1441 3rd St. Promenade Santa Monica, CA, 90401 | map |
The news: AMC has closed the Broadway 4 on September 22, 2024. Thanks to Russ Jones for spotting "AMC Broadway 4 movie theater shuts doors on Promenade," a September 25 story by Thomas Leffler in the Santa Monica Daily Press. The marquee was taken off, the lower part of the facade gutted and a new storefront installed. It's for lease.
AMC also has the Santa Monica 7 several blocks away. Also still operating downtown is the six-screen Laemmle Monica Film Center. Nearby, for a while anyway, was the ArcLight complex in the mall, sitting vacant since 2020. The six-screen Criterion Theatre, also on the Promenade, was an AMC operation until 2013. It's been gutted for office and retail uses.
Opened:
1934 as the Elmiro Theatre. Admission was 20 cents. The building is on the east side of the street between Broadway and Santa Monica Blvd. The Mott Studios photo is from the California State Library, one of eleven photos in their set #001387147. The opening attractions, seen here on the marquee, were "The Cat and the
Fiddle" with Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald and Frank Morgan along with "Six of a Kind" starring Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland and W.C. Fields. Both were February 1934 releases.
Architect: Norman W. Alpaugh designed the original building. Solberg + Lowe designed the 1989 project that turned it into a four-plex.
Seating: 900 originally. The replacement 4 plex had a capacity of 1,121. #1 was 176, #2 was 395, #3 was 325 and #4 was 225. Auditorium #2 was 70mm equipped.
With the installation of recliners in 2015 the capacities were: #1 - 64, #2 - 138, #3 - 120, #4 - 66. Thanks to Edward Havens for the two sets of numbers.
History: The original lessee was Fred Miller, who at various times also operated the Alhambra on Hill St., Miller's Theatre and the California Theatre on Main St., the Gateway Theatre in Glendale, the Carthay Circle Theatre on San Vicente and the Figueroa Theatre south of downtown. The building owner was Southern California Newspapers Associated.
The new theatre was celebrated in the Better Theatres section of the August 25, 1934 issue of Motion Picture Herald. Many thanks to Bob Foreman for finding the article. See his Vintage Theatre Catalogs site for a vast trove of tech and theatre history information that he has collected.
Despite the name showing up as "El Miro" in the Motion Picture Herald article it was always advertised as the Elmiro, without a space.
A December 31, 1934 L.A. Times ad.
The theatre was later operated by a number of circuits including
Century, Statewide, Loew's, General Cinema and Metropolitan. It has also
had spells as an independent operation.
It was Loew's Elmiro when that circuit had it. They gave it a
makeover in the 70s. During the General Cinema tenure in the mid 70s it
was known as the Cinema on the Mall.
A 1976 ad during the General Cinema era calling it the Mall Cinema. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting this for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
In 1978 it went to Spanish language product as an independent operation called the Cine Latino.
A March 19, 1978 grand opening ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.
Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the Cine Latino it in this 1981 listing that appeared in the L.A. Times. Later Metropolitan Theatres took over the operation and retained the Spanish language format.
The theatre closed September 7, 1987 and the portion of the building behind the facade was demolished. Alan Citron profiled the theatre in a Times article titled "Full House No Winner for Cine Latino." Cineplex Odeon became the operator of the 4 plex in the new mixed use building with the theatre's opening October 27, 1989. Only the facade of the original building remains. The new configuration was two theatres up and two down.
An October 27, 1989 Cineplex Odeon reopening ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site:
Movie-Theatre.org
Since the 4-plex reincarnation it's been called the Cineplex Odeon
Broadway 4, the Loews Cineplex Broadway Cinemas 4 and the AMC Loews
Broadway 4. Later it was just the AMC Broadway 4. AMC had taken over the Loews/Cineplex Odeon locations in 2006.
In 2009 it looked like the theatre's days were numbered. AMC was in negotiations
with the city to build a new complex and the city wanted the Broadway 4
closed as a condition as they were strangely concerned about the town being over-screened. The landlord, however, wanted the space to remain
a cinema. And he got his wish. AMC, after several years of
talks, decided in 2012 to abandon plans to put a big new complex on the
site of a city parking garage. Said the numbers just didn't pencil out right. So this one remained open.
In 2013 AMC closed the nearby Criterion 6 which is now retail space. With twelve new screens opening in 2015 at the ArcLight complex in the mall plus the Laemmle Monica Film Center getting expanded to six screens, there were more screens in downtown Santa Monica than ever. At least until the 2020 Covid closures. The ArcLight never reopened so in 2021 downtown was down to seventeen screens.
AMC gave the Broadway a renovation beginning in May 2015 and installed recliners. The theatre reopened in July.
Closing: The last day of operation was September 22, 2024. Thanks to Russ Jones for spotting the news in "AMC Broadway 4 movie theater shuts doors on Promenade," a September 25 story by Thomas Leffler in the Santa Monica Daily Press. The circuit still has the Santa Monica 7, a 1990 vintage complex several blocks away.
