Cairo Theatre
11021 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90061
11021 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90061
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Edwards Cinemas
Architects: Simeon Charles Lee
Styles: Egyptian
Previous Names: Tempest Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Originally opened in 1925 as the Tempest Theatre. It was equipped with a Marr & Colton organ. By 1929 it had been renamed Cairo Theatre. It was remodeled in 1933 by architect S. Charles Lee. By 1950 the Cairo Theatre was operated by Edwards Cinemas and it was still open in 1957.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
would you happen to know who owned the theatre in 1933? thanks
cmmc: The first comment above by ronp says that Ivan and Eula Hanson ran the Cairo for 12 years before they built the Atlantic Theatre in Long Beach in 1941, so they must have been the operators in 1933.
I didn’t know there was a Mickey Mouse Club as early as 1933. I searched on Google, and found that the first Mickey Mouse Club of the era was formed at the Fox Dome Theatre in Ocean Park, California in 1929. In 1932 the club reached one million members. (This information from an official Disney Company page.)
Here is a link to a PDF file (only 180K, so easily downloaded) which is mostly about copyright law, and apparently has to do with a court case, but which discusses the early Micky Mouse Clubs for several pages, beginning on page 10.
In the Message Ronp left it mentioned Ran I was not sure if they also owned it at the time or ran the company for someone else. I Have searched all over the net and this is the only site which mentions the Cairo theatre. I’ve also Have only come across one site which has another orginal mambership card and it is sitting in a museum in tennesse. But to no luck no others yet. I do have pics of the card and pin if anyone interested just e-mail me. Thanks for the help.
cmcc: As operators of the Cairo, I suspect that the Hansens were owners of the business, though not necessarily of the building (many theatres were built by speculators and then leased to operators.) Most small suburban theatres such as the Cairo were not operated by circuits, but by independent business people. ronp’s comments on the Atlantic Theatre indicate that the Hansens actually owned that theatre building, but say only that they “operated” the Cairo. Whether they owned the Cairo building or not, it seems likely that they were the independent owners of the business, at least until 1941.
On 1/22/50, the features were “Story of Seabiscuit” and “Intruder in the Dust”. Phone number was PL5-3013.
11021 is a parking lot.11001 looks like a theater, but no record of one at that address, as far as I know.
11021 S. Main is listed as the address of the Tempest Theatre in the 1929 L.A. City Directory, so that should be added as an aka.
The Vacant Lot at the NW Corner of 111th and Main shown on Google was the location of the Cairo. I lived as a child at 131 W. 112th St and attended many Saturday Matinees at the Cairo in the very early 50s. 10 cent admission. I don’t remember when it closed forever or whether the building was still standing after the 1965 Watts Riots when much of that neighborhood was destroyed. Like many old theaters in decaying neighborhoods, it was a church for awhile and deserted after that.
The “New Theatre Projects” column of the July 1, 1933 issue of Motion Picture Herald had this notice about the proposed remodeling of this theater, which might have been occasioned by damage the building sustained in the earthquake that had struck southern California on March 10 that year:
The Tempest Theatre’s first appearance in the Los Angeles City directory was 1926. The address does not appear earlier, so Tempest was likely the opening name of the house, and the opening was most likely in 1925 or very early 1926, depending on when the directory was compiled.I believe Ivan and Eula Hansen were either the owners or the managers of the Cairo Theatre (see earlier comments.) Mr. Hansen didn’t work for S. Charles Lee, but hired him to prepare the plans for the 1933 remodeling.