Opened: July 30, 1914 as Quinn's Superba. It was a project of pioneer theatreman John A. Quinn, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1909 or 1910. See a timeline of his other exhibition adventures down at the bottom of the page. This 1915 photo of the Superba and its neighbors was taken by G. Haven Bishop for the Southern California Edison Company. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding it in the collection of the Huntington Library.
The day after the opening the L.A. Times reported: "Quinn’s Superba, the latest pretentious motion picture house of Los Angeles, had its formal opening last night. The Superba was constructed at much expense, the management saying that almost $100,00 was spent before the theater could open. There are 6000 electric bulbs. In the theater proper they are obscured. The ceiling presents something unique in frescoing. The exits are ample, and the entrance presents electric bulbs shining behind onyx and marble." Thanks to Nick Bradshaw for finding the article.
With the opening of the Superba, this side of the 500 block on Broadway then had three major theatres. Its neighbors Clune's Broadway (now the Cameo) and the Pantages (now the Arcade Theatre) had both opened in 1910. This decade of the 1910s witnessed an extraordinary building boom on Broadway not just for theatres but for other commercial structures as well. For the theatre business, it was a serious move west that soon relegated the Spring and Main Street houses to significantly less important status.
Seating: 700. Moving Picture World, in a 1914 article before the opening, gave the capacity as 900.
A photo of J.A. Quinn in the 40s by Murillo. It's from the collection of Marlaine Hysell, a granddaughter of Quinn.
This drawing of the Superba appeared with a nice article about Quinn and his theatres in the March 28, 1914 Moving Picture World. It's on Internet Archive. The article begins:
"Metaphorically speaking, the rise of J.A. Quinn, of Los Angeles, Cal., in the exhibition end of the moving picture industry may be compared to the speed of a meteor. Three years ago he came into the moving picture business in Los Angeles by purchasing the Bijou Theater which was a small moving picture theater with a seating capacity of one hundred and twenty-eight. Now he owns four picture houses with seating capacities running from 900 to 1,500. This has been made possible by Mr. Quinn's metaphysical intuition and sound reasoning on what the public wants in the line of picture entertainment...
"He is now building a moving picture theater at 518 to 524 South Broadway. This structure will be three stories in height and will have a frontage of eighty feet. The name of it will be the Superba, and it is expected to be opened in a couple of months. The appointments and management of this new house will be in keeping with other Quinn theaters. The front of the theater will follow closely the architecture of the Colonial period. The interior of the lobby will be of the best selected onyx. The auditorium, which will have a seating capacity of nine hundred, will be illuminated by the indirect lighting system.
"The interior, as well as the front, will be elaborately decorated, and the stage equipment will consist of three complete sets of scenery and a large nitro-silver screen. A program of first run General Film Company's service will form the entertainment, and the pictures will be played to by one of the largest photoplay orchestras on the pacific Coast. The prices will be ten and fifteen cents, and twenty cents for the loges. the Superba is situated right in the heart of the City of Los Angeles."
The interior was described in an October 3, 1914 Moving Picture World article located by Cinema Treasures researcher Joe Vogel:
"...The lobby, foyer and auditorium are carried out in the classic style of architecture. The woodwork of the foyer is selected mahogany of beautiful grain, and the walls are paneled with large beveled plate mirrors. The floor is carpeted in deep red Wilton velvet. In the auditorium the walls and ceiling are held in soft light green tones, trimmed with cream and gray effects and high-lighted in orange. The sounding cove over the proscenium arch has a beautiful mural painting by a well-known local artist. This cove, aside from its decorative effect, assures such perfect accoustic properties that the faintest whisper from the proscenium area can be distinctly heard in any part of the house.
"On each side of the proscenium and midway between the footlight line and the cornice, are balconies with draped French windows, adaptable for singing-specialties. The stage itself is well equipped in spite of the fact that it is a miniature one. The floor of the auditorium is bowled and the seats are arranged in circular form. The carpets, luxurious upholstered leather opera chairs, silk velour drapes and velvet stage curtains are of a deep red. An efficient ventilating system assures the air’s changing completely every few moments, it being estimated that there is supplied thirty cubic feet of fresh air to each person, each minute, allowing for a capacity audience at all times..." Thanks, Joe!
