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Creation Theatre / Sunset / Mitchell's / Garden / Ramona / Studio 1 / HK Studio / Estudio 1 / Mohawk Bend / Pitfire

2139 Sunset Blvd. Echo Park (Los Angeles), CA 90026 | map |

Opened: The theatre was built in 1914, located three blocks west of Glendale Blvd. The 1982 photo of it operating as the Estudio 1 is from the now-vanished website American Classic Images.

Initially it was known as Miller's Creation Theatre, named after a local chiropractor and his mother who were the first operators. In the 1915 and 1916 city directories it's listed as the Creation Theatre, running "moving pictures."

Seating: 500

Architect: Alfred Grayson was the architect. Cinema Treasures contributor Lost Memory came up with the information that the builder was J. Louis Pancoast, who had an office down the street at 2121 Sunset.

Thanks to Alvaro Guevara, Al Medrano and other researchers who have assembled a Ramona Theatre album with many clippings and photos for the Echo Park History Facebook group. They note that early owners of the building included Mark (Meek) Mitchell (1914), Nannie Ella Mitchell (1918), J.H. Phyn and R. Armour (1921), Chas M. Strect (1925), Tina F. Church (1929) and, from 1930 onward, the Lotito family including Carlo, Gioella, John and Virginia, 

In the 1917 directory it's listed as the Sunset Theatre. It's called Mitchell's Theatre in the 1919 and 1920 directories. In the 1925 and 1929 city directories it's listed as the Garden Theatre. Then for a long period it was the Ramona Theatre.


Someone was looking to take on a partner for the "talkie theater" in 1930. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the ad.



A 1931 ad in the Times as the Ramona. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting it.  
 
 

A 1942 ad for "Citizen Kane." That "H.M Pulham, Esq" co-feature starred Hedy Lamarr, Robert Young and Ruth Hussey. Thanks to Alvaro Guevara for locating this. 



A 1943 Times ad. It was another find by Ken McIntyre. 
 
From 1944 to 1950 the theatre was managed by a Mr. Shaffner, who moved back to his hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, after retiring from the theatre. It's unknown who ran it next. 
 
 

A 1951 "Born Yesterday" ad located by located by Alvaro Guevara
 
 

A 1953 Ramona listing in the L.A. Times Independent Theatre Guide located by Alvaro Guevara.
 
 
 
A 1956 holdup was noted in the San Bernardino Sun. Thanks to Al Guevara for locating the item. 

Becoming the Studio 1 in 1965:

 
Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this November 8 ad. An article on Blogging L.A. noted that the intent of the new operators was to show German films -- "Die Fledermaus" was the opener. 
 
 

As the Studio 1 they were soon running conventional Hollywood product. Thanks to Alvaro Guevara for spotting this 1968 listing.

A 1970 ad in the L.A. Times located by Al.



A 1971 ad for the theatre as Studio 1. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.

By 1974 it had become the HK Studio Theatre, still running mainstream Hollywood product. By 1982 it had become Estudio 1 and was showing Spanish language (or Spanish subtitled) films. 

Sometime around 1986 the "E" of "Estudio 1" was pulled off the marquee and the house, once again called Studio 1, became a bargain operation, again running mainstream Hollywood product. 

Closing: It was closed by 1995.

Status: Nothing remains of the building's theatrical past except the marquee. The building was gutted when converted for retail use. In the Ramona Theatre album on the Echo Park History Facebook group they note: 

"Around 1998, a member of the Lotito family which has owned the building and much of the block for at least 75 years – decided to gut the interior, rip out the theatre seats and level the floor as part of a renovation to seek new tenants, possibly retail, but the building has remained empty."

The building was converted to a restaurant in 2011 called Mohawk Bend. The name derived from the fact that the venue is just east of a bend in Sunset at Mohawk St.

The building was sold to investment group Tova Capital in 2020. It had been in the same family for over 75 years but was put on the market by court order following a family dispute. Barry Lank covered the story in "Mohawk Bend building in Echo park sells for $2.5 million," his October 1 story for The Eastsider. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for spotting it. The restaurant was leasing the entire building. No changes were anticipated at the time. 

Mohawk Bend closed in 2023 after twelve years of operation. As of February 2024 Pitfire Pizza had this as a location. Eater had the story. 

More exterior views:


1928 - It was in the Movies as the Garden Theatre. Silent film detective John Bengtson spotted "Garden Theatre" on a side wall in Echo Park in the sixteen minute film "Standing Pat" (FBO, 1928). He notes: "During this scene, traveling west along Sunset towards the fire station at Mohawk Bend visible to the left, you can see the east side of the Ramona Theater, known at the time as the Garden Theater."

The film stars the "Ton of Fun," the trio of obese comedians Frank"'Fatty" Alexander, Hilliard "Fat" Karr, and Kewpie Ross. Thanks to John for the screenshot. Keep up with his latest explorations via the Silent Locations blog "Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more)."


1934 - A trade magazine photo promoting Vitrolite. Thanks to David Zornig for posting it on Cinema Treasures. He credited Al Guevara for the find. "Operator 13" was a June 1934 release starring Marion Davies and Gary Cooper. "Queen Christina" was out in 1933. 

