Opened: June 11, 1938 with "Test Pilot" plus another MGM film filling out the bill. The pre-opening photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
Architect: Clifford A. Balch
Seating: 880
It was a project of Laurel Theatres, a partnership of Ben Berenstein with Pacific States Theatres. The Laurel name came from the site's location near Laurel Canyon Blvd. Berenstein was an independent exhibitor who, among other projects, had been running what came to be called the Wiltern after Warner Bros. had walked out of their lease. Pacific States Theatres was a firm founded by Adolph Ramish and Abe and Mike Gore. That team had extensive exhibition experience -- they were once integral parts of West Coast Theatres.
A trade magazine item about the founding of Pacific States. Thanks to historian Mary Mallory for locating it. Among other theatres, Pacific States also built the El Rey on Wilshire Blvd.
An article about the new theatre located by Mary Mallory. The contractor for the project was Wesco Construction Co., no relation to the Wesco theatre holding company (West Coast Theatres) that had become part of Fox West Coast when acquired by William Fox in the late 20s.
Boxoffice reported in their June 25, 1938 issue (a week after the Studio's opening) that the team was suing Fox West Coast alleging they were getting shut out as far as bookings from all distributors except MGM. Thanks to Joe Vogel for spotting the article and sorting out other ownership issues at the Studio.
By 1946 the Studio was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres. After a remodel they reopened in September 1946 with the theatre on a first-run policy. It was later operated by the successor companies National General and Mann Theatres. The Studio was equipped for 70mm presentations sometime in the 1980s. When Mann dropped their lease, the theatre became an independent again.
It's been known as the Studio Theatre, the Studio City Theatre and the Fox Studio City. It was listed as at 12138 Ventura Blvd. in the 1939/40 city directory.
The Studio City area was named for the 1927 Mack Sennett film studio project at Ventura Blvd. and what is now Laurel Canyon Blvd. He called his empire "Studio City." In 1935 it became Republic Pictures and, later, was occupied by CBS.
Status: The theatre closed in 1991. The interior is largely intact but it has been converted into a Bookstar/Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Interior views:
A look toward the screen. Sorry, there aren't any interior photos of the building when it was operating as a theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A sidewall view. The wall decor dates from the renovation into a bookstore. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A sidewall fixture detail. Photo: Gregory May - Studio City Theatre album - Facebook
Looking back toward the booth. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
More exterior views:
c.1939 - Looking east with the theatre in the center of the photo. On the left it's the windmill of Van de Kamps Bakery at 12169 Ventura Boulevard and to the right of the theatre it's Bond's Market at 12160 Ventura Boulevard. It's a photo by Herman Schultheis that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1945 - Looking east from Laurelgrove Ave. toward Vantage Ave. with the theatre beyond. Thanks to Jesse Kanner for spotting the photo on a Water and Power Museum Associates "Early Views of the San Fernando Valley" page for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. The WPA people found the photo on the San Fernando Valley Then and Now Facebook page.
1946 - The Studio running "The Killers" with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. The photo is by Nate Singer. Note the new neon flourish added atop the vertical sign. Thanks to Bill Gabel for posting the photo on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. It also makes an appearance on the AMPAS website for the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection. Bruce Kimmel comments: "This is sometime in October. 'The Killers' played there for that entire month."
c.1949 - The kids gather for a double bill of "Bad Men of Tombstone," a January 1949 release along with "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry," a 1937 release with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Thanks to Arnold Darrow for finding the photo for a post on Facebook.
1953 - A lovely postcard celebrating the San Fernando Valley, the "fastest growing area of Los Angeles." The marquee of the Studio is advertising "Three Sailors And a Girl" and along with Brando in "The Wild One." Thanks to Douglas Rudd for posting the card on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group.
1953 - Another look at that "Wild One" shot that appears on the postcard. Thanks to Jon Haimowiz for the post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. A watermarked version of this appears on the Valley Relics Facebook page.
1953 - Yet another version of the "Wild One" shot. Thanks to Linda Hammonds for posting it on the SoCal Historic Architecture private Facebook group.
