Ron: The store was called “Swelldom,” and I believe it sold clothing. I never went inside, but it was there for ages. If I recall correctly, Leroy’s was a jewelery store. Desmond’s was also a clothing shop by the 1960s, but I think it began as a department store. I recently found that the five story 1920s era Spanish Colonial style building up Broadway from the Palace (and almost directly across the street from the Los Angeles) was originally Desmond’s Department Store. By the 1960s, that building housed a cafeteria, and Desmond’s had moved to a nearby building.
I have come across a reference card in the L.A. Public Library database which briefly quotes a newspaper story of 9/23/1917 (the card refers to the “L.A. Times?” with the question mark, so the identifying info was apparently lost.) It says that a “Metropolitan Cafe” was planned for a site on West 8th Street between Broadway and Hill. It was owned by a Mr. Marcell Annechaini, and would be called the Maison Marcell. The article, with an illustration, was supposed to be in the Central Library’s California Vertical File, under “Restaurants- Los Angeles- Maison Marcell.” I think the cards in the database antedate the library fire of the mid-1980s, and I don’t know if this file survived or not. If it still exists, the illustration might help to identify the building.
Since the Olympic is supposed to have been in a building that previously housed a restaurant, this particular establishment seems the most likely candidate, having been large enough to warrant a newspaper article which was then preserved. The restaurant must have been on the north side of the street, as Hamburger’s Department store already occupied the south side of the block in 1917.
The card does not say if a new building was being built for the restaurant, or if an existing building was being remodeled. If it was a new building, then it seems likely that it would have been completed in 1918, in which case the date of 1908 on the photograph of the Olympic linked in the comment above by manwithnoname might be no more than a typo, one number off.
The Fox Anaheim was built in 1920, and was originally called the California Theatre. It was designed by Meyer and Holler, and the original owner was Mr. Theodore Roberts, who leased the theatre to Sol Lesser & Gore Brothers of Los Angeles.
The architectural style of the Lyceum was Richardsonian Romanesque, named for its progenitor, the Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson. So popular was this style in the 1880s that, by the end of that decade, the streets of Los Angeles were lined with dozens of prominent Romanesque buildings, including the City Hall, the Los Angeles County Courthouse, and Los Angeles High School.
The architect of this theatre was Richard D. King. His plans for it were announced in the January 26th, 1923, issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor. The building was owned by First Bank of Hermosa Beach, and contained the Metropolitan Theatre, the banking rooms, three shops and ten offices. It measured 95' by 130'.
I believe that stevebob is correct that the Vista is on Sunset Drive rather than Sunset Boulevard, as the theater is east of Hillhurst Avenue, which is where the street name changes. Sunset Boulevard bends south at Hillhurst.
This theater ran its last movie early in February, 1985, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram article on February 4th of that year which announced its closing.
My September 10, 1971 issue of the L.A. Times has the Ventura Theatre listed in its Independent Theatres section. The theatre is no longer listed in my August 24th, 1986 issue of The Times.
In the 1971 paper, Mann predecessor National General Theatres lists three houses in its Ventura section: The Fox in Ventura, the Fox in Oxnard, and the Conejo (no exact addresses given). The Mann Theatres listings from the 1986 paper includes two multiplex theatres in Ventura: the Ventura Twin, at 208 E. Mills, and the six-screen Buenaventura on Highway 101. No other Mann theatres are listed for Ventura at that date.
As I understand it, the plan is to gut the auditorium and build what will essentialy be a new, steel-reinforced structure inside the existing walls. The basement and part of the ground floor will be used as a parking garage, the remainder of the ground floor for retail stores, and two upper floors will house offices. The need for parking in the area would probably preclude any plan that would preserve the theater itself.
I didn’t finish that last sentence. It ought to have said that the El Rey was certainly the oldest intact movie theater still standing north of Sacramento.
It’s interesting that it outlasted two Chico multiplexes which closed recently after operating only a few years.
