Globe Theatre
204 W. 6th Street,
San Pedro,
CA
90731
204 W. 6th Street,
San Pedro,
CA
90731
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The Globe Theatre launched on January 22, 1913. Silent films were discontinued on March 15, 1930 with “The Last Performance” and sound equipment was installed. The final showings for the Globe were with burlesque and art films. It closed October 28, 1962 with the film, “Forbidden Paradise.” Days later, it appeared in a forced auction including all interior items and exterior signage.
The July 13, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Globe Theatre:
A follow-up item appeared in the issue of July 20:The September 7 issue had an item about the Globe Amusement Company itself:Architect Arthur Lawrence Valk began practicing in New York City around 1885, as junior partner in has father’s firm, L. B. Valk & Son. His father, Lawrence B. Valk, was best known for his church designs, some of which were built as far afield as Louisiana, Ohio, and Michigan. By 1904, the Valks had moved to Los Angeles. There the firm continued to specialize in churches, but by 1913 Arthur Valk had become well enough known for his work on movie theaters to have been called a “motion picture specialist” by trade journal Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer.Among his other movie houses were the Argus Theatre (later the Strand) in Santa Barbara, and the Sunbeam Theatre in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. As he also designed the Globe Theatre # 2 (later the Florence Mills Theatre), it’s possible that he designed other projects for the Globe Amusement Company, perhaps including the Globe # 1 at Fifth and Los Angeles Streets and the Globe # 3 (Holly Theatre) in Echo Park. If the Globe # 4 at 18th and Main is listed at Cinema Treasures under another name, I can’t find it.
Here’s evidence of another movie house in San Pedro, from The Music Trade Review of April 14, 1917: “The Wm. L. Glockner Music Co. reports the sale of a Wurlitzer orchestra, Style Y-O, to the Empire Motion Picture Theatre, San Pedro, Cal.”
Having been born n rasied in San Pedro, let me add to the photos and car dealers. The Ballet School was a furniture store before it became a bakery. The La Rosa Bar was the 13th Street bowling alley. It had 8 lanes with a snack bar on one side and a cocktail lounge on the other. The Rexall drug store was La Rue’s Pharmacy, which up until it closed, had a working soda fountain which was featured in several movies. The 2 car dealerships on Pacific Ave were Soderstrom Ford and Seaboard Chevrolete.
I remember the Globe in the 50’s and 60’s. But I did not go inside. I also remember the Grand. But I forget where it was. I thought it was near the Fox Cabrillo on 7th and Grand.
Having lived in San Pedro, AKA, “Peedro” for many years, let me shed a bit of light on the photos and theatres.
First, the photos. The first picture, of the ballet school was originally a very well known Norwegian bakery called Olaf Christianson’s, followed by the dance school. The bakery had been such since at least the fifties, if not earlier. The La Rosa bar was originally the Dancing Waters Club and is famous in its own right as this was Jake Lamada’s Florida nightclub in the film Raging Bull. The sign, still on the building front, though repainted for today’s use is the same sign seen in the film.
On to the theatre’s. The Strand was Fox’s move over house for the Cabrillo and was located at the corner of Pacific and 11th St. It was razed to allow for expanded parking for what’s today a bank. The Barton Hill was probably the smallest of the theatres in San Pedro, situated mid-block on the west side of Pacific between 2nd St. and Santa Cruz. In its last incarnation as a theatre, it was known as the Star, but only for a very short time and then for live events, largely community based. The Globe Theatre was on the northwest corner of Sixth and Palos Verdes St. and was razed, as previously noted.
Well known and written about frequently are the Warner Bros. San Pedro, now Warner Grand and the Fox Cabrillo. I believe these five were the only “movie” theatres. I had the opportunity to access the Sanborn maps, which I believe are still available online at the LA Public Library, but you have to have a library card to access them. In 1912, or there abouts, there were three other theatres drawn in, but these weren’t necessarily movie theatres. Hope this solves some history for those curious souls.
There were 2 car dealerships that I can remember. There was the one at 19th on Pacific… a Ford dealership that started with an S. Then there was one on 17th and Pacific that had cars showing in a big window. I remember seeing the cars in that window and wishing I could have one. The Ballet School on 12th/Pacific use to be a furniture store. On 13th use to be Rexall drug store where we’d go in and get malts and shakes.
My mom and dad met at the Globe when she was a young lass. She said she went to see a movie by Tyrone Power’s Blood and Sand there. When I saw the picture I kind of remember it… but I mostly remember the Strand and Cabrillo on 7th St. I will post there as well. As a teen I would hang out mostly at the Warner Fox on 6th near Pacific.
The Globe was torn down in 1971. Here is a 1928 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/25k3pn
The Mexican bar could have been anything. The ballet school might have been a supermarket. Some car dealerships from the 40s were built like that as well, except the front of the building would be glass.
Barten or Barton? The San Pedro Ballet School is at 1231 South Pacific, and La Zona Rosa is at 1331 South Pacific, so it’s not the Fox Cabrillo, Globe or Strand (same as the Mark Strand?).
Where’s the rest of the story? It stopped on page 7, and I was just getting interested.
This PDF file (a mere 291K) contains part of a 1986 article from a publication of the San Pedro Historical Society, and there’s a small, ca1965, picture of the Globe at the bottom of the page. The article fragment is mostly about the Cabrillo, but mentions that the Globe was built in 1912.
Having seen the photo my memory has been jogged and I now recall having seen the theatre itself, at least once. My dad patronized a tailor who kept a shop on the other side of 6th Street, up the hill a way. I remember sitting in our parked car in front of the tailor shop and seeing that building down the block. This was in the 1950s. Sixth Street was already very shabby, but also quite impressive, being fairly consistently Victorian and Edwardian in style for the first couple of blocks up from the waterfront, and most of the buildings being solid structures of two or three floors. It was the best collection of such buildings I ever saw in Southern California.
Within a few years it was all demolished for an urban renewal project. Had it been preserved, today that neighborhood could be as popular and valuable as Main Street in Ocean Park or Old Town Pasadena.
The Globe Theatre is long gone.
The two above would have been around 1200 South and 1400 South, respectively. The Strand we already know is gone. The Barten is unlisted.
By the way, I looked up the FDYs on the internet. Individual volumes seem to be going for about thirty dollars apiece. Wife is frowning on this expenditure.
Ken….The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists two theatres on Pacific Avenue, San Pedro: Barten Theatre, 211 N. Pacific Avenue with 412 seats and the Strand Theatre, 1035 S. Pacific Avenue with 844 seats.
Given that the address for the Globe is on Sixth Street, the two buildings I saw on Pacific would not be the Globe. I will post the photos here anyway in case someone from San Pedro remembers a theater at either location:
http://tinyurl.com/2gjeng
http://tinyurl.com/yq57d6