Los Angeles Theatres

Navigating Your Tour of Historic Los Angeles Theatres

On a Mobile Device: If you're missing the right column navigation bar or links at the top you can go to the bottom of any page and click on "View Web Version." Still can't find what you're looking for? Send me an email at counterb@gmail.com. See you at the movies! -- Bill Counter

Downtown L.A. Historic Theatres

The survey page gives a rundown on the 20 major surviving theatre buildings in the Downtown Theatre District. There are links to pages about each of them for more detail. You might also want to consult alphabetical rundowns on pages for Hill St. and farther west, the Broadway Theatres, Spring St. Theatres and Main St. and farther east. Those pages give you more detail, including discussions about all the theatres that have vanished. In addition, there's a downtown alphabetical theatre list with alternate names and a theatre list by address.

Historic Hollywood Theatres

Hollywood wasn't just about the movies. Starting in the mid 20s it was also a center for legitimate theatre and musical revues at four newly built playhouses. You'll find an alphabetical list of the theatres in the district on the Hollywood Theatres overview page that includes a bit of data on each and links to pages for more details. Down below this list there's also an alternate name directory. Also of possible interest is a separate page with a list of theatres by street address.

Westside Theatres

The Westside started booming with retail and housing in the mid 20s and the theatres followed. Many theatres along Wilshire Blvd., in Beverly Hills, and in other neighborhoods became prime venues for everything from small foreign films to major roadshows. It's a huge territory. The Westside Theatres overview page gives you both a list by neighborhood as well as a survey arranged alphabetically. Also see the list of Westside Theatres: by street address and the Westside Theatres: alphabetical list page which includes alternate names.

Westwood and Brentwood

Westwood Village was the third significant theatre district to evolve in Los Angeles, after Downtown and Hollywood. With the construction of the UCLA campus beginning in the late 20s there was a chance to develop a unique shopping and entertainment district for faculty and students. By the 1970's the area had evolved so that Westwood had the largest concentration of first run screens of any neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Westwood and Brentwood Theatres overview page will give you a tour of the area.

Theatres Along the Coast

Santa Monica had a vibrant theatrical life even in the days when it was a small town isolated from the rest of Los Angeles. And that's just the beginning. The Along the Coast section will give you links to discussion of theatres in Ocean Park, Venice, Hermosa Beach, San Pedro, Long Beach and other communities.

[more] L.A. Movie Palaces

This section fills in all the other areas of Los Angeles County. Hundreds of terrific theatres were being built by the studios and independents all over the L.A. area in the 20s and into the 30s. You'll find coverage of theatres north and east of Downtown as well as in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona, Whittier, Long Beach and many other far flung locations. Some of those listings have been upgraded and appear on this site, many other links will take you to pages on an older site hosted on Google. The index page has links to all these theatres organized by area.

Searching by theatre name

If you don't find it in the right hand column, head for the Main Alphabetical List, which also includes the various alternate names each venue has used. This list includes those pages recently updated for this site (in bold face) as well as the write ups on an older website. For a narrower focus you'll also find separate lists for Westside and Downtown. As well, there are lists by name on the 10 survey pages for more limited areas like Pasadena, North of Downtown, Long Beach, etc. that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

Searching by address

If you know an address or street head to either the Main Theatre List by Address, the San Fernando Valley List by Address, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona and Whittier List by Address or the Long Beach List. If what you're looking for isn't there, you should find a link to take you to a more localized list by address for Downtown, Westside, Hollywood, etc. Also see the survey pages for more limited areas that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

Happy touring! Please contact me if you spot errors, links that don't work, etc.

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Palace / American Theatre

4727 S. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90037 | map |

Opened: 1913 as the Palace Theatre on the northwest corner of 47th Place and what was then called Moneta Ave.

In this 1941 photo they were running "Sunny" with Anna Neagle and Ray Bolger along with the western "Kansas Cyclone" starring Don "Red" Barry and Lynn Merrick. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo on eBay for a Facebook thread about the theatre on Ken's Movie Page. He also shared the photo on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. That "East..." sign we see beyond the front of the streetcar was on the Eastern-Columbia store at 4717 S. Broadway.