Status: It's under renovation with the future use unknown. By December 2024 the marquee had been taken off the building and the ground level of the facade was stripped off down to the concrete and structural steel.
More interior views of the original theatre:
Recent interior views:
Looking in across the bar. Thanks to Ranjit Sindhu for sharing his 2015 photo as a post on
Cinema Treasures.
Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for this lobby view. It's one of 12 photos she took that are on a
Facebook post commemorating her visit to see "The Batman" in March 2022.
Another lobby view. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2022
The escalator and stairs. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2022
The rear of one of the auditoria. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2022
A seating detail. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2022. Thanks, Sandi!
More exterior views:
1938 - A photo from the Bill Beebe collection that's on the website of the
Santa Monica History Museum. It's also made an appearance on the
SMHM Facebook page. Bruce Kimmel notes that "Hold That Co-ed" with John Barrymore opened November 30 so this shot was most likely taken the following Saturday, December 3. The co-feature was "Mad About Music" with Deanna Durbin.
c.1948 - This shot is 1:05:50 into Rick Prelinger's "
Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles - 2019," part of a three minute tour around Santa Monica. Note the Sears store in the distance, a building that had opened in 1947. The right side of the marquee is advertising Walter Pidgeon in something with an unreadable title.
Rick's hour and thirty minute program of wonderful clips
from a variety
sources was presented at the Los Angeles Public Library by the
organization Photo Friends as part of the series L.A. in Focus. Also see
an earlier compilation: "
Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles - 2016." Both
programs are on Vimeo.
1959 - Looking south toward the theatre. Thanks to Lawson Desrochers for the photo. It was a post on the Facebook group
Venice, Ocean Park & Santa Monica in the 20th Century.
1963 - A Christmas season L.A. Times photo looking up 3rd Street. It's on
Calisphere from the UCLA Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives. It appeared with a Times story on December 29 with this caption: "CHANGES PLANNED - This is a view of 3rd St. in Santa Monica, where mall is proposed, when litigation is cleared up. Program is expected to revitalize the downtown area of Bay City."
1963 - A detail from the Times photo. "Irma la Douce" was playing. The film had run sixteen weeks at the
Chinese, opening July 3 and running until October 22. The co-feature at the Elmiro was "Wives and Lovers" with Janet Leigh and Van Johnson. Bruce Kimmel did the research: "'
Irma' and her 'Wives and Lovers' opened on November 27 and played through
December 3. On December 4, Irma got rid of her 'Wives and Lovers' and
replaced then with 'The Notorious Landlady.' The Times photo appeared on December 29; it had to
be taken between November 27 and December 3."
Joseph Sheppard comments: "My
Father worked for a company called Jones Decorating back then. His job
was to put up, take down and maintain these decorations.they
would start hanging these decorations the day after Thanksgiving, and
they would take them down the day after New Years. In between there
would be repair calls. But, what I didn't think of is that with
multiple cities in SoCal when they went out to take down what they
called 'The Stringers,' there were literally miles of these things, so
for the time between New Years and Thanksgiving the next year they were
repairing the stringers to get them ready. It was a year round job for
quite a few union workers."
"Jones
Decorating was on Sunset Blvd., and had a year round store
where you could buy Christmas decorations in June. It was popular with
studios that might be shooting Christmas specials off season. They
went away because of lawsuits by drivers who had accidents at
intersections and sued the city saying the decorations were a
distraction. After the Christmas work went away, the big convention
centers opened up and the workers went into setting up trade shows. I
still run a company called Sunrise Decorating, but, all we actually do
is set up conventions."
1965 - An October view of the Elmiro. It's on
Calisphere from the UCLA Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives. The big program at the theatre was "Ship of Fools" with "Station Six Sahara."
1965 - A November photo from the Outlook Collection of the Santa Monica History Museum. It appeared as a post on the
SMHM Facebook page. It's also on their
website. Bruce Kimmel notes: "This double bill opened on November 24. The top half is 'The War Lord.' You know a film is in trouble when it plays its first run engagement in Hollywood at the World. Yikes. The bottom half was 'A Very Special Favor' with Rock Hudson and Leslie Caron."
1970 - A look north from Broadway in the
Santa Monica Public Library collection. At the time it was a Loew's house. The photo by Leslie Storrs was donated to the Library by the City of Santa Monica. Thanks to Matt Spero for work on the color.
1972 - A view of the theatre still with Loews signage. They exited the southern California market later that year. It was a find by Ken McIntyre for the
Photos of Los Angeles page on Facebook. General Cinema took over the Loew's locations.
c.1978 - A view looking north across Broadway from the Ernest Marquez Collection that appears on the
Huntington Library website.
c.1978 - A detail from the photo above. On the tower it's the "Cinema" signage left over from the General Cinema "Cinema on the Mall" days. By the time of this photo the theatre had gone to Spanish language product. On the marquee it's "Cine Latino."