The El Rey is being closed, after being sold to Eric Hart, owner of the nearby Senator Theater. Though the Senator is slowly being restored, the historic El Rey building is to be converted into an office-retail and parking complex after the interior of the building has been gutted.
This theater is older than I had thought. It opened in 1905 as a vaudeville house called the Majestic, but it began showing movies along with the stage shows soon after opening. In 1926, it was remodeled by the Sacramento architectural firm of Starks and Flanders, for the new owners, the National Theaters Circuit, and the theater was renamed the National. It was remodeled again in 1939, and the name changed to the American Theater. In 1946, a fire caused severe damage to the building and destroyed the marquee. The interior of the theater was rebuilt, and the present art moderne murals of the auditorium date from this time. At about the same time, fire destroyed an Oakland theater called the El Rey, but spared its marquee, which was subsequently moved to this theater in Chico, giving it its final name.
The closing of the El Rey not only ends nearly a century of movies in this grand old house, but leaves the city of Chico with only two operating movie houses- Cinemark’s 14 screen Tinseltown complex, and the very small, single screen downtown art house, the Pageant. I believe that the El Rey was the last big, single screen theater operating in the central valley north of Sacramento, and it was certainly the oldest.
David: I haven’t heard what the fate of the Monterey Mall Cinemas will be, but as they were in a building that is part of a shopping center, it seems likely that they will eventually be converted to ordinary retail space. I doubt that they will ever reopen for movies, since another company is building a much larger multiplex about a mile north on Atlantic Boulevard.
I checked the L.A. public library data base, and there is a card referencing a 1990 issue of Southern California Quarterly (the publication of The Southern California Historical Society) which mentions an Empress Theater in Los Angeles, but the card gives no indication of where exactly it was, or when it existed, or if it was an earlier name of some theater already listed here. The magazine itself is undoubtedly available at many L.A. area libraries, though. I think Alhambra’s library used to have a subscription to it, back in the days when I often went there.
The L.A. library database also has a card for a book about Covina which mentions an Empress Theater opening in that city in September, 1911.
Don S: The Belasco never ran movies. That’s why it isn’t even listed on this site. You’re right that the Mayan is still standing, but being below Olympic Boulevard, it’s kind of out-of-the-way for a major downtown theatre. That’s probably why William didn’t mention it. Its days of showing English language movies are so far in the past that I don’t even remember them. By the time I first saw the place, shortly after 1960, it had already become a Spanish language house.
Here is another theater that one could wish might at least have been saved by being converted to a church. But then perhaps the modest religious folk would have found the ornate, pagan-inspired decoration too lavish and strange a setting for their services- not to mention too costly to maintain.
But the description of this exotic architectural fantasy brings me astonishment, knowing that it was a mere neighborhood theater. There were certainly no theaters this splendid in the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood in which I grew up, despite the fact that several of our local houses were of the same era as the Egyptian. Suddenly, I feel retroactively deprived.
It would be interesting to snoop around in their storage rooms and such, to see if some evidence of former use remains, though after such a long time, it’s likely that there have been many remodelings done. If anything does remain, it’s likely to be buried under other layers. It would be like digging for Troy.
At one time there were at least two colleges in downtown Los Angeles. One of them, St. Vincent’s, was probably gone by the time this theatre opened. It was located on the block of 7th Street between Broadway and Hill, where Bullock’s Department store was later built in 1905 or 1906. The college left its name to the alley that ran between Bullock’s two buildings, St. Vincent’s Court.
The other college might have still been downtown, though. This was one of the California State Normal Schools (teacher’s colleges) and was originally located on the block where the central library was later built. I’m not sure when it moved, but it was relocated to the Vermont Avenue site that is now the campus of Los Angeles City College. The State Normal School became Los Angeles State College, and the two schools shared the Vermont Avenue Campus until the state college moved again, to its current site adjacent to the Long Beach and San Bernardino Freeways, where it was eventually renamed California State University at Los Angeles.
re stevebob’s observation: That is odd, and I hadn’t noticed it. But the Susan Hayward remake of “Back Street” did indeed come out in 1961, and the cars in the photo are certainly of that era. I visited Hollywood Boulevard a few times in those days, but never noticed the change in the Warner’s marquee. Maybe they had some sort of modular system, to make the changeout easier.