Seating: Supposedly 500 originally. 422 was a later number appearing in an issue of the Film Daily yearbook.

Architect: Train & Williams. Joe Vogel located this item in the November 16, 1912 issue of Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer:

"THEATER AND STORES—Morris Hurwitz, 212 N. Main St., has been awarded the general contract at $10,500 for the erection of a 1~story brick moving picture theater and store building at Forty-seventh St. and Moneta Ave, for John Borelli. The contract does not include decorating, lighting fixtures or gas heaters. Train & Williams, Archts., 226 Exchange Bldg."

The project was actually to be located at Moneta and 47th Place, not 47th Street. Joe adds:

"The December 12, 1912, issue of Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer confirms the site of the theater designed by Train & Williams as the northwest corner of 47th Place and Moneta Avenue."

The theatre was already in trouble in June 1913 for letting kids under 14 in without an adult, a violation of a city ordinance. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this as well as many of the other ads and news items appearing on the page.

Mr. Corenson wanted to sell half the business by the time of this November 1913 ad. The theatre was listed as the Palace in the 1914 and 1915 city directories.

"Must Sell In 3 Days." It's unknown if this was still Mr. Corenson trying to get out or, perhaps, a new owner. The ad appeared in April 1915.

The theatre was still listed as the Palace in the 1916 city directory. In the 1917 directory it had become the New Palace.

It was called the New Palace with a 4725 address in this 1918 column of ads from the L.A. Times. The 1918 city directory also used the 4725 address.

It was still the New Palace in the 1919 and 1921 city directories. In the 1922 edition it again used the 4725 address. In 1923 the New Palace was listed in ads celebrating "Paramount Week."

It was renamed the American Theatre sometime before 1933. Ken McIntyre notes that an October 22 ad that year had it as the American.

The American heads this partial list of some southend theatres advertising in a neighborhood paper in December 1935. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the ad.

A look at some of the seats in the back of the house in 1938. It's a photo by Joseph Carter of the Dick Whittington Studios that's in the USC Digital Library collection. It was needed for some sort of legal action against the theatre.

The 1942 city directory uses the 4727 address. Harry Vinnicof took over the theatre in 1943. Joe Vogel spotted this item in a May issue of Boxoffice:

"LOS ANGELES-The Vinnicof Theater circuit has taken over the American Theater, 500-seat South Broadway showcase, from E.A. Thompson and K.C. Manny."

A November 1943 item announcing the reopening as part of the Vinnicof circuit after a redecoration.

A 1943 Vinnicof circuit ad.

A March 1944 listing in the Times unearthed by Ken McIntyre.

A reopening in September 1945 after a fire.

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this 1948 Vinnicof circuit ad.

Closing: The date is unknown.

Status: It's been demolished. Joe Vogel notes that the strip mall now on the site dates from 1990.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the American. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for all his research.

The USC Digital Library has a 1936 Dick Whittington shot looking north from 47th but we're a block north of the theatre.

Sepulveda Drive-In

6161 Sepulveda Blvd. Van Nuys (Los Angeles), CA 91411 | map |

Opened: May 25, 1955 with "A Man Called Peter" and "The Eternal Sea." It was built and initially operated by Aladdin Enterprises. The location was the west side of Sepulveda a bit north of Oxnard St.

Thanks to Robert Juzefski for the 1978 photo. David Zornig shared it on Cinema Treasures. "Animal House" was a 1978 release. "Slap Shot" was out in 1977.

Architect: Unknown.

Capacity: 1,500 cars.

The May 25 opening day ad in the Valley Times. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

A May 25, 1955 Valley Times photo now in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. It was published with this copy:

"Participating at opening ceremonies of new Sepulveda Super Drive-in Theatre on Sepulveda boulevard, south of Victory boulevard, are, from left, Helen M. Schrank, general manager of Valley Market Town; Don Cottrall, general manager of theater, and Jack Y. Berman, theater owner. Drive-in, along with Valley Market Town, covers 25 acres."

