Republic Theatre
629 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
629 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
One of many theatres which used to line S. Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles. This must have been an early closure as it was operating in 1923, but had gone from listings by 1926.
The site of the Republic Theatre is currently un-developed and is used as a parking lot.
Any further information on this theatre would be appreciated.
Contributed by
KenRoe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
Actually, I guess this Republic was the Belasco. It’s the same owner.
(Aug. 1, 1914)
BERT LEVY'S
REPUBLIC THEATER,
Main. Bet. 3rd and 4th.
Continuous 1:20 to 11 p.m.
Finally, this theater shows up……
(Sept. 2, 1923)
REPUBLIC THEATER, 629 ½ South Main Street
Sept. 1-3-Jack Holt and Bebe Daniels in “North of the Rio Grande."
Sept. 4-7-William S. Hart in "White Oak."
Sept. 8-10-Douglas Fairbanks in "Arizona.”
Here is a Paramount Week advertisement from 1923. I haven’t heard of some of these.
View link
The Belasco Theatre (later Republic/Follies) was located at 337 S. Main Street. This Republic Theatre is a different building.
vokoban: I don’t remember Dave’s Music Box being there in the 1960s. My best guess is that it was a bar. The name might also suggest a record shop, but it looks as though the shop windows are blocked- long a legal requirement for bars in California, but a bad idea for a retail shop, so I’m thinking it was not a record store.
It looks as though by 1941 the Republic had become a bus station. This photo shows a pawn shop at 627 S. Main, and the entrance to the All American Bus Lines station is the next door south. I don’t know if it was a remodeling or new construction.
The 1923 Paramount ad is interesting. The only downtown Broadway house listed is the Garrick, but it looks as though Paramount product just dominated the Main Street houses- ten of them between 1st and 7th Streets alone, which was probably close to half of all the operating movie theatres on the strip.
Incidentally, for anybody wondering where Moneta Avenue is, with its four listed theatres, that was the original name of what is now Broadway south of downtown. Until 1920s, Broadway ended at 10th Street. When it was cut through it connected to Moneta Avenue, which was finally renamed Broadway in 1930.
I think the theater occupied the whole building, by the looks of it. Perhaps 625-629.
The LA Times reported exploding film and panic at a theater at 649 South Main on 4/26/21. Maybe the Republic, maybe not. The addresses are dissimilar.
If the address of 649 was not a typo, then my guess would be that the Republic moved up the block to new quarters when that big office building on the northwest corner of 7th and Main was built. 649 S. Main would have been very near the corner of 7th Street.
Here is a 1915 ad similar to what vokoban was discussing back in May:
http://tinyurl.com/2dyrjb
This became the Republic theatre on December 23rd, 1912. Grand opening ad posted.