The 1949 S. Charles Lee design:
15140 Sunset Blvd. Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles), CA 90272 | map |
The original Bay Theatre:
Opened: The Bay Theatre opened February 9, 1949 with "The Paleface" starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell. The opening night photo is on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection. The photographer is not identified. The opening date was noted in a Boxoffice item in their February 12 issue.
Seating: Originally 1,100, with 80 of those in a rear loge section. Later as a twin it was 800.
Architect: S. Charles Lee.
This item about the Bay was one of many in "Theatres Sprout in Los Angeles Area as Building Controls Are Removed," an article in the April 19, 1948 issue of Boxoffice.
Lee's rendering of the signage made an appearance in a June 19, 1948 Boxoffice spread titled "The 'New Look' in California Theatres." Also featured were drawings of S. Charles Lee's Reseda Theatre and the William Pereira design for the Life Theatre, a Southside Theatres project that was never built. The page:
Their caption for the drawing of the Bay:
"Representing an investment of $500,000 is the projected Bay Theatre, to be erected in Pacific Palisades, Calif. by Leland M. Ford and operated by So-Cal theatres. It will house market facilities and will have an ultra-modern interior and exterior. There will be seating for 1,500; parking space for 500 cars. Architect: S. Charles Lee."
In a February 5, 1949 Boxoffice item there's no mention of So-Cal Theatres but William D. Fulton noted as the owner of the theatre with J.D. Chaffin mentioned as being the initial manager.
A 1977 ad for the twin theatre as a 99 cent California Cinema Circuit operation. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for posting it on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
Closing: The Bay closed September 10, 1978.
Status: The theatre was gutted and the building was used as retail space by Norris Hardware until July 2018. The space was then leased by Anawalt Lumber and was again a hardware store called Palisades Hardware.
In 2018 developer Rick Caruso built a new 5 screen theatre as part of his Palisades Village development. It's nearby but not the same site as the old theatre. Details are lower on this page.
Despite widespread destruction in the business district from the January 2025 Palisades fire, this 1949 vintage S. Charles Lee building survived. It's the hardware store in back and a Sotheby's real estate office fronting on Sunset.
In the lobby looking toward the exit doors. It's a Jerry Schwartz photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.
Another lobby view with the snackbar and mural. It's a Julius Shulman photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.
The Bay with its 1949 opening bill on the marquee: "The Paleface" and "Rusty Leads the Way." It's a photo from the Pacific Palisades Historical Society on the website of the Santa Monica Public Library. Also see their photo of Esther Williams selling tickets at the opening.
A daytime view of the Bay with its opening attractions on the marquee. It's part of a post by David Doherty that appeared on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page. The photo also appears on Cinema Treasures.
A 1962 look toward the Bay (on the right) as we cruise east on Sunset. It's a Terry Sullivan photo in the Herald Examiner Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.
A 1969 Bay Theatre shot from the collection of Janet Betts Dean. It was a post on the Pacific Palisades Remember When Facebook page.
The Bay Theatre on the back cover of the 1978 Palisades High Yearbook. The image was a post by Lisa Kurtz Sutton on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page. Thanks, Lisa!
The view west on Sunset Blvd. with what was left of the Bay Theatre on the left. Photo: Google Maps - 2011
The opening credit sequence for "No Down Payment" (20th Century Fox,
1957) starts with glorious shots downtown of L.A.'s new freeways. As a
couple drives to their new home in the suburbs there's a parade of
billboards for new housing developments. The Bay is seen on the
right in this view looking east that we get after they turn off the
freeway. Some of the
houses the film uses were actually in Woodland Hills.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Bay for lots of tales by moviegoers who miss it.
The new Bay Theatre:
Opened: November 2018. Shopping center developer Rick Caruso (the Grove, Americana at
Brand) built a big project in the Pacific Palisades business
district several blocks west of the original theatre. Included is a new five screen Bay Theatre, initially operated by the Cinépolis chain of Mexico City, the world's fourth largest cinema operator. One screen is 35mm equipped. Thanks to Arnold Darrow for the photo.
The signage is a riff on an early S. Charles Lee proposal for the original 1949 theatre. The new project is on the north side of Sunset Blvd. bounded by Monument St. and Swarthmore Ave. The Hollywood Reporter had a September 20, 2018 story about the shopping center's opening. The L.A. Times discussed the new theatre in a September 22 story and again on November 6.
Online: BayTheaterLA.com | Facebook.com/BayTheaterLA | Palisades Village on Facebook | www.atomtickets.com/theaters/bay
Seating: 275 total in five auditoria. The capacities are 73, 47, 83, 28 and 44.
Status: Cinépolis didn't return to reopen the house after the pandemic shutdown. Caruso did a deal with Netflix to operate the theatre that was announced on October 15, 2021. Yahoo! Entertainment had the story. The L.A. Times, in "Netflix to operate Palisades Cinema," an October 16 story by Ryan Faughnder, repeated their oft-told bit of mis-information that the theatre in the Caruso development is the original S. Charles Lee building that Cinépolis "renovated and reopened." Nope.
The October 15 Hollywood Reporter story was also factually challenged. They noted that "Prior to the pandemic, luxury theater operator Cinepolis had refurbished and operated the Bay, which was dark for four decades before reopening for business in 2018." Not quite, guys.
History: The project was first announced in December 2014. Curbed L.A. story by Adrian Glick Kudler was titled "Here's the Jaw-Dropping Plan..." Caruso said at the time that it'll be "how you remembered it, and possibly greater."
A June 2017 Deadline story, "Legendary Bay Theatre To Be Revived By Cinepolis USA...," included this rendering and announced that Cinépolis USA would be the theatre's operator. Also included was the misleading information that they "will be bringing the Bay Theatre back" and that it was "newly redesigned."
Deadline noted that the theatre would "feature five screening rooms each with approximately 40-60 luxury leather recliner seats, reserved seating and call buttons for full food and bar service. Lee’s marquee sign will even be resurrected." Thanks to William David French, Jr. for spotting the story.
The theatre survived the Palisades fire of January 2025. Caruso had a private firefighting team on hand to protect his Palisades Village shopping center. This 2024 image by Presley Ann appeared with "Pacific Palisades’ Bay Theater survived the blaze, says Rick Caruso," a January 10 L.A. Times story by Josh Rottenberg.
More information on the 5 plex: Cinema Treasures has a page on the new Bay.
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