Los Angeles Theatres: Alhambra Theatre

731 S. Hill St. Los Angeles, CA 90014 | map |

Opened: It opened as the Alhambra Theatre in 1913, operated initially by Mr. E.J. Tally. The theatre was on the west side of the street between 7th and 8th. It was part of the five-story Silent Building, a project of its owner Edward Silent. This early view of the building, with the theatre's entrance on the right, is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Architects: Sumner P. Hunt and Silas Reese Burns of the firm Hunt and Burns designed the office building and theatre.

Seating: 878

The project was announced in the February 9, 1913 issue of the L.A. Times:

That's the theatre entrance on the right. we even get a peek at the boxoffice. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the article for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

An item on page 1396 of the September 27, 1913 issue of Motion Picture World noted:

"NEW $65,000 THEATER AT LOS ANGELES - A palatial theater seating 900 people, was opened in Los Angeles recently. It is under the control of the Tally Amusement Company, with E.J. Tally as president and F.J. Kawkins as vice-president. It will be known as the 'Alhambra' and will use the Universal program as does Mr. Tally’s other theater, the popular 'College' on Hill Street. On the exterior of the 'Alhambra' there are 1250 electric lights. The furniture and fittings are magnificent and comfortable."

Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor HughMN for finding the article. In addition to the College Theatre and the Alhambra, in mid-1914 E.J. Tally also built out a storefront on Broadway to become the Palace of Pictures. E. J. shouldn't be confused with his more famous theatre owning brother Thomas Tally. Prior to going out on his own, E.J. had worked with Thomas and his wife Mary at various phonograph parlor locations and at the Electric Theatre on Main St. See the Tally's Broadway page for a timeline of Thomas Tally's exhibition adventures.

An October 5, 1913 ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

The theatre is still listed as the Alhambra in the 1915 city directory. In late 1915 it was leased to Fred Miller and became Miller's Hill Street Theatre. It's again the Alhambra in the 1916 through 1923 and 1929 city directories. Miller had other theatres including Miller's and the California on Main St. and later the Gateway in Glendale, the Figueroa south of downtown, the Carthay Circle on San Vicente, and the Elmiro in Santa Monica.

A 1918 ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

By 1927 West Coast Theatres was operating the Alhambra. This is an ad that appeared in the April 29 issue of the L.A. Times. West Coast also ended up with the Figueroa and Carthay Circle.

A 1932 Times item about a new foreign film policy. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding it as a comment to a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

Closing: The Alhambra was running as late as 1932, as seen by the clipping above. The closing date is not known.

Status: After closing, the office building remained but the theatre's auditorium was demolished and became a parking lot. The office building was later demolished as well. Except for one small restaurant building, the whole middle of the block is now parking. The only buildings remaining are the Foreman Building at the SW corner of 7th & Hill and the Garfield Building at the NW corner of 8th & Hill.

1919 - Looks like a Dustin Farnum festival. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for posting the trade magazine photo on the site's page about the Alhambra.

c.1920 - Looking west on 7th Street from Broadway. Across Hill St. is a roof sign for the Alhambra. The the sign isn't on the theatre building itself but it has an arrow pointing to the theatre on Hill between 7th and 8th. The photo from the California Historical Society is in the USC Digital Library collection.

A bit of the back of the building housing the Grand Theatre on Grand Ave. (at the time of the photo called the Strand) is visible to the left of the Alhambra sign. Farther down 7th on the Brockman Building the Kinema, later renamed the Criterion Theatre, has a big sign with an arrow pointing off to the right. In the foreground, the State Theatre would soon rise in place of the buildings on the left. Beyond the alley is the marquee of the Palace Theatre, a venue that would close in 1921.

c.1920 - A detail from the USC photo showing the signage for the Alhambra.

1920 - The Marine Corps helping promote "The Dwelling Place of Light," a September release. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the image on the Fine Art America site. He shared it in a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. A trade magazine version of the shot is on the Cinema Treasures page about the Alhambra from that site's contributor Dallas Movie Theaters.

1920 - "Hubbies - Write below and tell us how you make Wiffie behave." It's a blackboard out front during the run of "Love, Honor and Behave." Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating this trade magazine shot in which we also get a look at the ticket lobby's tile design.

1921 - The theatre doing a promotion for "Queen of Sheba," an April release. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Elmorovivo for finding the photo to add to the site's page about the theatre. A cropped version of the photo, with the theatre incorrectly identified as the Symphony, appeared in the February 11, 1922 Motion Picture News. It's on Internet Archive.

1921 - The photo appeared in the January 7, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review with the caption: "'The Lotus Blossom,' an all Chinese production distributed by National Exchange, is an unusual picture, and when it made its first bow to the public at the Alhambra, Los Angeles, Manager Newberry reproduced the Oriental atmosphere of the picture in his lobby with good box office results." The issue is on Internet Archive.

1922 - A promotion for "The Fast Mail." It's a photo that appeared in the November 11, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It's on Internet Archive.

1929 - A view of the 700 block looking north with a glimpse of the Alhambra marquee at the far right. On the marquee is "Love Doctor, a talkie." That's the Garfield Building, still standing, on the left. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

c.1931 - A lovely view south on Hill St. from 7th. The Alhambra is over on the right in the middle of the block. The RKO Hillstreet can be seen down at 8th. In the distance there's signage for the Belasco and Mayan with an arrow pointing across to the east side of Hill St. It's a California Historical Society photo on the USC Digital Library website.

c.1931 - A detail from the USC photo giving us a closer view of the Alhambra. The front of the marquee is unreadable but the end panel saying Bill Haines and Marie Dressler would lead one to believe they're running either "Hollywood Revue of 1929" or "The Girl Said No," a March 1930 release.

1939 - A view north on Hill from just below 8th St. The Alhambra Theatre still has its marquee and vertical but at this point it had become a parking lot. The Foreman Building at this end of the 700 block remains but the rest is gone. The Warner can be seen across on the north side of 7th St. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

1939 - A closer view of the former theatre. It's another Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

1939 - A detail from the previous Dick Whittington photo.

2 comments:

AnonymousMarch 8, 2023 at 10:19 AM
Interesting to see how the vertical sign and marquee of the Alhambra were converted to advertise System Parking, and the lobby converted to a drive through tunnel to get to the parking lot on the site of the auditorium. Reminds me of the El Capitan in San Francisco, though in that case, the name El Capitan is still on the marquee, and was on the vertical as well, until its 1990s removal.