Los Angeles Theatres: United Artists Theatre

217 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |

Opened: April 15, 1932 with Maurice Chevalier in "One Night With You." It's in the 1932 Polk city directory. This 1952 photo with "Singin' In The Rain" and "Kid Monk Baroni" on the marquee is from the Ronald W. Mahan collection. Thanks, Ron!

Architects: Clifford A. Balch and Walker & Eisen (A.R. Walker and P.A. Eisen) were the two firms doing the project.

The United Artists in Long Beach was part of an early 30s expansion project by the chain as a result of a war with Fox West Coast. They evidently didn't think UA product was getting the dates or the returns it warranted in the Fox houses. Thus there was a big push to get their own theatres in prime locations. Exhibitors Herald-World had a November 20, 1930 story about the UA expansion plans as well as a November 29 followup story promising 25 new theatres.

Many, if not all, of these were quite similar theatres designed by the trio of Balch + Walker and Eisen on a budget of $150,000 to $200,000. This team did a number of other projects for United Artists in the early 30s including similar theatres in Pasadena, East Los Angeles, Inglewood and the Four Star on Wilshire Blvd. This one in Long Beach has the distinction of being the only one for which vintage interior photos survive.

In 1927 Walker & Eisen had designed the building containing the United Artists Theatre in downtown L.A. although not the theatre itself. Their partner on that one was Detroit-based theatre architect C. Howard Crane.

This Long Beach UA house was strictly for the movies, with no stage facilities.

Seating: 1,242

And that war with Fox West Coast? Well, by the time any of these new UA theatres were ready to open the dispute had been settled and Fox ended up running these houses for UA. Until 1950 that is, when consent decree settlements got UA in the business of actually running its own theatres.

"Newest Finest Theatre in Long Beach." Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this April 15, 1932 opening day ad. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

A 1951 ad for the United Artists. At the time, the United Artists Theatre Circuit was also running the UA Long Beach, a house earlier called the Fox Long Beach when Fox West Coast was running it. In addition to giving up operation of theatres owned or controlled by UA, Fox was required under the consent decrees to divest itself of certain other theatres to make some markets more competitive. Thanks to Scott Pitzer for locating the ad.

On December 12, 1953 the theatre was the home of the world premiere of Sid Pink's 3-D feature "I Was a Burlesque Queen." Thanks to Bob Furmanek for sharing the ad in a post about the film on the 3-D Film Archive Facebook page.

A trade magazine item about "I Was a Burlesque Queen" that Bob located. Sid had taken the 1947 black and white British film "Linda, Be Good" with Elyse Knox, Marie Wilson and John Hubbard and shot added sequences in 3-D of performers onstage at the Carthay Circle. Also see another UA Long Beach ad for the film. Thanks, Bob!

A December 1963 ad located by Ken McIntyre.

The United Artists appears in this detail from an ad touting the "premiere presentation" venues for the 1969 release of the 20th Century Fox film "Che!" starring Jack Palance and Omar Sharif. Thanks to Ron Mahan for sharing this from his collection. Those swarms of things around the theatre? Cars on the freeway going to the movie, of course.

"On Any Sunday" playing in October 1971. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad.

The theatre ended its days as a porno theatre operated by the Mitchell Bros. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this December 13, 1974 ad commemorating its inauguration as a hardcore venue.

How nice to find a coupon for the theatre on a March 1975 page of "Clip & Save" ads. Ken McIntyre was the guy doing the coupon hunting.

Closing: The date is unknown.

Status: Gary Parks comments that the theatre was demolished sometime between Spring 1981 and Summer 1982.

Lobby views:

The main lobby in 1932. It's a Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection. The Library has nine Mott Studio views, all cataloged as set # 001387339.

An upstairs lounge view. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

Another lounge view. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

Yet another look at the upstairs lounge. Note the stairs down to the main lobby seen in the distance. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

Three of the hanging paintings that were executed by the Heinsbergen Studio for the lobby areas are in the Ronald W. Mahan collection. This composite shows where they appeared originally. Joe Musil had rescued these from the theatre, probably during its says as a porno house. Thanks, Ron!

The auditorium:

The auditorium from the rear. All the seating was on a single level. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

The vista across to house left. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

A closer view of house left near the front exit. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

House right. That curlicue drape treatment also appeared in other houses Fox was opening in this period including the Fox Wilshire. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1932

More exterior views:

1932 - A photo of the new theatre by Winstead from the Long Beach Public Library collection. We're looking west on Ocean Blvd. Here it looks like they were still working on the roof. The theatre would open in April.

1932 - A great view with the UA in the distance. The West Coast and Imperial are on the right with the West Coast running "Stepping Sisters," a January release. The photo was once in a now-vanished account on Flickr. It also appears in a smaller version on the Cinema Treasures page about the Imperial as a contribution from Bill Gabel.

1932 - A Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection. The UA was running "Amateur Daddy" with Warner Baxter and Marian Nixon, an April release. Bing also had a comedy short on the program. The Library has nine Mott Studio views in their collection, all cataloged as set # 001387339.

1930s - A postcard from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. We're looking east on Ocean with a nice view of the bulging roof of the UA and the West Coast down there in the distance. Thanks to Bill Gabel for noting that the feature on the banner below the one advertising the studio preview might be "One Way Passage," an October 1932 release with William Powell and Kay Francis.