1980s - A terrific shot from an upper level of the mall. We're looking north along the Promenade with the theatre on the right, here in its "Cine" days running Spanish language product and operated by Metropolitan Theatres. Thanks to Bill Gabel for finding the photo. David Mortensen notes that in the upper right corner you can see the new First Federal Bank building at 4th and Wilshire. It was completed in 1981.
1982 - A Santa Monica Public Library photo. Note the font of the "Cinema" lettering on the apex of the marquee -- a leftover from the theatre's General Cinema days. Thanks to David
Mortensen for including this in a fine selection of 26 of the Library's
Mall photos for a post on the
You know you're from Santa Monica if... Facebook page.
1983 - Another view of the Elmiro in its Cine Latino days from the
Santa Monica Public Library collection. It was taken as part of a City of Santa Monica historic resources survey.
c.1990 - The Broadway 4 postcard. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the
Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. In the left photo note the Cineplex Odeon signage atop the pylon. Kevin Costner's 1990 film "Dances With Wolves" was on the marquee in the right shot, playing on screen #4.
c.2000
- Looking north on the mall. Thanks to Henry Briceno for locating this
one for a thread about the theatre for the Facebook group
Lost Angeles.
c.2000 - Thanks to Irene Wohlfarth for this Cineplex era view. The photo appeared as a post for the private Facebook group
Photos of Los Angeles.
c.2000 - Another view from up in the mall. Here we get a wider look at the upper floors of the new condo building behind the historic facade. The photo appears on a Water and Power Associates Museum page "
Early Views of Santa Monica."
2007 - The Broadway 4. Photo: Bill Counter
2007 - Thanks to M.V. Jantzen for this photo on
Flickr, part of his Los Angeles set.
2010 - Another view of the Broadway 4 and the new building behind the original facade. Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - A facade detail. Photo: Bill Counter
2013 - A night view of the Broadway 4. Note the Cineplex Odeon signage still atop the tower. Photo: Bill Counter
2017 - A look up. It's a Shawn Dudley photo that appeared on the on the
LAHTF Facebook page. Thanks, Shawn!
2022 - Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for this shot. It's one of 12 she took that are on a
Facebook post commemorating her visit to see "The Batman."
2022 - Looking south along the facade. Thanks to Sarah Feldsted for sharing this photo she took in July.
2024 - The closing notice. The photo by Scott Snowden appeared with "
AMC Broadway 4 movie theater shuts doors on Promenade," a September 25 story by Thoimas Leffler in the Santa Monica Daily Press. Thanks to Russ Jones for spotting the news. The last day of operation was
September 22.
2024 - The new plywood look for the Broadway 4. The future use of the space isn't known. Photo: Bill Counter - November 1
2024 - Still no hints about what's ahead for the theatre spaces in the building. Photo: Bill Counter - December 13
2024 - A look-through-the-crack espionage shot. The marquee is gone and the ground floor elements of the facade have been removed. It's down to the concrete and structural steel. Photo: Bill Counter - December 13
2025 - Well, the question has been answered as far as whether or not the owner had a tenant lined up. The fence got a nice coat of white paint -- and a "For Lease" sign. Photo: Bill Counter - March 16
The Broadway 4 in the Movies:
We get a look at the theatres over on the left when Jamie Lee
Curtis gets dropped off on the Promenade in
"Freaky Friday" (Disney, 2003). Well, actually it's Lindsay Lohan in
Jamie's body. They've switched places because of a strange event
involving a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant.
Lindsay/Jamie,
realizing that she has credit cards in the wallet, wanders the Promenade
to get a haircut and go shopping. The film, adapted from the
book by Mary Rodgers, also features Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon,
Ryan Malgorini, Haley Hudson, Christina Vidal and Harold Gould. Mark
Waters directed. The cinematography was by Oliver Wood.
The Elmiro Theatre on TV: Silent film detective John
Bengtson has turned his sights to "Leave it To Beaver" where he found
this 6th season shot of Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and Wally (Tony Dow)
driving in Mayfield where it looks just like 3rd St. in Santa Monica.
The episode aired in January, 1963. See John's entertaining post "
Leave it to Santa Monica."
Driving south on 3rd in "Leave it to Beaver." The theatre, still in its
Elmiro days, is on the right. Thanks to John Bengtson for the
screenshot.
More Information: See the
Cinema Treasures page on what they style as the El Miro Theatre. They also have a page on its replacement, the
AMC Broadway 4, with lots of links to recent exterior photos. The
Cinema Tour page has several exterior photos by Scott Neff.
Nathan Masters did a fine 2016 KCET story with many photos about the evolution of the 3rd St. Promenade: "
How Santa Monica's Third Street Became a Promenade."
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I worked Elmiro Theater 1968. Usher. Had wear Western Style outfit showing "True Grit". I invited my hotel manager to a freebie. Had ask him put out his cigar during movie! Kids would stare at candy counter. Salesgirl helped: "This candy will last longer". I learned how fold hot dog paper boat into a cup to snitch a soda pop drink.
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