1434 3rd St. Santa Monica, CA 90401 | map |
The La Petite Theatre was running in 1907 and 1908 with both vaudeville and films using an address of 227 3rd St. It's in the 1907 Santa Monica city directory with an address of 225 N. 3rd.
This was a
downtown Santa Monica address but we've since had a bit of street renumbering. The assumption is that 225-227 later became 1434 3rd St. The location was on the block between the streets now called Santa Monica Blvd. and Broadway.
The La Petite name was one used by Southwest Amusement Co. for many locations around the Los Angeles area. The Santa Monica Outlook mentions the 227 3rd St. location in various stories from March 1907 through January, 1908. An Ocean Park location with the La Petite name opened in the Ocean Park Auditorium Building in 1906. Later they moved across the Promenade to a new building.
The
Outlook frequently ran lists of advertisers. In July 1908, for example,
there's are listings for both the "La Petite, Third" and the "La
Petite, Venice of America." The assumption is that the "Venice" location was actually the Ocean Park theatre. See a page on the three Ocean Park La Petite locations.
The Santa Monica Outlook of February
9, 1909 mentions that the "little 3rd St. playhouse" was packed to
capacity the previous night.
By March 1909 the 3rd St. La Petite was listing an address of 1434 3rd St.
When the Southwest Amusement Co. broke up, most of the theatres were sold off to independent operators and most of them changed their names. The
Santa Monica Outlook of June 14, 1909 ran a story about the La Petite
Theatre at 1434 3rd St. changing hands. A.S. Hall and M. H. Wyman were
the new proprietors. After a remodel, the new owners called it the
Dreamland Theatre.
Sometime in 1909 or 1910 it became the Lyric
Theatre. The July 5, 1910 Outlook had an article noting that Fred J. House was
selling the theatre to a Mr. O.E. Loudy. The Outlook on December 2, 1910
again ran an article about a sale. Mr. Loudy was selling to an unnamed
buyer. In 1911 the ads noted that the management was "O'Brien and
Shamafelt."
As the Lyric it continued running movies and vaudeville into 1914.
They ran lots of ads in the Santa Monica Outlook and evidently everybody
knew where it was as the ads always said only "3rd Street." The
listing in the 1911 directory has it as the Lyric at
1434 3rd St. In the version of the 1912 city directory published by the Los Angeles City Directory Co. the address was 1436 3rd with Alfred Benson listed as proprietor. In the 1913 directory by the same firm it's listed at 1434 with Alfred J. Benson as manager, Carolyn A. Benson as operator and Mrs. Tillie Benson as ticket taker.
The
Outlook ran a front page story January 29, 1913 with the headline
"Close Call In Lyric Theatre." It was a tale of an officer getting
nudged, his revolver falling to the floor and discharging. The
theatre suffered "an ugly hole in wall and ceiling" and a female patron
got shot in the leg. Officers henceforth will have to check their
firearms at the boxoffice.
Closing: The date is unknown. It seems to have been subdivided and converted to retail by
1919. In the 1919-20 city directory 1432 3rd St. is listed as a bakery,
1426 is listed as a market. The building was later demolished.
More Information: See a few more tidbits included in Joe Vogel's research appearing on the Cinema Treasures page about the La Petite in Ocean Park.
See the page here on this site about the La Petite Theatre on Broadway in downtown L.A. for a discussion of other La Petite locations. Also see the Cameo Theatre page for a timeline of Billy Clune's other exhibition adventures.
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