Four Star Theatre

5112 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036  | map | 

Opened: It was completed in 1931 or 32 and originally named the United Artists. The now-vanished theatre was on the south side of the street midway between Highland and La Brea. This Mott Studios photo of the newly finished building is from the collection of the California State Library. They have the photo indexed as the United Artists Fox Ritz due to the copy on the marquee: "3 shows daily at Fox Ritz."

The Four Star was part of an ambitious building program by the UA circuit in the early 30s as a result of a booking war with Fox West Coast. Fox ran the bulk of the theatres in the Los Angeles area and UA, angry with the terms and the bookings they were getting for their pictures, embarked on a building spree.

Architects: Clifford A. Balch and Walker & Eisen (Percy Augustus Eisen and Albert Raymond Walker) were associated architects on the project. Balch and the W&E firm individually designed many other Los Angeles theaters in addition to teaming up for the UA building spree. The Four Star was a standard United Artists style house for the period with deco panels on the front labeled "Unity" and "Artistry."

A sketch done by the architectural team of Walker & Eisen/Clifford Balch that appeared with an article in the December 19, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It's on Internet Archive and also reproduced at the bottom of this page. They don't identify it as a particular theatre but say it's typical of the group of UA houses at the time. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for posting this on Flickr. It also appears in the Historical Photographs Collection of the Miracle Mile Residential Association. Don't miss browsing through Eric's Los Angeles Theatres set on Flickr that includes over 700 terrific photos.

The design of the Four Star was similar to the Balch/Walker & Eisen designed UA theatres in Long Beach, Inglewood, Pasadena, El Centro, and East Los Angeles (that one later called the UA Alameda). These were all strictly film-only theatres. While we have shots of the Four Star, the only other one of this bunch for which vintage interior photos have surfaced is the one in Long Beach.

The big one from this period, the UA Berkeley, was a larger house with a balcony, orchestra pit, organ grilles, and full stage. It's now a 7-plex but much of the interior elements survive. The Balch/Walker & Eisen team also did a remodel of the Imperial in San Francisco to turn it into a United Artists. Walker & Eisen (without Balch) had earlier done the building for the downtown L.A. United Artists -- although that theatre's interior was by noted Detroit theatre architect C. Howard Crane.

Seating: 900

The program for building 15 theatres was detailed in a November 22, 1930 story in Exhibitors Herald-World. A November 29, 1930 story announced an expansion of that to 25 theatres. The theatres that actually got built at the time in the L.A. area were constructed on a budget of $150,000 to $200,000 each. Albert Lee Stephens, Sr. was the actual owner of this theatre at opening -- it was leased to UA.

They specifically targeted areas where Fox had houses and there were no independents to run their pictures. In some cases, like in Inglewood, they ended up across the street from a Fox house. Here, the Four Star was in the next block east from the Fox Ritz.

The fun part of the story is that by the time these UA theatres were completed, a truce had been declared and they all ended up getting operated for UA by Fox West Coast. The L.A. Times covered the story on September 5, 1931. 

The Motion Picture Herald issue of December 19, 1931 had a story "A Group of Small Theatres" that discussed the 13 United Artists houses either completed or underway as part of the expansion program. The article noted that this house was to have 900 seats and a construction cost of $89,000 including the retail spaces. The article includes typical floor plans and interior and facade renderings.

In 1933 it was renamed the Four Star. The four stars in question were, of course, the founders of United Artists: Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith. The reopening as the Four Star took place November 29, 1933 with "Berkeley Square" starring Leslie Howard. The Los Angeles Times, quoting a FWC press release, had described the philosophy in a November 20, 1933 story:

"For years it has been the dream of Winfield Sheehan, film producer, to see a theater within easy reach of Hollywood that might, in a sense represent a laboratory where stars, directors, producers, technicians of the film industry might enjoy the finest creations of their fellow-workmen. Concurring in this thought, Charles P. Skouras, head of Fox West Coast Theaters, has created the Four Star Theatre, a showhouse that will be devoted entirely to the finest achievements of the motion-picture industry, a place where screen devotees, both within the industry, and the lay public, may applaud the outstanding examples of the motion-picture art.