1933 - The Stanley Theatre is on the left with the UA down the street. It's a detail from a Frasher Foto postcard. Also see it on the Pomona Public Library website. Their Frasher Foto Postcard Collection has hundreds of photos from all over Southern California. In a Tumblr post, Casual Observer made out Victor McLaglan's name on the Stanley marquee plus the word "Pepper" and speculated that they were running the January 1933 film "Hot Pepper." It's a photo taken in May -- the flags are out for Memorial Day.

c.1937 - A fine postcard view on Ocean Blvd. with a look at the State, United Artists and Fox West Coast. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing the card from her collection. Note the new angled marquee at the State.

1938 - A marquee shot in the Los Angles Public Library collection that came from the MGM art department.

c.1938 - The roof and the back of the sign tower of the United Artists are seen in the lower center. Opposite, on the far side of Ocean Blvd., it's the Breakers Hotel, getting remodeled into a Hilton. Just to its left we get a peek at the roof of the stage end of the Tracy Theatre. To the right of the Breakers we get a view of the four buildings on the 100 block of Seaside Way. The second from the left had been the home of the American Theatre. The 1932 Municipal Auditorium is in the upper left. In the lower left there's a sliver of the front of the Mission Theatre on Long Beach Blvd. In the middle on the far right it's the Jergins Trust Building that housed the State Theatre.

Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this photo. Ron included this shot, along with many other great ones from his collection, in "Why I Love Long Beach," a video that he posted on Facebook to help the "Long Beach Gives" fundraising campaign for the Historical Society of Long Beach.

1945 - Well, a train seems to be in the way. The theatre was running "Hanover Square." Thanks to Deanna Bayless for spotting this photo from the Jack Finn collection on the website of the Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society. They note the train was a "Calship Special," taking workers to the Catalina dock in San Pedro where they would be ferried to the Calship facility on Terminal Island. That's the West Coast Theatre on the right.

1951 - A slide from the Ronald W. Mahan collection looking toward the bright lights of Ocean Blvd.

1951 - Here's the annotated version with the four theatres labeled that we see. Thanks, Ron!

1952 - The Shriners on parade while the UA was running the October release "Everything I Have Is Yours" with Marge and Gower Champion. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the photo. Ron included this shot, along with many other great ones from his collection, in "Why I Love Long Beach," a video that he posted on Facebook to help the "Long Beach Gives" fundraising campaign for the Historical Society of Long Beach. Also see the colorized version that Ron included in the video.

1953 - A January photo of an unscheduled bus arrival at the theatre. Thanks to Ron Mahan for finding the photo in the collection of Cal State Dominguez Hills.

1953 - A demolished boxoffice. It's another shot of the event in the Cal State Dominguez Hills collection. Thanks to Ron Mahan for finding the photo. He also located a story that appeared in the January 9 issue of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

"BUS RAMS THEATRE, 12 INJURED - Woman Trapped in Ocean Blvd. Tragedy - At least 12 persons were hurt, some believed seriously, when a Greyhound bus struck a car and swerved from Ocean Blvd. into the entrance of the United Artists Theatre at 11:39 am today. Four ambulances were used to haul the injured to Seaside Hospital and one woman still was trapped inside the bus one hour after the accident. She was identified as Mrs. Gertrude Waldron of Corona Del Mar. Her screams of 'Get me out! Please get me out!’ could be heard above the din of firemen and police working in the wreckage. One victim, Identified as a 'Mrs. Deiser.' Was on the sidewalk in front of the ticket office of the theatre at 219 E. Ocean Blvd. She was knocked several feet and appeared seriously hurt. The ticket office, which stands well out in the open lobby, was demolished.

"Delores Rojas, 20, of 406 Linden Ave. was just two minutes away from perhaps fatal injury. She would have entered the ticket office two minutes after the big bus rammed the office, knocking it into rubble. The bus was traveling west on Ocean Blvd. and, according to police, should have turned north into the alley entrance of the Greyhound Depot a block north. Witnesses said that several pedestrians scurried to safety but 'one or two' were tossed ahead of the huge steel monster. Three fire department ambulances were loaded with the victims and the fourth was called to be on hand when the trapped woman was removed. She appeared pinned in some manner beneath the dash of the bus. The crash shattered the front plate glass window of the North Star Air Coach Co. next to the theatre. Glass showered all over the interior but no was reported seriously hurt."

1958 - The UA running "Imitation General" with Glenn Ford. Thanks to John Nelson for locating the photo. He had shared it with the Southern California Nostalgia Facebook group but it then vanished from that platform.

1959 - A February shot of some work on the overhead wires. The theatre was running "The Tunnel of Love" with Doris Day and Richard Widmark. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the photo when it was offered for sale online.

c.1959 - A fine view with the State Theatre on the right. The vertical of the United Artists is visible on the left with the white facade of the West Coast farther down Ocean Blvd. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.

c.1959 - A detail from Sean's photo.

1960 - A photo from the collection of the Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding it in the collection.

1968 - A Jeffrey Nisbet photo looking west on Ocean Blvd. toward the United Artists. On the right the bus is in front of The Movie and the West Coast. It's a photo from the Long Beach Public Library collection.

c.1970 - The theatre hiding behind a train again. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

United Artists Theatre

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