Bridge Theater
330 W. Las Tunas Drive,
San Gabriel,
CA
91776
330 W. Las Tunas Drive,
San Gabriel,
CA
91776
1 person
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I recall a few visits as a kid in the early 70s when living in Monterey Park. My parents took me to a double feature of “Diamonds are Forever” and a bullfighting documentary narrated by Anthony Quinn called “Arruza”. Another time I went was a double feature of “Snoopy Come Home” with Disney’s “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” (Kurt Russell) – must have been 1972. Two other screenings I didn’t attend – “The Other (1972), where they were offered free admission to any identical twins on the opening Wednesday. Another time, a gory horror film, "Mark of the Devil”; I think was rated R. It was a small quaint theatre, with not that huge a screen, but had a welcoming ambiance.
The Whittier Narrows earthquake struck on the morning of October 1, 1987, so if that event led to the permanent closure of this theater, the last show must have been run on the evening of September 30.
The Edwards became a Chinese Language cinema originally in 1980, named the Kuo Hwa, it ran Shaw Brother’s films, for it’s first few months and then became the home for all of Golden Harvest’s releases. When it closed (date unknown), the theatre was rechristened The Bridge, where it continued to run Golden Harvest titles until The Whittier Earthquake finally ended the run of this little house.
Went here many a weekend in the early 90’s to feast on the glory of HK Cinema and BBQ shrimp crackers with my pal, Jeff.
This is a 1982 photo. I think the photo has been reversed.
http://tinyurl.com/pu263e
I found this on the LA Library database. I can’t add it as a new theater as they don’t provide the name:
http://tinyurl.com/2m6fvm
Haha. Thats funny manwith. I’m in Monterey Park as well.
manwithnoname, you must live really close to me. I live not far from San Gabriel.
The Kwo-Hwa 2 was located on Valley Blvd and not Las Tunas. Today the site is a lot.
The exact address of this theater was 330 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, California, 71776.
From Southwest Builder & Contractor, issue of 1/31/1941, p.33, col.2:
“Theater (San Gabriel)— J.B. Lilly… has the contract and will start work about February 5 on the construction of a moving picture theater on Las Tunas Drive between San Marino and De Anza Avenues, for O.W. Lewis. It will contain 10,000 square feet and will seat 750 persons… C.A. Balch, architect…”
Given the location and description, I think this is certainly the theater which became Edwards' San Gabriel.
In the 1950’s, this theater was called Edwards San Gabriel. The name was changed to Edwards Century in the early 1960’s, when a new marquee was installed. At about that time, most of the Edwards theaters in the western San Gabriel Valley were renovated, with modern marquees replacing the older neon models, and several of the theaters were re-named. Alhambra’s Coronet became the Capri, Arcadia’s Santa Anita became Cinemaland, and I think there were other name changes among Edwards theaters in the eastern San Gabriel Valley as well.
The San Gabriel was one of several Edwards theaters in the area which had a low price policy through the mid-1950’s, charging only thirty cents for adult tickets and ten cents for children, this for double features and a cartoon, with extra cartoons added for Saturday matinees. Needless to say, the theaters were very popular, and it was not unusual to see nearly packed houses on Friday and Saturday nights. At the end of the decade, the prices were raised to fifty cents for adults and twenty cents for children, but the theaters remained popular.
I attended movies at the San Gabriel several times, from about 1952-1960, and remember it as a well-maintained house with a pleasant staff. The auditorium had two aisles, and comfortable seats, but I don’t recall anything special about the decor.
Sorry but I made a mistake in the above description – just checked my notes and the name it had while running Chinese films was the Kuo Hwa, not New Moon. Brain freeze on my part!