"There will be no stage shows or prologues. There will be no ballyhoo, fanfare, lights. There will be none of the gaudy, glittery trappings usually associated with the screening of great pictures. The Four Star Theatre will be a haven where picture lovers, whether they be glamorous celebrities or obscure nonentities, may relax and amid simple settings [and] enjoy the entertainment they came to see."

 

The L.A. Times also had story about the new policy on November 24, 1933. The Four Star turned out to be a good location for premieres and the theatre got many from the late 30s until 1970.

 

"Eskimo" in 1934. Thanks to Scott Pitzer for sharing this one. 

 

 

A 1937 ad for "Lost Horizon." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.

Fox Movietone News was at the Four Star in 1939 for the premiere of "Hollywood Cavalcade" (20th Century Fox). The footage appears with the DVD of the film. Alice Faye, Don Ameche and Darryl F. Zanuck (among many others) were there. In the film, we pay a visit to the Egyptian for a premiere of a film-within-a-film. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for some Egyptian shots.

In 1940 the theatre hosted the premiere for "The Grapes of Wrath." 

 

A 1942 ad for "Fantasia." The initial run of the film, with "Fantasound" had been at the Carthay Circle. Thanks to Scott Pitzer for sharing the ad in a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. 

The tower got augmented with additional neon stars and other animated adornment around 1947 or 1948.

An ad for the reserved seat engagement of "Hamlet" in 1948. It appeared in an October issue of the "Music Magazine of Los Angeles." Thanks to theatre sleuth Michelle Gerdes for finding the issue. The cover had a nice photo showing the location of a proposed new theatre for opera. See the Opera House - 1948 page for a view.

Beginning in 1950 the United Artists Theatre Circuit operated the house themselves as the UA Four Star after the consent decree forced Fox West Coast to give up many theatres. Thanks to Joe Vogel for finding this February 4, 1950 Boxoffice article that listed twelve California theatres that Fox had been operating that would go to the newly reactivated UATC. Earlier they had taken over the Loew's State in downtown L.A. 

A 1951 ad for the premiere of "Ace in The Hole" with Kirk Douglas attending. Thanks to Ken McIntryre for posting the ad on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group.

 

The theatre hosted many major runs including the premiere and a reserved seat engagement of "Julius Caesar"  in 1953. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding the article as a comment on a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. 

 

 

A February 1955 ad for the UA houses in the L.A. area. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the ad. 

 

 

 

A 1965 L.A. Times ad located by Ken McIntyre. The theatre went on to have a first run engagement of "The Graduate" in 1967 and host the premiere of "The Magic Christian" in 1970. 

 

The Four Star also had some 70mm runs after UATC installed a pair of Norelco DP70 35/70 projectors. This Times ad from June 28, 1972 advertises a 70mm double feature of "My Fair Lady" and "Hello, Dolly!" Thanks to Dylan Wern for posting this on the Friends of 70mm private Facebook group. 

 

A 1973 student discount card for the circuit. Thanks to Peter Chacona Chaconas for sharing this with the Mid Century Modern private Facebook group. He found it at an estate sale. 

UA removed the 70mm equipment in 1973 when they sub-leased theatre to the Mitchell Bros. as a porno venue advertised as the Mitchell Brothers Four Star.

A September 11, 1973 ad for the Four Star and the United Artists Inglewood. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Tony Valdez notes that in the mid-1970s, the theatre was raided by the LAPD Administrative Vice Unit for its live, on stage sex show.

 

A 1975 ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding it as a comment on a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

A 1976 ad that Ken McIntyre located for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. The Inglewood and Long Beach theatres listed were the former United Artists houses. The Mitchells were gone by the end of 1976.

The theatre was later operated as an independent and re-equipped for 70mm with a pair of DP70s that had come out of the Fox Wilshire. In the 80's and early 90's it had a grand period as a revival house showing classics, Indian movies and lots of 70mm presentations. Scott Shepard notes that when he worked there as a projectionist in 1983 it was Louis Federici who was operating the theatre.

The theatre was used as a venue for the 1983-85 Filmex festivals. Nick Matonak notes that the plaster ceiling in the auditorium fell as a result of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Closing: The theatre stopped showing films in 1997. The Norelcos that were in the booth are now at the Warner Grand in San Pedro.