The caption: "Golden agate Vitrolite, trimmed with stainless steel snap moldings and black Vitrolite base and trim, modernized the Ramona Theatre, Los Angeles, Calif."
 
 

1966 - The Studio 1 with "A Patch of Blue" and "Night of the Grizzly." It's a photo by Ed Ruscha from the Getty Research Institute collection. See the Getty's "12 Sunsets" site where you can specify a year and search for locations. Their October 2020 Press Release discusses the project.

There over 70,000 Ruscha items now available for browsing. A few other places to investigate: Sunset Boulevard, 1965-2010, undated (58,167 digitized items) | Hollywood Boulevard, 1973-2005, undated (4,292 digitized items) | Santa Monica Boulevard, 1974 (4,956 digitized items) | Melrose Avenue, 1975 (3,724 digitized items) |
 


1974 - A panoramic view of the block by Ed Ruscha on the Getty Research Institute site.


1974 - A closer look. The theatre, by then called the H.K. Studio, was running "Serpico" and "Ash Wednesday." The Ed Ruscha photo appears on the Getty Research Institute website. On the site you can use the left and right arrows to look at adjacent images. 

 
1985 - An Ed Ruscha shot on the Getty Research Institute site. At this time it was running Spanish Language product as the Estudio 1.
 
 
 
c.1986 - "Under New Management - Open Soon." They had taken the "E" off the "Estudio 1" and when it did reopen it was back to Hollywood product as a bargain house. It's a Gary Graver photo. More of his theatre photos can be seen on YouTube in "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to his son Sean Graver for use of the photo.
 

1990 - Running as a bargain house with "Young Guns" and "Total Recall." It's an Ed Ruscha photo from the Getty "12 Sunsets" site. 
 
 

1995 - Closed up and "Leasing." It's another Ed Ruscha photo on "12 Sunsets." 
 

1997 - "Trance" was the word that year. Photo: Ed Ruscha - "12 Sunsets." 
 

1998 - Some renovations underway but no tenant lined up. Photo: Ed Ruscha - "12 Sunsets."



c.2000 - Thanks to the prolific German photographer Martin for this photo that once appeared on his on his now-vanished site You-Are-Here.com. 
 
 

c.2000 - Another shot from the You-Are-Here site.  
 
 

2007 - Photo: Ed Ruscha - "12 Sunsets." 
 
 

c.2009 - A view east that had appeared on You-Are-Here. 



c. 2010 - A lovely shot of the vacant theatre from Emma R. on Flickr.



2011 - The converted theatre as the Mohawk Bend Restaurant. Photo: Bill Counter



2017 - Looking west at the bend. The next intersection is Mohawk St. Photo: Google Maps  
 
 

2024 - The redecorated facade as Pitfire Pizza. It's a photo by Wonho Frank Lee that was included in a story about the new tenant in Eater. The shot got many, many comments when it was shared on the Echo Park History Facebook group.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the theatre, which they list as the Studio 1. Cinema Tour has several 2003 exterior photos by Bob Meza. See the 2010 LA Eater story about the conversion to a restaurant, "Inside the gutted Ramona Theatre."

There's a fine album of photos, ads, and historical data from Alvaro Guevara, Al Medrano and other contributors on the Echo Park History Facebook group.

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10 comments:

  1. I grew up just blocks away from Studio 1 from 1961 to 1979. We would walk through the "Public Walk" from Coronado Terrace to Waterloo St, and then down to Sunset Blvd. It was our family go to movie theater. My first memory there was watching Mary Poppins. As a kid in grade school (Mayberry St), we kids would go to the matinee movies during the summer by ourselves! My oldest memory on a matinee movie was Bob Hope and Phyilis Diller in The Private Navy of Sgt O'Farrell. Admission for a double feature was just 50 cents for kids and $1 for adults. It was very safe, I never remember any issues. Just good clean fun. :)

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    1. How cool.
      I too would go to the Ramona and subsequently Studio 1 when it first reopened as Studio 1. I too attended Mayberry from Kindergarden thru 6th grade. King jr high first part if 7th grade then we moved to Cerritos.
      I also would take that public walk from Waterloo to Coronado and go to King Coles market. Those days were different.
      Do you remember any of your teachers from Mayberry? What year did you graduate?

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    2. Hey I live on Coronado Terrace now! Curious where this public walk was that you mentioned.

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    3. Perhaps the "walk" was something that was filled in by later development?

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    4. Possibly, however most buildings/houses in this area are the same ones that were here during that time too.

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  2. I grew up in Echo Park and we would walk from Elysian Heights Elementary to Studio 1 or take the bus. We would spend weekends in there. I remember seeing Bambi, Swiss Family Robinson and all the corny Disney movies. I will never forget the night the God Father opened at Studio 1. People were sitting in the isles. Admission back then, 50 cents.

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  3. There was a public walk that ran from Carlton Way to Hollywood Blvd,. It was (roughly) across the street from the Florentine Gardens/Hawaii Theatre and is now part of the Toyota dealership.

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    1. Well, the Florentine Gardens/Hawaii Theatre location is 4 miles west of the Ramona/Studio Theatre discussed here on this page.

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    2. My response was to an earlier post ab out "public walks". A couple of people didn't seem to be familiar with them.
      Sorry for the intrusion.

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    3. Not a problem. I just didn't understand the connection.

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