These photos have popped up over the years without revealing their locations. Any ideas? Please contact us to share your thoughts.
A mystery photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. It was taken by Dwyer Photo and comes from the Tony Heinsbergen collection. Ron calls our attention to the "H" above the proscenium and the fact that somebody labeled the negative "Highland Theatre, Los Angeles."
We have no vintage views of the Highland Theatre in Highland Park but even after a Skouras-izing and a triplexing there's quite a bit of original decor upstairs. But none of it seems to match anything in this photo. But, who knows? Other "H" possibilities like Hoyt's in Long Beach (later called the Strand) haven't panned out either. It might be the Hippodrome but there are no interior photos to compare it to. Was it Hyman's in Venice? That theatre, later called the Neptune, is another with no photos to compare. The Huntington in Huntington Park? Same problem.
Another mystery theatre photo in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. It was photographed by Dwyer Studios and was in the Tony Heinsbergen collection. Any ideas?
Another view taken in the same theatre as the one above. It's another by Dwyer Studios in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks, Ron!
A theatre called the Lyric. This c.1939 shot was spotted on Worthpoint by Ken McIntyre for a post for the the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. The seller had identified it as somewhere in L.A. County but nothing has matched up so far. Ken later found another slightly wider shot taken the same week from a different angle. He has that on Ken's Movie Page on Facebook.
The signage says this one's called the Bijou and the Natural History Museum says it's in Los Angeles. Note the address next door of 233. It doesn't seem to belong downtown in the 200 block of either N. or S. Broadway, Spring or Main. Perhaps it's in some suburban location.
A lovely card from the site Card Cow. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. Judging from the height of the surrounding buildings it appears to be a downtown location. The signage for "The Angelus Rooms" hasn't been a help.
Scott Pitzer found a photo of the Angelus Hotel at 4th and Spring (1905-1956) on the USC Digital Library website but the theatre's corner location doesn't fit in with that building's location on the corner. We also had an Angelus Inn with furnished rooms at 516-518 San Julian in the 1916 and 1918 city directories but there weren't any nearby theatre locations that would match up. There was also The Angelus with furnished rooms in the 1908, 1910 and other directories at 1115 Wall St. Again, no known theatre locations were adjacent.
A mystery theatre proscenium. It's on the Los Angeles Public Library website identified as the Mesa but it's obviously not. On the page for the Mesa Theatre we do have several photos for comparison.
This view of the rear of an auditorium is also on the Los Angeles Public Library website as the Mesa Theatre. It seems to be a match for the photo above. But again, not fancy enough to be the Mesa. The location is unidentified.
Outside a mystery theatre. "Yes or No?" with Norma Talmadge was a 1920 release. "The Big Idea" was a 9 minute Harold Lloyd short from 1917. The photo from the California Historical Society collection appears on the USC Digital Library website.
A c.1936 view for Life that sure looks like it was a Main Street theatre. Yet it doesn't seem to be a match for any of them. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for including this one along with many other Life shots on his Noirish post # 40990. Any ideas?
This backstage view on Calisphere from the UCLA S.Charles Lee Papers Collection is identified as the Fox Westwood Village. It's obviously elsewhere as the Fox doesn't have the capability of flying scenery. It's probably a theatre Lee was going to do some work on, perhaps not in Los Angeles. There's also a closer view of the dimmerboard and rigging at the same theatre. It's an Armstrong-Power counterweight system, if that helps you.
An unidentified Los Angeles nickelodeon. Don't you love that moose head as decor? The Bison Archives photo from the Marc Wanamaker collection appears on page 238 of Jan Olsson's "Los Angeles Before Hollywood: Journalism and American Film Culture, 1905-1915." The book is available from Amazon or as a free pdf from the National Library of Sweden. The caption notes that the film they're advertising was released July 15, 1911.
A
cute neighborhood house but there's no data with the photo to identify
the location. It's a photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. "These
Three" was a March 1936 release.
UPDATE: William David French, Jr.
deduced where it was taken. It's the Oriental Theatre,
7425 Sunset Blvd. William found an ad for this booking in the Hollywood
Citizen-News and also had these comments on a post of the photo on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page:
"It
was the distinctive wall texture to the left of the marquee that caught my attention. Then the shape of the
booth. Then the trim above the poster boxes. Surprisingly that double bill
wasn't common. I searched L.A. area movie listings and this was the only
one."
A
fine 1936 view of a mystery theatre with an "R" above the boxoffice.
It's a shot by Peerless Photo Service that's now in the Ronald W. Mahan
Collection. At one time it was owned by Johnny Bresnik. Is it a deco
re-do of the Ravenna? Not enough data to tell. None of the other "R"
suspects have been a match: Roxie, Roosevelt, Rampart, etc. Do you
recognize that terrazzo pattern?
UPDATE: Theatre sleuth and man-about-town Bruce Kimmel solved the mystery. In a query posted on the Los Angeles Theatres
Facebook page he responded: "Solved. The Rampart. The only time this
double bill played. In May of 1936. What do I win?" The photo now
appears on the page about the Rampart Theatre, 2625 W. Temple St.
This c.1950 shot is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Note the theatre signage beyond the car. The Library's caption for the photo is not helpful in identifying the location.
UPDATE: As noted in the comment below from Lorendoc, this location has been identified as Ventura Blvd. in Camarillo. See Lorendoc's Noirish Los Angeles post # 54142 as well as Noir Noir's post #54143 as a followup. Check out the Cinema Treasures page on the Valley Theatre, 2435 Ventura Blvd.
An integrated audience enjoying the show in an unidentified L.A. Theatre. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. They gave it a c.1950 date and advise that it came from the collection of noted Black lawyer Walter Lear Gordon, Jr.
UPDATE: Thanks to Manuel Tucker for posting the image on the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation Facebook page and identifying it as the Bill Robinson Theatre. He comments:
"I
lived in that community. I've actually been inside the theatre when it
was open, and I was present at its demolition. I was paid 5 cents for
each brick that I chipped the mortar off and stacked. This is my
history."
Marc Downing adds:
"That is the Bill Robinson Theatre as I recognize the murals on the
wall which I was fascinated by as a child… My heart started pounding
when I saw this photo and saw those murals… The Movies I Saw There!!!"
Looking west at 2171 Ventura Boulevard, Camarillo c. 1960. The theater was not the Valley Theatre, which was further east, behind the photographer. See my post at Noirish LA.
ReplyDeleteLovely! Thanks for investigating this one. Great to have a location on it.
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