The Oasis Christian Church bought the building in 2001. It had been through several additional owners since the Stephens family, the original owners, sold it in the 70s. From 2007 until the closure in 2013, it was branded as the Oasis Theatre and available for rentals in addition to church services on Sundays. The former storefront spaces had been renovated into a warren of classrooms and meeting spaces. Among other uses, the building's many rooms were for a time serving as classrooms for a charter school.

Status: The theatre was demolished in December 2014 and was replaced by a 6 story apartment and retail complex called The Mansfield. Julie Grist at the Larchmont Buzz had the December 11, 2013 story: "Goodbye Deco Theater, Hello Apartment Complex..." She noted that the theatre was deemed (by the developer's consultant, Chattel, Inc. of Sherman Oaks) to be too altered to be considered historic. The Historic Resource Assessment, with many photos, is available as a 59 page PDF.

Hillsman Wright, co-founder of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation notes: "The sad, sad truth is that there are consultants who will come up with the desired negative result for just a few dollars more. The same names come up time after time."

A January 2014 followup in Larchmont Buzz by Ms. Grist titled "Deco Theater has a Polished, and Tarnished, History" had some nice historic photos of the exterior. Thanks to Torr Leonard and Chris Willman for spotting the article. Neal Boverman had a December 13, 2013 story on Curbed L.A. discussing the project. A neighboring Burger King was also a casualty. The new building is a design by Plus Architects for The Korda Group.

The theatre had been sold in October 2012 with a leaseback provision that allowed the church to continue using the building for up to 8 months while their new property was being renovated. PRWeb had a November 2012 story on the transaction. Oasis had put the building on the market in mid-2012.

 

A lobby view:

 

The Four Star lobby in church mode. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

 

 

The auditorium:

Thanks to Ron Mahan for this photo from his collection. It's a photo taken by W.P. Woodcock (his # 355-2) that was once in the Terry Helgesen collection. Although it was only identified as "United Artists Theatre," it appears to be the Four Star. Note that the layout of the front exits and ventilation grilles matches those in the rendering from the Eric Lynxwiler collection up higher on this page although details of the decoration differ. 

 

The look of the auditorium after a late 40s Skouras-style remodel. Note the new murals and the completely redone lighting. Thanks to Nathan Marsak for locating this. He comments: 

 

"It's from a stack of negs shot by Delmar Watson, labeled as "Stock Exchange meeting at the Four Star, 10-9-52." I raised an eyebrow when it seemed to be all women and I thought 'Stock Exchange? Women?' so I looked it up in the paper and, a-ha, it was an investment course for 1,000 women, cosponsored by the L.A. Stock Exchange and the women's division of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce."

 

Nathan is the author of the 2020 book "Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir." It's available at your local bookseller or from Amazon. 

 

 

A closer look to house right taken from the Watson photo.

 

 

A proscenium detail. Note that they didn't repaint this area -- the ornament is the same as was seen in the much earlier Mahan/Woodcock photo. 

 

A detail of the house right mural and new sidewall lighting. Nathan comments: "Note the four stars integrated into the painting. Which I love more than anything."

 

 

A view from the booth taken by Delmar Watson on October 9, 1952. New York stockbroker Roscoe C. Ingalls was one speaker at this first session of the investment course. The Times covered the event on October 10 in an article headed "Capitalism's Story Not Told, Says Ingalls."

 

 

A detail of the house left mural from the previous photo. Note the stars at the top of the image. Many thanks, Nathan! 

 

A look toward the former screen area. No, it's not set up for a circus. This is church stuff.  Note that the location of the front exits don't match those earlier photos. They were moved forward either when the church built their thrust stage or perhaps earlier when a big screen was installed when United Artists equipped the house for 70mm. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010    

The auditorium right wall. The ceiling plaster has been removed and the wood truss structure is visible. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010  

The rear of the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010 

The proscenium was intact and painted black. The "stage" area behind was used for tech gear storage and was all of about 8' deep. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010  

More exterior views: 

 

c.1932 - An entrance detail of the not-yet-opened theatre taken from the Mott Studios photo at the top of the page. It's in the collection of the California State Library.  

