Los Angeles Theatres: Lake Theatre

2118 W. 7th St. Los Angeles, CA 90057 | map |

Opened: Early 1920s. The building dates from 1923. It's on the south side of the street in the block east of Alvarado. It's just a block south of Wilshire with MacArthur Park across the street. This 1957 photo was taken by Ralph Crane for Life. "7th Cavalry" with "Randy" Scott and "Babs" Hale was a December 1956 release. The co-feature, "Ten Tall Men," was out in October 1951.

The photo was in a set called "College Antics" that also included a shot of a guy in a perhaps fake military uniform parachuting into the park. That guy may also be the one we see here getting hustled into the car. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating the photo. Visit the Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook page that he curates.

Architect: Unknown

Seating: 640 in later years. It's a number presumably from a Film Daily Yearbook.

That's 7th St. running below the park and Alvarado St. on the right of the park in this detail from Plate 15 of the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey Map from Historic Map Works. The Lake was in the middle of that strip of buildings west of Alvarado, here marked as "garage" and also with a "4" on it. At the time the addresses used for that building were 2114 and 2116.

On the east side of Alvarado and just south of 7th can be seen the location of the Alvarado/Park Theatre, 710 S. Alvarado St., marked "theatre." Up in the next block it's the the De Luxe Theatre, 656 S. Alvarado St., one building below Orange St., later to become Wilshire Blvd.

A January 1960 item that was spotted by Ken McIntyre in Boxoffice:

"LOS ANGELES - 'Red' Jacobs, president of Favorite Films of California and operator of the local Lake Theater, has purchased the Westlake Theater and building at Alvarado and Wilshire. He assumed active operation as of December 30. Jacobs acquired the Westlake from Fox West Coast Theaters. The circuit had operated the 1,900-seat film house for many years."

Closing: The Lake was still running as late as 1968. The closing date is unknown.

Status: It's now used as retail space.

More street views:

1923 - We're looking at a strip of 5 buildings on the south side of 7th St. just west of Alvarado in this aerial view. The Lake Theatre was in the third one in from this end, the one with the lighter, peaked roof. Up at 7th & Alvarado note the flat-roofed building that is now Langer's Deli and, to the right, the columned facade of the Alvarado/Park Theatre, just south of 7th.

The image is a detail from a superb photo featured by John Bengtson on his Silent Locations post "Buster Keaton - Hard Luck, The Goat - Closeups At Westlake Park." The post is about the filming in the area for the 1921 Buster Keaton films "The Goat" and "Hard Luck." He also discusses other films shot nearby. Thanks, John!

1923 - Here's the full photo from the National Archives. See a larger version on John's site where you can click on it to expand and pan around. That's 7th St. on the right. The Lake Theatre was across from that upper right corner of the park, this side of Alvarado. In the upper center we get a view of the De Luxe Theatre, 656 S. Alvarado St.

c.1948 - Looking west toward the theatre. Thanks to transit historian Sean Ault for spotting the photo on eBay.

c.1950 - A great view west on 7th St. approaching Alvarado. Too bad we can't see the theatre. It's down in the next block on the left. It's a photo from the Sean Ault collection.

c.1950 - A view east on 7th with the signage of the Lake in the distance. Thanks to Sean Ault for locating the photo.

c.1950 - A shot from a 15 second clip on the Getty Images site. The theatre was running "The Charlie Chaplin Festival," a 1941 compilation of four Chaplin shorts from 1917 with music and effects tracks added. "2 Big Days Only - Laughs - Laughs - Laughs." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

c.1957 - A look west along the Lake Theatre block. Thanks again to Sean Ault for sharing a photo from his collection. He notes that this one could be no later than 1958. Where's the theatre? Well, except for a sliver of the marquee it's hiding behind the streetcar.

1960 - A snapshot of the Lake Theatre running "Cimarron" with Glenn Ford and Maria Schell. The second feature is "Where The Boys Are." Thanks to Sean Ault for the photo.

1962 - A view west on 7th from Alvarado with the Lake Theatre on the left. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection. The theatre was running "The War Lover" with Steve McQueen and "Comanche Station" with Randolph Scott.

1962 - A detail from the photo above.

2009 - The building with the theatre space used for retail. The Metro PCS store was the Lake's entrance. Photo: Google Maps

2023 - The back end of the Lake Theatre. We're looking east up the alley toward Alvarado St. Maybe we should have got a detail view of that two-tone paint job on the back wall. Photo: Bill Counter

The Lake in the Movies and on TV:

The Lake is seen in Guy Green's "A Patch of Blue" (MGM, 1965) with Sidney Poitier and Elizabeth Hartman. She's a blind girl, here trying to understand a parking meter. See the Theatres in Movies post for another shot of the Lake as well as a view of the Alvarado/Park Theatre from the film.

The Lake Theatre is seen as we look east on 7th in a 1967 "Dragnet" episode titled "The Masked Bandits." Thanks to Walter Santucci for the screenshot, a post on the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation Facebook page.

Lake Theatre

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