"Super Snack Bar." A June 1955 ad.

The theatre was later operated by Pacific Theatres.

Closing: August 13, 1989. The screen stayed up until 1992.

Status: It's been demolished. Some of the site is used as parking for the Orange Line busway. There's also an L.A. Fitness on part of the site.

1955 - Running the 1954 releases "The Caine Mutiny" and "On the Waterfront." Thanks to Adriene Biondo for locating the photo. It makes an appearance on the site garbell.com/drive-ins.

c.1955 - Another kiddie ride shot. Thanks to Will Markland for including this one in a post about the theatre on the private Facebook group Southern California Nostalgia.

1980s? - A look up the screen tower. Thanks to Will Markland for sharing this shot on the Southern California Nostalgia Facebook group.

The Sepulveda Drive-In in the Movies:

The theatre is briefly visible during the introductory bus ride in the Orson Welles film "The Other Side of the Wind," filmed between 1970 and 1977. A cut was assembled for Netflix in 2018 from the nearly 100 hours of footage left by Welles. The sighting is according to Cinema Treasures contributor OKC Doorman. He adds: "A different portion of the film was reportedly photographed inside of the nearby Reseda Drive-In." | on IMDb |

The Sepulveda Drive-In is also briefly seen when the sniper character drives past on the freeway in Peter Bogdanovich's "Targets" (Paramount, 1968). The film stars Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly, Nancy Hsueh and James Brown. The cinematography was by László Kovács. The data comes from Cinema Treasures contributor Michigan Drive-Ins. They noted that a much bigger chunk of the film was shot at the Reseda Drive-In and add that the director's comments about shooting locations on the DVD aren't accurate. | on IMDb |

The theatre gets a cameo in "The Bank Shot" (United Artists, 1974). Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre in the film and getting the screenshot. Gower Champion directed this caper film based on a novel by Donald Westlake. It stars George C. Scott, Joanna Cassidy, Clifton James and Bob Balaban. The cinematography was by Harry Stradling, Jr. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for three shots from the scene inside the drive-in of the gang painting the bank they've stolen.

The Sepulveda on TV:

The theatre appears in several episodes of the series "Chips" including "Baby Food" (season 1, episode 6), "Green Thumb Burglar" (season 1, episode 8) and "The Return of the Supercycle" (season 3, episode 11). Thanks to David Coppock for the data. It was also in an episode of the series "Knight Rider" titled "Halloween Knight" (season 3, episode 5).

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Sepulveda D-I. The theatre also gets a listing on the "Drive-in Theatres" page of the site www.garbell.com/drive-ins/drive-in.htm.

Village Theatre - Griffith Park

5500 Riverside Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90027

Opened: Perhaps 1947. This film house was running by at least September 1947 as they were listing their film titles in the L.A. Times that month. It was not listed in the 1945 and 1946 telephone directories.

The approximate theatre location is indicated in orange. The image is a detail from a 1945 Automobile Club of Southern California map on the site Historic Pictoric.

It's listed with the 5500 Riverside address in several telephone directories including the September 1947 Yellow pages and the May 1948 white pages. 5500 was on the east side of the street.

Seating capacity: Unknown.

A December 1947 listing in the L.A. Times.

"Winter Meeting" and "The Hunted" playing in July 1948.

"Thieves Highway" and "Within These Walls" were two of the films in November 1949.

A Times listing in July 1950.

Closed: 1950 may have been the end.

A September 1950 ad. "Call Theatre for Program" might have been an indication that there wasn't one. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ads.

Status: It's an address that no longer exists. It's under the 5 Freeway. Riverside Drive no longer extends north of Los Feliz Blvd.

A 2022 Google Maps image of the area. The area where the theatre had been is indicated in orange.

Penny Arcade / Johns & Devlin Nickelodeon

431-433 S. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 | map |

Opening: It was the location of the Edison Phonograph Agency as early as 1902. The building was on the west side of the street in the middle of the block between 4th and 5th.

