The Royal showing off the updated signage installed following the 2012 tripexing. Thanks to Stephen Russo for his 2014 photo, one that appeared on the LAHTF Facebook page.
Phone: 310-478-3836 Website: www.laemmle.com
Opened: March 8, 1924 as the Tivoli Theatre. The location is about five blocks west of the 405. The theatre was a project of A.J. Fyhn and a Mr. Armour of the Fyhn and Armour Theater Company. At the time they also had the Majestic in Santa Monica, a theatre later renamed the Mayfair.
Architect: Unknown.
The new Tivoli was a replacement for their nearby Crown/Sawtelle Theatre as they thought the neighborhood "had entirely outgrown the old Crown theater..."
One hungry project. This item in the June 15, 1923 Santa Monica Evening Outlook noted that the new theatre would have a "capacity for eating 1000 persons." Thanks to Samuel de la Torre Dórame for locating this. He notes that the 108th St. mentioned in the article is now called Colby Ave. It's unknown why the project took over eight months to complete.
A March 7, 1924 article from the Santa Monica Evening Outlook about the Tivoli's opening. Thanks to Samuel de la Torre Dórame for finding the article via the Santa Monica Public Library. He's got it, along with other fine research, on the Tivoli Theater Grand Opening page of his blog Sawtelle 1897-1950.
Also see his 1925 - A letter to Rudolph Valentino from the Tivoli, a page of material about the theatre's run of the Valentino film "The Eagle." Samuel also has a fine page about the theatre that was replaced by the Tivoli: Sawtelle Crown Silent Picture Theater.
The March 8, 1924 opening day ad in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. Thanks again to Samuel de la Torre Dórame for the research. He notes that 107th St. is now Butler Ave. and 108th St. is now Colby Ave. See his Tivoli Theater page for more early ads and articles.
In 1926 the Tivoli was taken over by Forrest W. McManus. This June 2, 1929 photo spread in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook
featured the area's most prominent men in the amusement business. McManus is down in the lower right. Thanks to Samuel de la Torre Dórame for finding
the newspaper item.
In August 1930 McManus would open his second theatre in the area, the Nuart. Just before he opened that one, he teamed up with M.E. Baylis and Edward A. Johnson to form the Independent Theatre Corp. with the Tivoli and Nuart becoming the film's first two theatres. Johnson was president, McManus was vice-president, and Baylis was secretary.
The company then opened the Wilshire Theatre in Santa Monica in November 1930. Evidently the firm didn't prosper. When the firm was dissolved each of the three principals ended up with a theatre and the Nuart went to Baylis, who had a new partner in George Bourke.
This January 26, 1933 item in the West LA Independent located by Samuel de la Torre Dórame notes that in 1933 Baylis was getting control of the Tivoli again and giving it a remodel.
In the late 30s Baylis was in a partnership with George Bourke that was running the Tivoli and the Nuart. They had planned to build a third house, the Bee Bee, on Santa Monica Blvd. just east of where the 405 now is. That didn't happen. See the page about the aborted project for a drawing.
The triplexing project: In July 2012, Greg Laemmle announced "imminent" plans to triplex the theatre. Sarah Fay had the story for the Westwood-Century City Patch. It became a three screen operation after a four month remodel. The theatre reopened December 19, 2012. A nice story in L.A. Biz by Annlee Ellingson discussed the reopening and the company's strategy to stay competitive in a changing business.
Seating: Nearly 800 originally, later down to 600. With the
triplexing, the total seat count is down to around 300. Auditorium #1 is the front half of the
original theatre with about 165 seats and retains the original proscenium. Auditorium #2 is at the house left rear of the original space and seats 45. #3 at the house right rear seats 88.
The Laemmle circuit was for sale in 2019 but they decided to keep the company family owned. The circuit was started in
1938 by Kurt and Max Laemmle, nephews of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle. At the time of the proposed sale, they operated 38 screens at 7 L.A. area locations. Several of
the sites were leased but most were situations where the company owned the
buildings. Deadline's August 2, 2019 story "Laemmle Theaters, 81-Year Old Famed Los Angeles Arthouse Chain, Up For Sale" had some details and a history of the circuit.
