My family lived in Whittier in the late ‘40s and early '50s. I remember the false sky with clouds and stars overhead, the balconies, the Spanish feeling, and the rest of it. When I was very young, I thought the movies were made in the lighthouse tower outside then sent to the screen in the theater below. We went here for the Class “A” Movies — the Wardman for the lesser “A"s, and the Roxy for the "B"s, the kiddy matinees, and the Republic Westerns.
After we lived in Whittier, we lived in Northridge, CA. The only theater around then was the Reseda Theater and according to info on this site, the Reseda had 900 seats. It was much larger than the Whittier Roxy, so I still say 600 seats for the Whittier Roxy is probably correct.
I was only a kid, but I don’t recall any way that theater could have had nearly twice the seating capacity from what I remember in the ‘50s. There was a balcony — maybe even an upper balcony —though I’m not sure. It was the smallest of Whittier’s three theaters, and the 600 seats sounds about right.
This was my theater in the early 1950s. I cheered on all my Republic Cowboy Heroes in this old movie house. It also had a stage, making me think it was probably a vaudville house at one time. I specifically remember The Son’s of the Pioneers performing on stage during the intermission of a Roy Rogers double bill. Afterwards, we kids got to go up on the stage and they gave out photos and signed autographs.
My family lived in Whittier in the late ‘40s and early '50s. I remember the false sky with clouds and stars overhead, the balconies, the Spanish feeling, and the rest of it. When I was very young, I thought the movies were made in the lighthouse tower outside then sent to the screen in the theater below. We went here for the Class “A” Movies — the Wardman for the lesser “A"s, and the Roxy for the "B"s, the kiddy matinees, and the Republic Westerns.
After we lived in Whittier, we lived in Northridge, CA. The only theater around then was the Reseda Theater and according to info on this site, the Reseda had 900 seats. It was much larger than the Whittier Roxy, so I still say 600 seats for the Whittier Roxy is probably correct.
I was only a kid, but I don’t recall any way that theater could have had nearly twice the seating capacity from what I remember in the ‘50s. There was a balcony — maybe even an upper balcony —though I’m not sure. It was the smallest of Whittier’s three theaters, and the 600 seats sounds about right.
This was my theater in the early 1950s. I cheered on all my Republic Cowboy Heroes in this old movie house. It also had a stage, making me think it was probably a vaudville house at one time. I specifically remember The Son’s of the Pioneers performing on stage during the intermission of a Roy Rogers double bill. Afterwards, we kids got to go up on the stage and they gave out photos and signed autographs.