1954 - The theatre was running "Beneath the 12 Mile Reef" with the second line of the marquee announcing "In CinemaScope." The film had finished its six week run at the Chinese on February 4. Thanks to the Classic Hollywood / Los Angeles / SFV Facebook page for sharing the photo.
early 1960s - A widely circulated card with a view west. A cropped version of it appears in the Studio City section of the Water & Power Associates Museum page of early views of the San Fernando Valley.
c.1962 - "El Cid" with Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston was playing at the time of this shot from the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. We're looking east.
1960s - A Valley Times photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1978 - Are you sorry you missed "They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way"? Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this photo when it was for sale online.
1982 - Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for this fine "Star Trek II" view.
1982 - A fine look at the neon from American Classic Images.
2008 - A lovely neon detail by Marc Evans on Flickr. It's part of his delightful Neon set -- with nearly 500 images from all over Los Angeles.
2009 - Thanks to Mark Peacock for this fine view from across the street. It's on Flickr as part of his Vintage Theatres and Drive-Ins album.
c.2009 - The neon at night. Thanks to Don Solosan for his photo, one taken for the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. The LAHTF is active in promoting awareness of historic theatres in the Los Angeles area. The group offers tours, supports various events in vintage theatres and lobbies for historic preservation. www.lahtf.org | LAHTF on Facebook
c.2009 - A closer look at the entrance. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF
c.2009 - An eye-popping view of the boxoffice in daytime. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF. Thanks, Don!
2010 - Looking east toward the entrance. Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - The Skouras-style boxoffice. Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - A terrazzo detail. Photo: Bill Counter
2011 - The entrance at night. Thanks to Gregory May for his photo, one of sixteen photos in his Studio City Theatre album on Facebook.
2011 - Looking west along Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. Photo: Google Maps
2018 - A photo by Franck Bohbot, one in series he's calling "L.A.
Confidential." It appears with many other shots from the series in "Neon Dreams: Los Angeles by night - in pictures," a November 2019 spread from the Guardian.
Bohbot notes: "At night, everything changes and the neon lights help to
create the scene… this could be the LA from the past but also from the
future." Thanks, Franck!
The Studio City Theatre in the Movies:
The theatre appears in Neil Simon's "California Suite" (Columbia, 1978). The film, directed by Herbert Ross, stars Jane Fonda, Alan Alda, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine and Walter Matthau. Thanks to Jennifer Crock for the information and the screenshot. She notes: "On the marquee is a fictitious film 'No Left Turns,' referring to a movie for which another character in the film is nominated for an Oscar. Next door is the Harry's Camera store, long gone."
Aliens Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey land in the Valley and hookup with Geena Davis after landing in her swimming pool in Julien Temple's "Earth Girls Are Easy" (Vestron Pictures, 1989). Here we're in front of the Studio City Theatre on our way to go clubbing. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a shot of the Cinerama Dome from a flyover of Hollywood in the film's opening credits.
The Studio City Theatre on TV:
Thanks to the blog Scouting LA for this screenshot from the first episode of the 1968 season of "Dragnet" that included the Studio Theatre. Joe Friday and Bill Gannon are there to investigate an acid-pouring crime. See the 2015 Scouting LA post about the Studio Theatre "When Your Local Barnes & Noble is in a 30s Art Deco Movie Palace" for many great interior and street views.
Joe Pinney advises that "You see the shot above in the prelude to the episode, although it's described as a movie theater near the intersection of Olympic and Western, which is why you don't see the top half of the Studio's marquee, since it's nowhere near Olympic & Western."
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page for links to many more exterior views. Cinema Tour has three 2001 exterior photos from the Bob Meza collection. See the page on the theatre on From Script To DVD for some additional exterior views.
Check out Mary Mallory's 2013 Hollywood Heights article featuring the theatre "Studio City Revolves Around Movies." There's an article about Studio City on Wikipedia which includes an exterior view of the building.
See Mary McGrath's article in Studio City Patch about the Studio City Theatre: "Going to the Movies Circa 1964." Also see her tales in "Looking Back to the 60s: What Movies Did You Watch?"
Hyper-realist artist Davis Cone has a painting of the Studio featured in a 2014 Huffington Post story about his devotion to capturing vintage movie theatres. Scouting in L.A. has a fine 2015 article about the theatre: "When Your Local Barnes & Noble...."
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