Los Angeles Theatres: Bay Theatre 1949 - 1978

The 1949 S. Charles Lee design:
15140 Sunset Blvd. Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles), CA 90272 | map |

The new theatre in Palisades Village:
15225 Palisades Village Lane / 1035 N. Swarthmore Ave. Pacific Palisades 90272 | map |

Opened: The Bay Theatre opened in 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.

Architect: S. Charles Lee.

An early design proposal from Mr. Lee. It's on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a photo of a 2018 homage to this design at the new Bay Theatre several blocks away in Rick Caruso's Palisades Village project.

Seating: 1,100, with 80 of those in a rear loge section. The theatre got twinned in 1972. After the twinning, each side had 400 seats.

In the early 70s the Bay was operated by Sid Kirsten Theatres.

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 is again a hardware store, now called Palisades Hardware.

Developer Rick Caruso has 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.

Lobby views:

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.

A mural detail. It's a Jerry Schwartz photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.

S. Charles Lee in the lobby on opening night. Presumably that guy on the left is the owner. It's a photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.

The upper foyer mural. It's a Jerry Schwartz photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.

The entrance to the ladies lounge upstairs. It's a Julius Shulman photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.

Looking through what had been the lobby toward the street. At the time of the photo the hardware store that had been in the building for decades was selling the last of its stock. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2018

The auditorium:

A look toward the screen by Julius Schulman. It's on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers collection.

A view toward what had been the screen end of the building. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2018

The view back toward the booth end of the space. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2018

More exterior views:

S. Charles Lee on the jobsite. It's a 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 1949 view of the theatre by Julius Shulman in the collection of the Getty Research Institute. They have it indexed as his Shulman job #518. Also on the Getty site see their list of more Shulman photos and a page of Julius Shulman Resources.

Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Hoss C for finding the photo in the Getty collection. He featured it, along with other views of the theatre, in his Noirish post #31559.

"My Dream is Yours" with Doris Day and Jack Carson was an April 1949 release. "El Paso" was a March 1949 release with John Payne, Gail Russell and Sterling Hayden. Thanks to Bill Gabel for this colorful look at the facade. It was a contribution of his to the Cinema Treasures page about the Bay.

The Bay Theatre in 1953 running "The Fighting Kentuckian" along with "The Blue Lagoon." The photo, from the Pacific Palisades Historical Society, is in the Santa Monica Public Library collection.

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 running as a twin with "The Other Side of the Mountain" and Mahogany." Thanks to Matt Spero for sharing this photo he took c.1975.

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 building as Norris Hardware has their final sale. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2018

A hardware store again, under new management but with the Norris signage retained. Photo: Bill Counter - November 2021

The Bay Theatre in the Movies:

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.

The film was directed by Martin Ritt and was based on a novel by John McPartland. The CinemaScope cinematography was by Joseph LaShelle. The cast includes Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Rush and Pat Hingle. Thanks to Chris Nichols for spotting the theatre in the film and getting the screenshot. He's an editor at Los Angeles magazine and is also the author of the Taschen book "Walt Disney's Disneyland."

Another "No Down Payment" view a moment later. Chris notes that the full film is on YouTube.

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."

This rendering appeared with the December 2014 Curbed L.A. story.

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.

Another rendering provided by Caruso appearing with Stephen Sharp's September 2018 Urbanize L.A. story "Completion Nears for Caruso's Palisades Village." Sharp, following earlier misleading articles, implied that the old theatre was getting "reactivated." Not so. Thanks to Steve Gerdes for spotting the story.

The new sign at night. Thanks to Mike Hume for his September 2018 photo on the LAHTF Facebook page. Visit Mike's Historic Theatre Photography site for thousands of terrific photos of theatres he's explored in L.A. and elsewhere.

Reopened by Netflix. Photo: Bill Counter - November 2021

A great marquee shot by Chris Nichols. It's one of eight photos in his March 2022 Facebook post about the theatre.

Leo in a poster case outside the front doors. Photo: Chris Nichols - 2022

The lobby. There's a full kitchen and bar. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021

Looking back to the lobby from outside screen 3. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021

A 2018 photo by Allan J. Schaben for the L.A. Times. It appeared with "Cinepolis caters to affluent moviegoers — and filmmakers — with reopened Bay Theatre," a November 6 article. This was one of many articles erroneously asserting that the new theatre was a revival of the original building.