Later it became a penny arcade called, appropriately enough, Penny Arcade. It was operated by the San Francisco firm Johns & Devlin and appears to have transitioned into a nickelodeon by the time the 1906 Sanborn map was researched. It closed soon after that.

c.1895 - The building the arcade/theatre would be in hadn't yet been constructed. It would soon rise just beyond the Niles Pease building. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Yes, this is the block between 4th and 5th, despite that 334 number on the building on the right. The numbering changed around 1890 and they hadn't yet repainted.

c.1900 - An undated drawing of part of the south end of the 400 block. The theatre would later be in that 3-bay building that's the second in from the left. This is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. It's also indexed a second time under a different URL. Beginning on the left it's Niles Pease Furniture, U.R. Bowers & Sons, B. Wynns & Co., Wills & Sonocer, Lewis & Alderson, N. Strauss & Co., D. Whitney & Co. and, at 421 near the right, George Elliott, stationery and artists' materials.

1902 - The Edison Phonograph Agency, with Peter Bacigalupi, Jr. as manager, was listed in the city directory at the 431 S. Spring address. This seems to be a return engagement for Bacigalupi. He was running an Edison agency on Spring St. in the 1890s and then turned the business over to Thomas Tally, who operated his Tally's Phonograph and Kinetoscope Parlor business at a number of Spring and Main St. locations.

There were a variety of tenants upstairs at 431 1/2 including the Fidelity Wall Paper Co. and a lady advertising her services under "Baths."

1904 - The city directory this year listed the Penny Arcade at 431, operated by T.W. Johns & Co. with Thomas W. Johns and Frank J. Devlin as principals. The directory noted that in addition to the arcade they were "dealers in all sorts of amusement machines." 433 was listed as a curio shop operated by the Kakiuchi Brothers.

An ad appearing in the 1904 city directory.

1905 - The company had become Johns & Devlin by the time of the city directory this year. The business at 431 was listed under "Places of Amusement" and it's noted that the firm is from San Francisco. It was McKee's Cafe at 529 and a Japanese Fancy Goods store at 433, operated by Shibata Jugiro (or Jujiro, listed both ways). 435 was Benford & Levy, a men's clothing store. Upstairs at 431 1/2 were many tenants including a tailor and dyer, a physician, a photographer and a dentist.

1906 - The business at 431-433 is seen indicated as "Moving Pictures" in this detail from image 7 of Volume 2 of the 1906 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's on the Library of Congress website. That designation implies that they were actually running a nickelodeon. It differs from how a peep show parlor was usually indicated: "Auto. Slot Machines."

Closing: Sometime in 1906 or 1907. There's no listing for anything at 431 or 433 in the 1906 city directory. By the time of the 1907 directory the Postal Telegraph and Cable Co. had taken over 431 for their offices. The directory listed 433 as a jewelry store.

Status: The building the arcade/theatre was once in is long gone. The Trust Building, dating from 1928, is on the site. See a Los Angeles Conservancy page about it.

c.1908 - Looking south toward 5th St. Note that the Niles-Pease Furniture Co., just beyond the theatre building, got a new four-story home sometime around 1900. On the right edge of the image it's the Angelus Hotel, a building completed in 1901. In April 1908 the Chronophone Theatre opened at 423 S. Spring, in the three-story building at the center. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

c.1908 - A detail from the Library's photo indicating the building the arcade/theatre had been in at 429-435.

c.1910 - A Los Angeles Public Library photo. On the right we're looking north on Spring. That's a view west on 5th on the left.

1914 - 431 and 433 are seen here as a Postal Telegraph office. It's a detail from plate 002 of the 1914 Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. The 1910 Baist Map shows similar information for this address.

1930s - Looking south after construction of the Trust Building on the site. It's the gleaming white edifice half way down the block. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

More information: There isn't any. You have all that's been uncovered so far.

Olympic Drive-In

12109 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 | map |

Opened: April 4, 1945 at the northwest corner of Olympic and Bundy with Edward G. Robinson in "The Woman in the Window" along with "Lost in a Harem" starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It was an independent operation. Later it was run by Pacific Theatres.

