Riviera Theatre
5002 W. Adams Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90016
5002 W. Adams Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90016
2 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Riviera Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Western Amusement Company Inc.
Functions: Special Events
Previous Names: Fremont Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Riviera Theatre was opened in 1925, at the southwest corner of W. Adams Boulevard and Longwood Avenue, just east of La Brea Avenue in the then-fashionable West Adams district of Los Angeles. The owner was a Mr. Miguel Montijo. It was independently operated and was open in the early-1940’s. On February 16, 1944 it was renamed Fremont Theatre, reopening with Olivia De Haviland in “Government Girl” & Ginger Rogers in “Tender Comrade”. It was closed in 1951 and converted into retail use.
By 2022 it had reopened as a live events venue and reverted back to its orininal Riviera Theatre name.
Contributed by
Joe Vogel
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Featured on 6/26/35 – “Society Doctor” and “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”.
Here are some photos from June 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/3a8mqd
http://tinyurl.com/2j5jar
http://tinyurl.com/3auzvm
http://tinyurl.com/39576k
Looks from the pictures like this is another building converted to a single use and thus probably using a single address. If that address is 5000 W. Adams (I can’t find a current listing for 5002 W. Adams), then the current occupant is a home & garden-related shop going by the strange but euphonious name Chestnuts Papayas.
No, it turns out that it’s called Chestnuts & Papaya and its business is furniture and accessory rentals for film productions.
Function should be retail.
My Grandfather built this theater in 1925. We lived in a three story house on longwood with a vacant lot betwen us and the theater building. There was a candy store on the corner and on the other side of the movie theater was a small store. My Grandfather died in 1931, and my father lost the property about 1932 or 3.
On our page for the Variety Theatre, Cinema Treasures member Rongee, who grew up in the neighborhood, says that the Riviera Theatre was renamed the Fremont Theatre. This is confirmed by the Riviera’s entry at Bill Counter’s Los Angeles Movie Palaces. The house was being advertised in movie listings as the Fremont by 1945.
The October 24, 1924, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had this item about the house that would open as the Riviera Theatre:
The December 26 issue of the same publication said that the Lowith Iron Works would erect an ornamental iron marquee at 5000 W. Adams Blvd. “…for M.M. Mantijo” [sic] at a cost of $800. Given the publication dates, it seems likely the project would have been completed fairly early in 1925.This became the Fremont theatre on February 16th, 1944 and closed in 1951. 1st ad in the LA Times posted.
Now a private events venue going by its original name The Riviera Theatre