 

 

1932 - A Dick Whittington Studio pre-opening photo from the Huntington Library collection. The vertical still shows the initial United Artists name. It would be changed to the Four Star in 1933. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo in the Huntington collection.

1932 - An entrance detail from the Huntington Library photo. When the theatre actually got open it would be managed by Fox West Coast. The marquee is plugging their Ritz Theatre, just a block to the west.

1933 - A look east toward the theatre, finally open. This is the only photo to have surfaced so far with the theatre operating with the signage still saying "United Artists." It's from the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum Seaver Center Collection.

They're running "The Match King," A December 31, 1932 release with Warren William and Glenda Farrell. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for finding the photo in the NHM collection and including it, along with some Ritz Theatre photos, in his Noirish post #32327.

 

1933 - Lots of added decoration is seen in this photo of the theatre running "Don't Bet on Love," a July release with Ginger Rogers and Lew Ayres. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the photo. It's one taken by Peerless Photo Service that was once in the collection of Johnny Bresnik.

1936 - An Alfred Eisenstaedt photo taken for Life at the May 2 premiere of the William Cameron Menzies film "Things to Come." It starred Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman and Ralph Richardson. Thanks to Scott Collette for sharing five premiere shots on his Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post about the film. He also has them on Instagram. 

1936 - The crowd for "Things to Come." Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt

 

 

1936 - A view west during the "Things to Come" opening. Note the signage for the Fox Ritz Theatre in the distance. Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt 

1936 - The west side of the Four Star. Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life. Thanks again, Scott!

 

 

1936 - "The Devil is a Sissy" was a September release with Freddy Bartholomew and Jackie Cooper. Thanks to Mike Nemeth for sharing his photo. It appeared as a post on the All Movie Theatres Facebook page.

1937 - The Four Star running a revival of Valentino's "The Sheik." It's a photo by John Swope (1908 - 1979) that appears on the site EPNet. The image is copyrighted by The John Swope Trust, MPTV.

 

 

1937 - Premiere night for "Lost Horizon." Thanks to Mike Nemeth for sharing the photo from his collection. It appeared as a post on the All Movie Theatres Facebook page. Bruce Kimmel notes that the premiere was March 10. 

 

 

1937 - A "Lost Horizon" premiere shot that appears 55 minutes into "Frank Capra's American Dream," a 1997 TV documentary by Kenneth Bowser from Columbia Tristar Television. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the theatre and getting the screenshot. He notes that the full film is on YouTube.

1937 - A photo taken during the run of "Lost Horizon" from the Los Angeles Public Library. It's also in the AMPAS Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, a copy that had come from the Warner Bros. Research Collection.

 

1938 - A shot of the premiere at the Four Star of "In Old Chicago" from the Herald Examiner Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. See a trailer for the film that John Waltz spotted on the site Daily Motion that includes footage of the premiere.

 

1938 - Another "In Old Chicago" premiere view. It's one of a number of theatre photos on display outside the Ted Mann Theatre at the Academy Museum. The image is from production photographs in the core collection of the AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library. 

 

1938 - A detail from the Margaret Herrick Library photo.

1938 - A Herman Schultheis photo of a billboard advertising "In Old Chicago" at the Four Star. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Schultheis also shot eight views of the film's premiere. The Library presumably has hard copies but they got lost online in a photo collection software re-do.

 

1938 - Check out the tent for the July 13 premiere of "Algiers" with Hedy Lamarr and Charles Boyer. It's a Herman Schultheis photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

1938 - A nice "Algiers" view showing the west wall signage. It's a Herman Schultheis photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. More views of that premiere by Mr. Schultheis: another facade view | facade and tower |  spectators |

1938 - A daytime view of the "Algiers" ballyhoo. It's a Herman Schultheis photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1939 - The premiere of "Hollywood Cavalcade" at the Four Star. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for the photo from his great collection. It's on Flickr as part of his Wilshire Boulevard album. You can also find it in the LAHTF photo pool on Flickr and in the Historical Photographs Collection of the Miracle Mile Residential Association.

1941 - The premiere of "That Hamilton Woman." It's a photo in the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. Bruce Kimmel comments: "March 19. Many celebs would attend. Bleachers had to be set up for the crowds."