This was a successor location to California's first, the Pico Drive-In, a venue that opened in 1934 at Pico and Westwood Blvd. It closed there in September 1944. The screen tower got moved two miles to this new location. Thanks to Robert Juzefski for this 1973 photo of the final message on the marquee. This version of it once appeared on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page as a post from Bill Gabel.

Capacity: 775 cars, more or less.

In the first listing in the Times it was just called Drive In. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this April 3 ad. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

An opening ad that appeared in the Venice Evening Vanguard. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.

Instructions and a film listings for later in April and early May 1945.

Inside pages of the April and May program. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these on the site Worthpoint.

The theatre got a remodel in 1950 that included the addition of a playground, upgraded speakers and the surfer mural painted on the screen tower.

A 1951 ad located by Ken McIntyre.

Closing: October 14, 1973. Bill Gabel notes that the final show was "School Girls," "School Girls Growing" and "Swinging Wives."

Status: The Martin Cadillac dealership was on the site for over 40 years. They closed in 2019 to make way for a new mixed-use development. See Steven Sharp's Urbanize story "Martin Cadillac Makes Way for Expo Line-adjacent Offices and Apartments."

More photos:

1946 - A trade magazine image located by Dallas Movie Theaters for a post on Cinema Treasures. "That Night With You" was a September 1945 release.

c.1946 - An early shot with lots of undeveloped land behind the theatre. Thanks to Michael Kilgore for locating this one for a post on Cinema Treasures. He notes that it once appeared on the Classic Hollywood/Los Angeles/SFV Facebook page but the provenance is unknown. Also see: 1947 photo - Historic Aerials | later more developed view | 1962 aerial looking north - Howard D. Kelly - LAPL |

1946 - Thanks to Bill Gabel for sharing this shot he located as a post on Cinema Treasures. Michael Kilgore notes that it's from late April or early May.

1951 - The new 1950 mural on the screen tower. It's a shot presumably taken for Life magazine. Thanks to David Zornig for locating it for a post on Cinema Treasures.

1951 - An entrance view taken by Kurt Hutton after the 1950 remodel. Thanks to Martin Turnbull for locating the image in the Getty Images collection. It originally appeared with the article "We Go To Hollywood" in the magazine Picture Post.

1960s? - It's an undated view from the Fred E. Basten collection of the Santa Monica Public Library.

1973 - A photo by John Margolies that's in the Library of Congress collection. Thanks to Sean Ault for locating it.

1974 - Martin Cadillac, on the site of the Olympic. It's a photo by John Margolies in the Library of Congress collection.

2019 - An image that appeared with Steven Sharp's Urbanize story "Martin Cadillac Makes Way for Expo Line-adjacent Offices and Apartments.

The Olympic Drive-In in the Movies:

Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are out on the town (but not with their own spouses) in "The Facts of Life" (United Artists, 1960). 56 minutes into the film they decide to go to the Olympic. This screenshot is from the fine page about filming locations on the site The Movie District.

At the entrance. It's not going to go well as a hideaway. Thanks to Chris Nichols for this screenshot -- and for the nudge to get a page up about the Olympic. He's an editor at Los Angeles magazine and is also the author of the Taschen book "Walt Disney's Disneyland."

Pulling into a space at the Olympic. It's idyllic for a moment until their dry cleaning man takes the next spot. When they try to leave without being recognized their horn gets stuck and then they forget to put the speaker back on the post. It's another screenshot by Chris Nichols.

Attempting to back out while kissing. And at the same time putting the speaker back on the post. They're trying to avoid letting the dry cleaning guy get a good view of their faces for a positive identification. On IMDb: "The Facts of Life."

Ruth Hussey and Don DeFore play the spouses of Bob and Lucy. Melvin Frank directed. The cinematography was by Charles Lang, Jr. Chris added shots of several other locations they used as comments on a Facebook post. The film shot in Pasadena, the San Fernando Valley, Acapulco, Monterey and San Francisco. He notes that the full film can be seen on YouTube.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Olympic Drive-In. And visit the page here on this site about the earlier location, the Pico Drive-In.

Life has a fine collection of drive-in shots in their article "Let's Go to the Drive-In Movies!"