Bond was a national chain of moderately-priced clothing stores. This store was still operated by the Bond company in the 1960s, and I went in there once or twice. One thing I do recall about it (aside from the fact that their merchandise was amazingly stodgy, and the premises rather worn and outdated) is that the store had an unusually high ceiling for a retail shop. That might be an indication that it was originally a theatre.
My earliest memory of the ornate building on this site is from the early 1960s. At that time, it was a cafeteria, though I don’t remember the name, and I never went inside. I had always assumed that it was built as a cafeteria, as they were very big business in Los Angeles in the 1920s and were frequently housed in elaborate structures. But now that I think of it, the interior I remember seeing through the big front windows did seem to be much more modern than the exterior, and might have been installed as early as the 1940s. It’s possible that this building was erected as a theatre.
I definitely recall seeing the Galway listed in the theatre guide in the Los Angeles Times, at least as recently as the late 1950s, maybe the early 1960s. Although I walked along that part of Main Street once in 1960, and quite a few other times begining in 1962, I don’t remember seeing the Galway. It may have been another of those theatres that lacked a big, noticeable marquee.
Also, we are still missing Main Street’s Admiral Theatre, unless it is listed under another name. I wish I could find my 1963 issue of the L.A. Sunday Times Calendar section. It might have the address listed.
I’ve checked my copy of the L.A. Times theatre guide from August 24th, 1986, and this theatre was still listed as the La Mirada Drive-In. That week, they were showing a double feature of “Armed and Dangerous” and “Manhunter.” Given the theatre’s large capacity, I’m surprised they never added additional screens to it.
Ron: The store was called “Swelldom,” and I believe it sold clothing. I never went inside, but it was there for ages. If I recall correctly, Leroy’s was a jewelery store. Desmond’s was also a clothing shop by the 1960s, but I think it began as a department store. I recently found that the five story 1920s era Spanish Colonial style building up Broadway from the Palace (and almost directly across the street from the Los Angeles) was originally Desmond’s Department Store. By the 1960s, that building housed a cafeteria, and Desmond’s had moved to a nearby building.
I have come across a reference card in the L.A. Public Library database which briefly quotes a newspaper story of 9/23/1917 (the card refers to the “L.A. Times?” with the question mark, so the identifying info was apparently lost.) It says that a “Metropolitan Cafe” was planned for a site on West 8th Street between Broadway and Hill. It was owned by a Mr. Marcell Annechaini, and would be called the Maison Marcell. The article, with an illustration, was supposed to be in the Central Library’s California Vertical File, under “Restaurants- Los Angeles- Maison Marcell.” I think the cards in the database antedate the library fire of the mid-1980s, and I don’t know if this file survived or not. If it still exists, the illustration might help to identify the building.
Since the Olympic is supposed to have been in a building that previously housed a restaurant, this particular establishment seems the most likely candidate, having been large enough to warrant a newspaper article which was then preserved. The restaurant must have been on the north side of the street, as Hamburger’s Department store already occupied the south side of the block in 1917.
The card does not say if a new building was being built for the restaurant, or if an existing building was being remodeled. If it was a new building, then it seems likely that it would have been completed in 1918, in which case the date of 1908 on the photograph of the Olympic linked in the comment above by manwithnoname might be no more than a typo, one number off.
Was the Gill of “Hebbard and Gill” Irving Gill?
The facade of this building was very Sullivanesque.
The Starlite was designed by William Glenn Balch and Clifford A. Balch. I believe it opened in 1948 or 1949. It was the only drive-in I ever attended.
The grand opening of the Fox Cinemaland was scheduled for April 10th, 1968, according to an article The Los Angeles Times of April 7th that year.
The Fox Anaheim was built in 1920, and was originally called the California Theatre. It was designed by Meyer and Holler, and the original owner was Mr. Theodore Roberts, who leased the theatre to Sol Lesser & Gore Brothers of Los Angeles.