1946 - A look west on Wilshire Blvd. toward the Four Star. The photo is from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives and appears, with many other vintage views, in the Chattel, Inc. Historic Resource Assessment they prepared on the building. Note the roof sign of the Fox Ritz at the far right edge of the photo.

The photo also appears with Julie Grist's fine January 2014 Larchmont Buzz article "Deco Theatre Has a Polished, and Tarnished, History." Thanks to Torr Leonard and Chris Willman for spotting the article.  

1950 - A view west on Wilshire toward the Four Star and the Fox Ritz showing off the added signage atop the tower. The photo is from the Blackstock Negative Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for including the photo on his Noirish post #19498. Bruce Kimmel notes: "This is sometime between May 10 and the last week of May. 'Champagne for Caesar' opened May 10 exclusively at the 4-Star, after a brief two-week run at four other theaters. It was gone before the end of May. Whew!"

 

1951 - Thanks to Bill Gabel for finding this view looking east with the theatre hiding on the right. Note the billboard for "Quo Vadis," a December release playing at the Vogue. The photo was a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.  

 

early 1950s - A shot from a short but sweet colorized clip from Alison Martino on Instagram. The clip starts with a view of the Fox Ritz in the block to the west. It can also be seen as a comment to a post about the Ritz on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for spotting Alison's post.

 

1952 - Thanks to Bruce Kimmel for this photo from his collection showing the Four Star running "Encore," a film of three W. Somerset Maugham stories. It was a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

 

1954 - The theatre in August for the premiere of "About Mrs. Leslie." Thanks to the All Movie Theatres Facebook page for sharing the photo.

1955 - A newsreel shot of the premiere of "I'll Cry Tomorrow" starring Susan Hayward, Richard Conte and Eddie Albert. The footage from the UCLA Film and Television Archive appears as an extra on the DVD for the film.

1955 - Another "I'll Cry Tomorrow" marquee view from the UCLA newsreel footage.

1956 - A view taken during the engagement of "The Rainmaker." It appeared with Julie Grist's January 2014 article about the theatre in the Larchmont Buzz.

1957 - The Four Star ready for the premiere of "Wild is the Wind." It's a photo with Julie Grist's January 2014 Larchmont Buzz article "Deco Theatre Has a Polished, and Tarnished, History." Ms. Grist also had a December 11, 2013 story "Goodbye Deco Theatre..." about the fate of the Four Star. She noted that the theatre was deemed by the developer's consultants as being too altered to be considered historic.

1962 - Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for this great photo looking west during the run of "The Four Days of Naples." It's on Flickr as part of his Wilshire Boulevard album.

1967 - It's a great 4 minute drive along Wilshire in "Wilshire Blvd. Miracle Mile December 1967" on YouTube. In this shot from the Producers Library footage the Four Star shows off its augmented neon with, of course, four stars at the top. They were running "The Robbery," aka "The Robbery of the Century." It was a September release. We also get a drive by of the Ritz and the El Rey. 

c.1971 - The marquee is gone. It's a shot taken when the theatre was still part of the UA circuit. Thanks to Meghan Harken for the photo. On the billboard: "The Last Picture Show."

1980 - A post-UA photo by Tom Zimmerman in the California State Library collection. It appeared as a post by Bill Gabel for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group where it inspired many comments.

1982 - A look at the Four Star from the now-vanished American Classic Images collection. 

1984 - Thanks to American Classic Images for this photo.

2007 - The facade as the Oasis. Photo: Bill Counter

2008 - A view from the west. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing his photo, added as a comment on a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

2010 - A late-in-life facade view. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

2010 - The east side of the building. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The tower scaffolded for demolition. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Handsome Stranger. He was there to take photos when the Four Star was demolished in December. The photos appear in his Noirish post #25211.

2014 - Another view from Wilshire. Photo: Handsome Stranger - Noirish Los Angeles

2014 - Looking into the partially demolished auditorium from the east. Photo: Handsome Stranger - Noirish Los Angeles 

 

2014 - A look back toward the booth. Photo: Handsome Stranger - Noirish Los Angeles 

 

2014 - The sad view toward the screen from the west. Photo: Handsome Stranger - Noirish Los Angeles. Thanks, Stranger!