An August 7 Indiewire story "Selling L.A's Laemmle Theatres Could Mean Specialty Market Disruption..."
discussed 6 possible suitors for the circuit including Reading Cinemas
(operators of the Angelika in NYC and others), Cineopolis and Regency
Theatres.
"Laemmle Theatres calls off sale...,"
a November 21, 2019 L.A. Times article by Ryan Faugnder, discussed the change of plans. The photo by Wally Skali of Greg Laemmle, then 54, with his father Robert, 84, appeared with the article. Talks were held with several potential buyers but nothing satisfactory materialized. Greg, manager of the circuit, noted that the circuit didn't want to react to short-term trends. While optimistic about the future, they expected 2019 to be down between 10 and 20%, a sign of the troubles the specialty film business was experiencing.
The article quoted Laemmle as saying "While there are risks to continue owning and operating the business, the reward of continuing was greater than the reward of selling, ultimately. Part of that reward is doing what we do." Deadline's November 22 story "Why Laemmle Theatres Decided Not To Sell..." tried to be on top of things but was largely a rehash of the Times story. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting the Deadline, Indiewire and Times stories.
At the time they were developing sites in Azusa and Bellflower, plans now abandoned. The circuit left the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills at the end of October 2019. It now operates as a private screening room and rental venue. They exited the Music Hall, also in Beverly Hills, in November 2019. It's now an independent operation.
They were forced to sell the Royal, the Noho 7 and
Pasadena's Playhouse 7 buildings in 2020 to survive the pandemic,
ending up as tenants in buildings they used to own. The circuit opened a new 7 screen theatre in Newhall in 2021, a project that had been underway for several years. They exited the Playhouse 7 in June 2022 after being unable to secure a satisfactory extension to their leaseback deal. The complex is now operated by Landmark. The Claremont location had a buyer but after a long escrow process Laemmle called off the sale in 2023. See a Facebook post from the circuit as well as a January 13 story in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
In the booth:
The Tivoli's booth in 1924. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for the photo on the site's page about the Royal Theatre.
The Royal was once equipped for 70mm projection. It's now all digital. "Howard's End" ran in 70 in 1992 and "Hamlet"
got a 70mm run in 1996. The theatre had sometimes run festivals
of 70mm prints such as 2010's "Star Wars" marathon.
In this booth photo from the theatre's single screen days on the site In70mm.com we're looking at a Norelco DP70 35/70mm machine and a Simplex XL. The third machine looks like it might be a 16mm unit. The photo by Johan Wolthuis is on the DP70s in California page. The site, curated by Thomas Hauerslev is a wonderful place to visit for information about 70mm projector history, news of 70mm festivals and more.
Lobby views:
Looking into the lobby post-triplexing. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
The Laemmle memorabilia on the west wall of the outer lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
A look from farther back in the big house. It's a 2016 contribution from Vincent V. on the Yelp page about the Royal.
The rear of auditorium #3. On the left it's a bit of seismic bracing. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
More exterior views:
The theatre in 1938. It's a photo from MGM in the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.
A shot taken during the 2020 virus shutdown. The photo is one several dozen theatre marquee views from around the country appearing with "The clever, funny and hopeful messages of shuttered theatres," a May 18 SF Gate article by Mike Moffitt. It's credited to the Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images.
A lockdown view by Ian Logan that appeared with "LA's Shuttered Movie Theaters and Venues Are Using Their Marquees to Speak to the City," an April 2020 Los Angeles Magazine story by Mr. Logan and Cindy Whitehead that included eleven additional photos. Thanks to Yasmin Elming for spotting it.
The Royal in the Movies:
There's lots of screen time for the theatre in "Only In Theaters," the
2022 documentary about the Laemmle circuit directed by Rafael Sbarge. The film's website: onlyintheaters.com
More information: See the Tivoli Theater Grand Opening page on Samuel de la Torre Dórame's blog Sawtelle 1897-1941. Another resource is the Cinema Treasures page on the Royal Theatre.
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