The architectural style of the Lyceum was Richardsonian Romanesque, named for its progenitor, the Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson. So popular was this style in the 1880s that, by the end of that decade, the streets of Los Angeles were lined with dozens of prominent Romanesque buildings, including the City Hall, the Los Angeles County Courthouse, and Los Angeles High School.
The architect of this theatre was Richard D. King. His plans for it were announced in the January 26th, 1923, issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor. The building was owned by First Bank of Hermosa Beach, and contained the Metropolitan Theatre, the banking rooms, three shops and ten offices. It measured 95' by 130'.
I believe that stevebob is correct that the Vista is on Sunset Drive rather than Sunset Boulevard, as the theater is east of Hillhurst Avenue, which is where the street name changes. Sunset Boulevard bends south at Hillhurst.
This theater ran its last movie early in February, 1985, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram article on February 4th of that year which announced its closing.
My September 10, 1971 issue of the L.A. Times has the Ventura Theatre listed in its Independent Theatres section. The theatre is no longer listed in my August 24th, 1986 issue of The Times.
In the 1971 paper, Mann predecessor National General Theatres lists three houses in its Ventura section: The Fox in Ventura, the Fox in Oxnard, and the Conejo (no exact addresses given). The Mann Theatres listings from the 1986 paper includes two multiplex theatres in Ventura: the Ventura Twin, at 208 E. Mills, and the six-screen Buenaventura on Highway 101. No other Mann theatres are listed for Ventura at that date.
As I understand it, the plan is to gut the auditorium and build what will essentialy be a new, steel-reinforced structure inside the existing walls. The basement and part of the ground floor will be used as a parking garage, the remainder of the ground floor for retail stores, and two upper floors will house offices. The need for parking in the area would probably preclude any plan that would preserve the theater itself.
I didn’t finish that last sentence. It ought to have said that the El Rey was certainly the oldest intact movie theater still standing north of Sacramento.
It’s interesting that it outlasted two Chico multiplexes which closed recently after operating only a few years.
The El Rey is being closed, after being sold to Eric Hart, owner of the nearby Senator Theater. Though the Senator is slowly being restored, the historic El Rey building is to be converted into an office-retail and parking complex after the interior of the building has been gutted.
This theater is older than I had thought. It opened in 1905 as a vaudeville house called the Majestic, but it began showing movies along with the stage shows soon after opening. In 1926, it was remodeled by the Sacramento architectural firm of Starks and Flanders, for the new owners, the National Theaters Circuit, and the theater was renamed the National. It was remodeled again in 1939, and the name changed to the American Theater. In 1946, a fire caused severe damage to the building and destroyed the marquee. The interior of the theater was rebuilt, and the present art moderne murals of the auditorium date from this time. At about the same time, fire destroyed an Oakland theater called the El Rey, but spared its marquee, which was subsequently moved to this theater in Chico, giving it its final name.
The closing of the El Rey not only ends nearly a century of movies in this grand old house, but leaves the city of Chico with only two operating movie houses- Cinemark’s 14 screen Tinseltown complex, and the very small, single screen downtown art house, the Pageant. I believe that the El Rey was the last big, single screen theater operating in the central valley north of Sacramento, and it was certainly the oldest.
David: I haven’t heard what the fate of the Monterey Mall Cinemas will be, but as they were in a building that is part of a shopping center, it seems likely that they will eventually be converted to ordinary retail space. I doubt that they will ever reopen for movies, since another company is building a much larger multiplex about a mile north on Atlantic Boulevard.
That’s right. I forgot about the porn era.
I checked the L.A. public library data base, and there is a card referencing a 1990 issue of Southern California Quarterly (the publication of The Southern California Historical Society) which mentions an Empress Theater in Los Angeles, but the card gives no indication of where exactly it was, or when it existed, or if it was an earlier name of some theater already listed here. The magazine itself is undoubtedly available at many L.A. area libraries, though. I think Alhambra’s library used to have a subscription to it, back in the days when I often went there.