Quinn soon got bored and sold the venture to some local businessmen doing business as Broadway Amusement Co. An article mentioning the Superba appeared in the July 15, 1916 Moving Picture World. It's on Google Books. They noted:
"Quinn's Superba is the house next door to Clune's Broadway. It was built by J.A. Quinn and is now operated by the Broadway Amusement Co. It is to the writer's opinion the most attractive houses on Broadway. The lobby is built entirely of onyx, with columns holding concealed lights. The lobby is most beautifully decorated and has program frames of hammered brass that alone cost over $600. A gorgeous electric sign, 75 by 35 feet, is built on top of the roof. The Superba has a ten piece orchestra. The seating capacity is 700. B. Collier is the local manager."
Quinn soon decided he'd had enough of retirement. In September 1915 he bought the theatre back and was in business again with a feature called "The Blindness of Virtue." The transaction was mentioned in the L.A. Times on September 11. In 1919 Carl Laemmle acquired the Superba lease for Universal Pictures Corporation. Quinn's name came down from the signage.
A detail from plate 002 of the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works showing the Pantages, Clune's Broadway and Superba Theatres.
Closing: The Superba closed December 11, 1922 to be turned into a restaurant called Tait's Coffee Shop after Laemmle sold the lease to John Tait. Tait was a noted restaurateur from San Francisco who was introducing the new concept of a "coffee shop" to Los Angeles. Tait's closed in June 1931.
Status: The building was demolished in 1931 for construction of the Roxie Theatre, which opened in November of that year.
More exterior views:
1914 - A big crowd for "Damaged Goods," a September release. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the photo. See the photo section of the site's page about Quinn's Suberba for more than a dozen additional entrance views from various trade magazines.
1915 - A detail from the G. Haven Bishop photo that's at the top of the page. It's from the Huntington Library collection. "Hypocrites" was a January release directed by Lois Weber.
1915 - Looking down on the theatre from across the street. It's another G. Haven Bishop photo for Southern California Edison in the Huntington Library collection.
1915 - A closer look at the roof sign from the previous photo. The sign was described in an October 3, 1914 Moving Picture World article located by Cinema Treasures researcher Joe Vogel:
"...Mr. Quinn is a Los Angeles manager of recognized ability and was among the first to employ, to the exclusion of all others systems, the indirect lighting plan that enhances the beauty of Quinn’s Superba; he has also been highly complimented in having worked out the elaborate light decorations on the facade which make this beautiful edifice stand out. Mr. Quinn is in favor of making Los Angeles preeminently the 'City of Lights,' and he is certainly doing his share towards carrying out his favorite hobby. The mammoth electric working sign which surmounts the three-story structure is among the largest used by any theater in the west. On each side of the name is a unicorn of heroic proportion darting a fiery tongue at his companion; ribbons of light steam over the front of the building, which is carried out in the renaissance style of architecture, in colors of cream and white. A massive cornice and frieze with theatrical figures modeled therein gives an appropriate touch to the whole. The markee is a solid mass of lights, art glass and copper..." Thanks, Joe!
1915 - A detail of the entrance from G. Haven Bishop's photo.
c.1915 - Well, they made a mess with the red on this postcard but it offers a look at the Superba, the third building in from the corner. The Title Guarantee Building on the corner dates from 1912. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing the card from her collection.
c.1916 - A lovely postcard of Quinn's Superba, Clune's Broadway and a bit of the Pantages with its vertical saying "Vaudeville." The card bears a 1916 copyright date. Thanks to Brooklyn-based theatre historian Cezar Del Valle for sharing the card from his collection. Head to his Theatre Talks website for news of his latest adventures. A version of the card with slightly different coloring appears on Brent Dickerson's Broadway Tour Part 3.
