Portal opened. It’s pretty much certain that the architect of the El Portal was Charles Alexander MacNelledge, as the plaque on the building (seen on this page) says. I don’t know if King’s 1924 project was carried out or not, but if it was it has to be some other theater.
An extensive remodeling of the El Portal in 1961, including enlarging the lobby, some alterations to the auditorium, the installation of a new marquee and vertical sign, and redecoration throughout, was handled by architect J. Maher Weller, according to an article in the August 21 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year.
I’ve come across another Redwood City puzzler. Under the headline “Opens Redwood City Paris” in the August 21, 1961, issue of Boxoffice Magazine is a brief item saying that Jean Renoir’s “Picnic On the Grass” had been the opening attraction at the new “…Paris Theatre and espresso house….” No address is given, but the owners were named as Mr. and Mrs. Harold Snyder of Redwood City.
Anybody know anything about this theater? Boxoffice sometimes got details wrong, so the new theater might have actually been in a nearby town.
Looking at the 1932 photo again, I notice that there is equipment hanging from the roof sign, and the marquee attraction board is empty. I’d say it’s likely the theatre was not yet open when the photo was taken. The photo might date from early August.
Gerald: I think it probably says “Metropolitan” on the front of the marquee. Here are a couple of excerpts from an article in the September 1, 1932, issue of New England Film News: [quote]“August 25 at 10 o'clock a.m., marked the opening of "Jake” Conn’s new 4100 seat Metropolitan Theatre here….
“‘Jake’…stated that never in his opening of 16 theatres has he ever been accorded such a grand ovation as on the opening of the new Conn’s Metropolitan.”[/quote]
The article also noted that the Metropolitan would be operated as a subsequent-run house with “…admissions scaled to a 30-cent top at all times.”
Conn’s Metropolitan should probably be listed as an aka.
The Monica Theatre was built in 1940, according to the L.A. County Assessor’s office.
I’ve come across a couple of references that must be to this theater, in issues of Boxoffice Magazine dating from 1937. They mention the operator as A.L Woods or Ashley Woods, but cite him as the operator of the “Chino Theatre, Chino.” I wonder if Chino Theatre was an actual aka for the house before it became the Woods, or if Boxoffice was just careless about the name?
From Boxoffice Magazine, October 8, 1938: “Lou Berkoff, owner of the La Tosca Theatre here, will start construction immediately on a new 600-seat house at Pico Blvd. and Manhattan Ave. Plans have been approved and Berkoff is awaiting a building permit.”
The Lewis and Clark Theatre was designed by the Seattle firm of John Graham & Associates, which also designed numerous major office buildings, hotels, and shopping malls in the northwest through the first two thirds of the twentieth century. Their most famous work is undoubtedly Seattle’s Space Needle. Decoration of the theater was done by the A.B. Heinsbergen Co. The orginal single screen auditorium had 2200 seats.
The mid-century modern facade of the Lewis and Clark Theatre was featured on the cover of the March 7, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The October 19 issue of Boxoffice that same year published three additional photos of the theatre, including two of the lobby and one showing the free-standing sign and attraction board.
The lobby was 112 feet long, with a 24x48 foot TV and smoking lounge at one end. The lobby walls were mostly glass, and fronted a broad loggia with a boxoffice that featured glass walls tapering upward to the ceiling from counter height. The exterior corners of the original building were faced with rough native stone. All of this was drastically altered when the four additional auditoriums were added to the house.
CinemaTour has 40 photos of the Lewis and Clark, all dating from after the additions.
Architectural plans of the Meadowbrook Theatre are listed in the finding aid of the J. Evan Miller Collection of Cinerama Theater Plans at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Meadowbrook, opened in 1949, was designed by New York City architect E.C.A. Bullock, a nephew of George and Cornelius Rapp who had worked in their Chicago firm for many years before establishing his own practice. The Syosset Theatre, a few miles from East Meadow, was another theater he designed.
The architect of the Syosset Theatre was E.C.A. Bullock, who also designed the Meadowbrook Theatre in East Meadow, NY., as well as the U.S. Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Mars Theatre, Mars, Pennsylvania. Bullock was a nephew of George and Cornelius Rapp, and worked in their firm for many years following his graduation from the University of Illinois in 1910.