The L.A. library database also has a card for a book about Covina which mentions an Empress Theater opening in that city in September, 1911.
Don S: The Belasco never ran movies. That’s why it isn’t even listed on this site. You’re right that the Mayan is still standing, but being below Olympic Boulevard, it’s kind of out-of-the-way for a major downtown theatre. That’s probably why William didn’t mention it. Its days of showing English language movies are so far in the past that I don’t even remember them. By the time I first saw the place, shortly after 1960, it had already become a Spanish language house.
Here is another theater that one could wish might at least have been saved by being converted to a church. But then perhaps the modest religious folk would have found the ornate, pagan-inspired decoration too lavish and strange a setting for their services- not to mention too costly to maintain.
But the description of this exotic architectural fantasy brings me astonishment, knowing that it was a mere neighborhood theater. There were certainly no theaters this splendid in the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood in which I grew up, despite the fact that several of our local houses were of the same era as the Egyptian. Suddenly, I feel retroactively deprived.
It would be interesting to snoop around in their storage rooms and such, to see if some evidence of former use remains, though after such a long time, it’s likely that there have been many remodelings done. If anything does remain, it’s likely to be buried under other layers. It would be like digging for Troy.
At one time there were at least two colleges in downtown Los Angeles. One of them, St. Vincent’s, was probably gone by the time this theatre opened. It was located on the block of 7th Street between Broadway and Hill, where Bullock’s Department store was later built in 1905 or 1906. The college left its name to the alley that ran between Bullock’s two buildings, St. Vincent’s Court.
The other college might have still been downtown, though. This was one of the California State Normal Schools (teacher’s colleges) and was originally located on the block where the central library was later built. I’m not sure when it moved, but it was relocated to the Vermont Avenue site that is now the campus of Los Angeles City College. The State Normal School became Los Angeles State College, and the two schools shared the Vermont Avenue Campus until the state college moved again, to its current site adjacent to the Long Beach and San Bernardino Freeways, where it was eventually renamed California State University at Los Angeles.
re stevebob’s observation: That is odd, and I hadn’t noticed it. But the Susan Hayward remake of “Back Street” did indeed come out in 1961, and the cars in the photo are certainly of that era. I visited Hollywood Boulevard a few times in those days, but never noticed the change in the Warner’s marquee. Maybe they had some sort of modular system, to make the changeout easier.
Bond was a national chain of moderately-priced clothing stores. This store was still operated by the Bond company in the 1960s, and I went in there once or twice. One thing I do recall about it (aside from the fact that their merchandise was amazingly stodgy, and the premises rather worn and outdated) is that the store had an unusually high ceiling for a retail shop. That might be an indication that it was originally a theatre.
My earliest memory of the ornate building on this site is from the early 1960s. At that time, it was a cafeteria, though I don’t remember the name, and I never went inside. I had always assumed that it was built as a cafeteria, as they were very big business in Los Angeles in the 1920s and were frequently housed in elaborate structures. But now that I think of it, the interior I remember seeing through the big front windows did seem to be much more modern than the exterior, and might have been installed as early as the 1940s. It’s possible that this building was erected as a theatre.
I definitely recall seeing the Galway listed in the theatre guide in the Los Angeles Times, at least as recently as the late 1950s, maybe the early 1960s. Although I walked along that part of Main Street once in 1960, and quite a few other times begining in 1962, I don’t remember seeing the Galway. It may have been another of those theatres that lacked a big, noticeable marquee.
Also, we are still missing Main Street’s Admiral Theatre, unless it is listed under another name. I wish I could find my 1963 issue of the L.A. Sunday Times Calendar section. It might have the address listed.
I’ve checked my copy of the L.A. Times theatre guide from August 24th, 1986, and this theatre was still listed as the La Mirada Drive-In. That week, they were showing a double feature of “Armed and Dangerous” and “Manhunter.” Given the theatre’s large capacity, I’m surprised they never added additional screens to it.