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Melvan / KTLA Studio Theatre / Encore / Continental Theatre

5308 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90038  | map |

Opened: As the Melvan c.1941. The name came from its location at Melrose and Van Ness. The 1984 photo of the theatre as the Continental appeared on the now-vanished American Classic Images website.

Seating: 824           

Architect: Unknown 


A 1946 ad.



A 1947 ad.



A 1947 ad for the Melvan as one of the "Encore Theatres," under the same management as the four houses advertised as the "Academies of Proven Hits." Encore Theatres was a partnership of Joseph Moritz and James H. Nicholson. Nicholson was later a co-founder of American International Pictures.



A 1948 ad for the Melvan. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the ads.
 
In 1950 the Melvan was taken over by KTLA and renamed the KTLA Studio Theatre
 

A 1953 ticket to the KTLA "Bandstand Revue" show. Thanks to Eric Lunxwiler for sharing this from his amazing collection. It's on Flickr. Hit "back to photostream" for views of tickets to many other TV shows of the era. Eric is the author, with Tom Zimmerman, of the Angel City Press book "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965." And, with Kevin Roderick, he's also done the celebrated book "Wilshire Boulevard: The Grand Concourse of Los Angeles.

In 1963 the theatre was leased by Louis Federici and became the Encore, running foreign films and revivals.


A new set of operators in 1978. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this item in the Times. It's one of many items about the theatre in a thread on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. 

In July 1980 it became part of the Laemmle circuit and was renamed the Continental.



An ad for the Continental that was located by Ken McIntyre.  


Closing: The theatre closed in January 1985. 

Status: It's been demolished. The site is now occupied by a large administration building that's part of Raleigh Studios. 
 

More exterior views:


Looking west on Melrose from Van Ness c.1942. On the left is the theatre, here still called the Melvan. On the right it's Western Costume. Both were demolished for expansions of Raleigh and Paramount studio properties.  The photo is from the lovely 2009 Arcadia Publishing book "Hollywood 1940 - 2008" by Marc Wanamaker.  The photos in the book come from his Bison Archives collection. It's available on Amazon. The page with this photo is part of the preview Google Books.



A detail from the c.1942 photo. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for stashing this one in one of his Photobucket albums.



A May 1951 Life magazine photo by Ed Clark of a crowd lining up for a show when the theatre was the KTLA Studio Theatre. It's online via Google/Life Images. Also see another photo of the line by Mr. Clark taken from back a little farther.



A 1951 look at the entrance by Ed Clark for Life. It's on Google/Life Images. Also see another similar entrance view.



Thanks to the wonderful Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photograph Collection, now owned by the McAvoy family, for this 1951 photo of the theatre in its KTLA days.



A photo of the closed Continental Theatre taken in the 80s by filmmaker and cinematographer Gary Graver. More of his theatre photos can be seen on YouTube in "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photo.



The site of the Continental. On the right we're going west on Melrose. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Encore.

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5 comments:

  1. Closing date is no longer unknown! I worked at the Continental until its very last day. It closed in January 1985.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Your information is much appreciated. I'll update the text.

      Delete
  2. Went there a number of times when it was the Encore Theater. Saw foreign & vintage films. Louis Federici ran the place himself; he loved films and loved sharing them with audiences. In the front, which was more like a storefront on Melrose than a theater lobby, someone had made a near life-size image of him, kind of creepy, kind of cartoonish. The auditorium was very small and set sideways to Melrose, as if the front had been on Van Ness. Its walls were covered entirely in heavy dark-red curtains.

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  3. The Encore and the Vagabond were my universities.

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  4. I saw VERTIGO at the encore theater in 1970-john jakle (artist)

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