The Syosset Theatre was featured in a two-page spread in the January 5, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
An item in the August 26, 1939, issue of Boxoffice Magazine probably referred to this theatre, though the item was datelined Bell, California (Bell Gardens did not incorporate until 1961, and in 1939 the magazine may have simply assumed it was part of the city of Bell.) It said that the new Towne Theatre was scheduled to open on August 30. The owners and builders of the Towne were named as Al Bowman and M. Kaplan. The house was to have 650 seats.
This was not the Maybell Theatre. The Maybell became the Alpha Theatre.
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives 1922 as the original construction date for this building. With the other evidence in comments above, that should confirm that this theater was the Maybell, opened in 1922, and remodeled by S. Charles Lee in 1937.
The Nuart probably opened in 1930. Southwest Builder & Contractor’s issue of March 21, 1930, carried an item about the construction contracts for the theater. Motion Picture Herald of March 26, 1932, mentioned a management change at the Nuart Theatre in Sawtelle. In 1939, the house was already being remodeled and redecorated and getting a new marquee, according to an item in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of August 5th that year.
Oh, you can also use the Live Search link in my comment immediately above to fetch a bird’s-eye view of the Riviera itself, or just drag the view back and forth between the two buildings (or all over town.)
A brief item from the July 9, 1938, issue of Boxoffice Magazine mentions three theaters operating in Avalon at the time: “Visitors… Art LaShell, manager of the Avalon, Riviera, and Samoa in Catalina, accompanied by Ernie Gans, who will produce a stage show at the Samoa shortly.”
There was nothing about whether the Samoa also ran movies, but as it was managed by the same guy who managed the Avalon and Riviera, it seems likely that it did. Avalon wasn’t a very large town, but it had a huge tourist population and probably could have supported three movie houses during the season. I wonder if the Samoa could have been the 1924-25 project by Webber, Staunton & Spaulding which was later converted into the post office?
Avalon’s post office is currently located on Metropole Avenue, in a newer building, but there’s a building at 409 Crescent Avenue that looks as though it could have been a theater, having what seems to be a former stage tower. The building currently has a courtyard, but the L.A. County Assessor’s office gives it an original construction date of 1926, and an effective construction date of 1941, so the courtyard might date from the rebuilding at that latter date.
Google Maps has no street views of Avalon, but a bird’s-eye view of the building can be seen at Live Search. Search on 409 Crescent Av., Avalon Ca.
Boxoffice Magazine of September 18, 1937, carried an article about the recent opening of the Liberty Theatre in Ellensburg. The owner of the theater was Frederick Mercy. The house had 750 seats on opening, and was designed by Seattle architect Bjerne Moe, designer of many theaters in the Pacific Northwest.
From Boxoffice Magazine, September 18, 1937: “Roy Irvine has opened his new theatre in Ritzville, Wash. The house seats 450 and was designed by Bjarne Moe.”
Bjarne Moe was the architect of the Roxy Theatre, Bremerton; the Crest Theatre in Seattle; the Lake City Theatre, Seattle; the Bungalo Theatre, St. Maries, Idaho; and the Liberty Theatre, Ellensburg. There are probably quite a few others, but I haven’t unearthed them yet. In addition, he was the architect for many theatre remodeling jobs.
A 1944 issue of Boxoffice featured a photo of many employees of the Seattle office of the B.F. Shearer Co., a theater supply and design house. Bjarne Moe was among them.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of March 11, 1950, contained an item saying that the Sutter Theatre was nearly ready to open, and that the date would be either March 15 or March 21, depending on the timely completion of some remaining interior work.
Roger G: Sorry it took so long for me to get back to t his page. My e-mail service quit sending notifications from Cinema Treasures and I haven’t gotten around to changing my address, so I don’t know when I get replies.
Anyway, the photo link still works for me. Maybe Flickr was sown when you clicked it. Just in case it’s some other problem, here’s the bare link:
View link
From your description, it does sound like the same postcard.