1916 - G. Haven Bishop was back again for this terrific view from the south. On the right note the shopping alley known as Mercantile Place, later the site of the Arcade Building. The photo is on the Huntington Library website where you can zoom in to look at details.
1916 - A detail from the previous photo.
c.1917 - A view south on Broadway. In the arch above the marquee note the new readerboard using milk glass letters. It looks like the north storefront that was a hat shop in earlier photos is getting a new tenant. Thanks to Christopher Jon Lillian for finding the photo for a post on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page.
c.1918 - A terrific view north along the facades of the
Pantages, Clune's and Superba. At the Superba note that Quinn's name is
off the roof sign. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo for a
post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
1919 - The Superba with John Ford's " Riders of Vengeance." Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1919 - A photo in the AMPAS Tom B'hend - Preston Kaufmann Collection acquired from Allen Michaan. The Superba is running "The Brute Breaker," an October release.
1920 - A dazzling view of the Superba, Clune's (later renamed the Cameo) and the Pantages (now the Arcade Theatre). Note that the earlier "Quinn's" verticals are gone and Quinn's name is missing from the roof sign. Universal was running the theatre at this point. The photo by Underwood and Underwood from the New York Times archives appears on Wikimedia Commons.
1920 - The front of the Superba all decked out in Oriental mode for the run of "Locked Lips," an April Universal release. Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for finding the trade magazine photo. It's in her Vintage Cinemas - California album on Flickr.
1920 - A closer look at the ticket lobby during the run of "Locked Lips." Note the boxoffice at the left. The stairs on the right went to other businesses upstairs. Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for finding the photo.
1920 - Another view of the theatre under Universal management. The caption of the trade magazine photo reads "The Superba Theatre of Los Angeles during the showing of the Universal feature 'The Girl in 29' with Frank Mayo." Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for sharing the photo on Flickr.
1920 - Looking in during the run of "West is West," a November release. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the photo. It's on the site's page about Quinn's Suberba.
c.1921 - A wonderful
postcard from the collection of Noirish Los Angeles contributor Nathan
Marsak (aka Beaudry). It's on Noirish post #1162 along with other downtown postcards. Also pay a visit to his post #1161, post #1163, post #1165, post #1166 and post #1167 for additional cards from his collection. Thanks, Nathan!
c.1921 - A daytime version of the same card as the one above. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing the image of this card in his collection on Flickr.
c.1921 - The Martin Behrman photo that the two postcards above were based on. Down the block from the Pantages the new Silverwood's Department Store building can be seen on the NE corner of 6th and Broadway. It opened in 1921. The photo is in the California State Library collection.
1921 - A photo that appeared in the December 10 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review with the caption "In putting over Universal's High Heels at the Superba, Los Angeles, manager Winsor built a miniature stage in his lobby. The curtain moved up and down and on the little stage was shown a pair of high heeled slippers and a pair of dainty legs -- feminine, of course." The film was an October release. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting the photo on Internet Archive.
c.1924 - Here the Superba building has become Tait's Coffee Shop, a conversion done in 1922. On this side of the Superba what had been Clune's Broadway is seen here as the Cameo, a name change after Clune sold it to a new operator.
The end of the Cameo's marquee reads "Price of..." Perhaps it's the 1924 release "The Price of a Party" or the 1925 release "The Price of Pleasure." On the right, Pantages had moved out and what would later be renamed the Arcade Theatre is here seen as Dalton's. It's a detail from the first of four photos of the Arcade Building in a set by Mott Studios from the California State Library collection.
c.1925 - Another view of the Superba building as Tait's Coffee Shop. Thanks to Brian Michael McCray for this card from his extensive collection, appearing as a post on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles. There's also a version of this card with different coloring in Elizabeth Fuller's Old Los Angeles Postcards collection on Flickr. The Examiner is in that white building down at the end of the block at 5th. It's now known as the Jewelry Trades Building.
mid-20s - Looking north from 6th St. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
1928 - A view south at what had been the Superba along with the Cameo and Pantages, here called Dalton's Theatre, beyond. It's a California Historical Society photo on the USC Digital Library website. The Huntington Library has a 1928 C.C. Pierce photo looking north from 6th with the roof sign atop the Superba building visible.