  

 

The Four Star in the Movies: 

 

The theatre is seen in "Witness to Murder" (United Artists, 1954). The film, directed by Roy Rowland, stars Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders and Gary Merrill. It's a tale of a woman's sanity being questioned after she reports seeing a murder from her apartment. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the theatre 68 minutes into the film when Barbara does a quick drive-by. They were showing "Julius Caesar" with Marlon Brando, which opened in November 1953. 

 

When we first see Annie Girardot 30 minutes into Franco Rossi's "Smog" (Titanus/Gala Film Distributors, 1962) she's turning onto Wilshire and we get a quick look at the theatre running Luchino Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers," a film she's in. Bruce Kimmel notes that "Rocco" opened at the Four Star September 20, 1961 and ran at least six weeks. 

The male lead in "Smog," Enrico Maria Salerno, is an Italian attorney and we follow his adventures during a layover. We get views of many area locations including LAX, Pasadena, Culver City oil wells, the Stahl House, Hollywood Legion Lanes and Hollywood Boulevard. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for another Four Star shot as well as views of the Ritz and the Hollywood Theatre.  

We get this view of the Four Star in the distance in Norman Panama's film "How To Commit Marriage" (Cinerama Releasing, 1969). Here we're alongside the Ritz Theatre as the crowd welcomes an Indian guru played by Irwin Corey for an event. The film also stars Bob Hope, Jane Wyman, Jackie Gleason, Maureen Arthur, Tina Louise and Tim Matheson. The cinematography was by Charles Lang. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for ten more shots from the scenes at the Ritz. We don't see any more of the Four Star.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Four Star Theatre. Check out the Facebook page I Heart Miracle Mile.

In addition to the Fox Ritz, the other theatre on the Miracle Mile was the El Rey, still surviving as a music venue.

 

 

Page one of "A Group Of Small Theatres," an article from the December 19, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald. Thanks to TJ Fisher for finding it on Internet Archive. He included it in a post on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page along with an album of his photos of the UA Berkeley. 

 

Page two with plans for the El Centro and Pasadena locations.  

 

Page three with more El Centro and Pasadena locations. Note that El Centro actually got a shallow stage with fly capability. 

 

Page four with another El Centro plan and a rendering for "one of the Los Angeles houses." It's the United Artists East L.A.

Gary Parks offers this rundown of the status of the theatres mentioned in the article: 

SAN JOSE: Unbuilt--though a rendering and article were published in the paper at the time. Would have stood at the Northeast corner of First St. and San Salvador. Unity and Artistry style entrance would have been centered on the First St. facade, flanked by shops on either side and offices above. 

 

PASADENA: Extant--converted to retail--with facade and entry restored--in 1990s. A few interior details saved. Now a restaurant in front and a gym in back.

 

INGLEWOOD: Demolished. Was across the street from the later Fox Inglewood. 

 

BEVERLY HILLS: Unbuilt. 

 

EL CENTRO: 721 W. Main St. Later called the Crest and closed as a film house in 1999. The building was later used as a nightclub and still survives. See the Cinema Treasures page about the theatre. As of 2021 it was vacant and for sale.

 

PALO ALTO: Unbuilt. 

 

LOS ANGELES, Whittier and Woods (East L.A.): Extant. Gutted for retail. 

 

LOS ANGELES, Wilshire and Mansfield (the Four Star): Demolished. 

 

LONG BEACH: Demolished c. 1983. Some interior details saved by Joe Musil. 

 

RICHMOND: Unbuilt. 

 

BERKELEY: Now a 7-plex with many interior details intact. This was the only one of this group built with a full stage, although the El Centro got a shallow one. See TJ Fisher's photos and history on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page.

 

VALLEJO: Unbuilt. 

 

VENTURA: Unbuilt. 

 

Gary adds: "One must also keep in mind the complete remodel which UA accomplished at the same time--same architects and style, marquee and sign--on the former Grauman's Imperial in San Francisco on Market St. Blueprints compared to photos confirm it was completed as drawn, except for the facade, which would have had space for the Unity and Artistry panels--though their detailing is not specifically drawn. Instead, the existing facade was merely simplified, and new Art Deco marquee and vertical, very similar to that on the other UA houses, were installed."

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