Laughlin Theater
347 Pine Avenue,
Long Beach,
CA
90802
347 Pine Avenue,
Long Beach,
CA
90802
1 person
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A curious, atypical and not particularly successful design by Irving Gill. Its date makes it a work of his mature style and suggests it may have been on the boards at the same time as Gill renowned Walter Luther Dodge House. What to make of the Laughlin Theater?
In 1907 Gill Had designed a wonderful house for Homer Laughlin, Jr. built in Los Angeles. Repeat clients and referrals from previous clients suggest an architect communicates well with those he builds for, and Gill had many of these.
Linkrot repair: this photo of the Laughlin Theatre is dated ca.1930 by the USC Digital Archive, but the movie advertised under the marquee is The Dangerous Moment, starring Carmel Myers, which was released in 1921. (Yes, this is the same photo we have on the Laughlin’s photo page, but the copy at the Archive can be zoomed really close.)
The Long Beach Independent reported on May 10, 1956 that the old Laughlin Theater building was to be razed. The last performance was in 1934. Following that, the building was used for storage.
That’s the one. Thanks.
Joe, your link moved again. Do you have the call number somewhere?
Like everything else in the USC digital archives, the URL for the photo of the Laughlin to which I linked in October, 2006 has been moved. It’s currently here. USC dates it as “ca1930” but it’s undoubtedly much earlier- maybe near the time of opening in 1915.
Somehow I overlooked John C’s comment of Dec 3, 2005, with the question about the painter of the murals in the theatre. I can no longer find my original source naming Wendt as the artist, but I found a card referencing an article in the Long Beach Daily Telegram of November 4, 1915, which names Hanson Duvall Puthuff as the artist. The article by Gerdts also naming Puthuff as the artist is almost certainly correct, and the reference to Wendt should be removed from this theatre’s introduction.
There’s a story in the LA Times dated 1/8/17 about a dentist that committed suicide in his office. The office was in the Homer Laughlin Theater Building at 4th and Pine. His wife was concerned when he didn’t come home and went over to the Laughlin to ask if they had seen him. One of the theater employees went up to the dentist’s office and found the body, next to a note and a bottle of poison. The dentist was twenty eight years old.
How do you carry away a safe? Wouldn’t that be kind of obvious? This is from the LA Times, dated 10/24/22:
THEATER SAFE CARRIED AWAY
Daring Long Beach Theft Brings Arrests
Former Policeman Accused of Complicity
One of Trio Confesses, Say Officials
LONG BEACH, Oct. 23.—A former Long Beach police officer and two companions are being held by local police today following the looting of the box office of the Laughlin Theater early this morning and the carrying off of a safe containing nearly $1000.
This interior photo is next in line sequentially after the one above. Do you think it’s the Laughlin or another theater?
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014863.jpg
Ken mc: The Laughlin had a wider entrance. See this correctly labeled picture:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014862.jpg
I think the picture you linked to definitely depicts the Palace, which had a very narrow entrance. An even better reason for believing that the LAPL has erroneously named this photo as being of the Laughlin is the fact that the name “Palace” can be made out (just barely), inscribed on the floor just in front of that pair of duded up fellows posing for the camera.
I posted this 1917 photo on the Palace theater page as the LAPL told me it was Fahey’s Palace on Pine Street. On another page, I am told that the same photo depicts the Laughlin at 347 Pine. Confusing.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014861.jpg
A larger photograph of the Laughlin, from the USC digital archives.
I note (from this page) that the interior murals in the Laughlin Theater titled “The Spirit of Californiaâ€were painted by William Wendt, however in an essay written in 2002 titled “The Land of Sunshine†by William H. Gerdts, Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of the City University of New York, he states that Hanson Duvall Puthuff (1875-1972) a recognised Californian plein air artist, was commissioned in 1915 to paint a number of murals for the Laughlin Theater in Long Beach “The Spirit of Californiaâ€. Gerdts essay can be found online. Does anyone know which artist actually painted the murals in this theater? or did both artists contribute to the same murals?
From the California State Library:
View link
This was a beautiful theater, as Joe so beautifully points out. It was far ahead of it’s time architecurally. I found a great photo of the theater in 1921 here…
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014859.jpg
The theater was very popular… here are 2 scenes taken of the entrance in 1927…
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014860.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014862.jpg
As Joe points out, the theater was very badly damaged in the 1933 earthquake and was pretty much beyond repair looking at the photo of the aftermath here….
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014858.jpg