1928 - A detail from the USC photo.
early 1930s - Looking south from 5th St. with the Superba building replaced by the Roxie, a theatre that opened in November 1931. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.
2108 - The north end of the 500 block with the Roxie in the Superba's location and a bit of the Cameo on the right. Photo: Bill Counter
Other exhibition adventures of J.A. Quinn:
? - Quinn leased a theatre called Ideal in 1909 or 1910 according to the 1913 biography of him on the site Rootsweb. It's unknown what house this was. It wasn't the Ideal Theatre at 134 S. Spring as that evidently didn't come along until later.
553 S. Main St. - Quinn, in a partnership with G.H. McLain acquired the Bijou Theatre c.1910. By the end of 1910 the partners had split with McLain retaining the Bijou. McLain's name is also seen printed as McLean in a number of places.
456 S. Main St - Quinn also acquires the Banner Theatre also in a partnership with McLain c.1910. By the end of 1910 McLain was gone and Quinn was the sole owner. He was still running it in 1912.
802 S. Broadway - In 1911 Quinn took over the Garrick Theatre. It had earlier been called the Hyman Theatre.
340 S. Spring St. - In 1911 Quinn and McLain planned a nickelodeon in a storefront just south of the entrance to the Empress Theatre, a venue later known as the Capitol. Joe Vogel found a page six item in the February 5, 1911, issue of the Los Angeles Herald: "Frank L. Stiff, plans for a moving picture theater to be built at 340 South Spring street for Quinn & McLean. It will have tile entrance, ornamental plaster front, composition roof, metal lath, plumbing and electric wiring. The cost will be about $3000." Evidently this didn't get built as it's not in the 1911 or 1912 city directories.
833 S. Broadway - In 1912 Quinn was running Tally's Broadway and, according to a 1913 biography of him on Rootsweb, hoped to build an office building atop it. Those plans didn't come to fruition. Tally was soon running the theatre again.
523 S. Main - In 1913 he takes over the Century Theatre, a house later known as the Gayety.
227 S. Spring St. - In 1913 he takes over what had been called the Los Angeles Theatre and the Orpheum from Oliver Morosco. It becomes Quinn's Lyceum. After Quinn left it was, until its demolition in 1941, just called the Lyceum.
518 S. Broadway - In 1914 Quinn opens the Superba. He sells it soon after the opening to Broadway Amusement Co. In September 1915 he's back running it again.
338 S. Spring St - In 1916 Quinn was also running the Empress Theatre, later known as the Capitol. Evidently he didn't keep it long.
812 S. Broadway - In 1917 Quinn opens the Rialto Theatre, at the time known as Quinn's Rialto. Sid Grauman would take over in 1919 calling it Grauman's Rialto.
A nice article about Quinn and his early theatres is in the Moving Picture World issue of March 28, 1914. It's on Internet Archive.
Quinn's grand daughter Marlaine Hysell reports that "Quinn founded a group called Better Motion Pictures of the World to 'encourage' better motion pictures. He also was involved in promoting and developing Los Angeles for many years. It appears that J.A.Q. did his fair share of string pulling and back room deal making too. In 1920 John A. Quinn was in New York trying to drum up support for the Better Pictures Association of the World he was trying to get off the ground. It was in New York that he met and married my grandmother."
Quinn didn't return to Los Angeles until the fall of 1922 and evidently was not involved in theatre management following his return. In the 40s, he was still an active booster for the future prospects of Los Angeles.
His business card in the 40s, from the collection of Marlaine Hysell.
The back of the card.
Inside the fold-out card. Quinn died in 1945 at age 65.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Superba for excellent research by Jeff Bridges (aka Vokoban), Nick Bradshaw and Joe Vogel. They have unearthed some interesting articles about the theatre from the L.A. Times and Moving Picture World.
For more data on J.A. Quinn see a 1913 biography of him on Rootsweb.
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