Opened: August, 1908. This unique theatre was located on the 5th floor of Hamburger's Department Store and was known as Hamburger's Arrow Theatre. Construction on the building had begun in 1905. Asher Hamburger and his son David were the operators, moving from an earlier store on Spring St. This early postcard is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Down Broadway on the left it's the Majestic Theatre, also a project of Asher Hamburger.
The space devoted to the theatre was 80' x 100'. During construction, the October 4, 1907 issue of the Times referred to it as a "wee playhouse." It had a stage, employed a small orchestra, and offered movies plus a wide range of other attractions including minstrel shows, singers, illustrated lectures and meetings. Initial pricing was 5 cents (or 10 cents reserved) -- "Always a good show!"
Architect: Alfred F. Rosenheim designed the entire building as well as the theatre space. It has 1.1 million square feet of space, much of that in 1920s additions to the original building. Among other projects, Rosenheim also designed the Cameo Theatre.
Seating: 500, according to an October 4, 1907 L.A. Times article.
A ticket for the Arrow. Thanks to Sean Ault for the find.
A November 1, 1908 item in the L.A. Times:
"The Royal Arcanum Minstrels gave an entertainment last night in Hamburger’s Arrow Theater, under the auspices of the Hamburger Employees' Benefit Society."
A January 5, 1909 ad in the Times:
"Hamburger’s-Safest Place To Trade - Broadway, Eighth and Hill Streets - Don’t Miss the Arrow Theater - A delightful place to spend and hour or two - Only Costs 5c."
A February 2, 1909 item in the Times:
"Prof. Edward Bull Clapp, head of the Greek department of the University of California, and, last year, professor in the Classical School in Athens, will give his very interesting illustrated lecture on 'New Light on Greek Painting,' in the Arrow Theater, Hamburger building, at 8 o'clock tomorrow evening."
September 20, 1909:
"Dr. Edgar L. Hewitt of Washington D.C., director of the School of American Archaeology, will lecture before the Southwest Society tomorrow evening. The lecture will be delivered at the Arrow Theater, Hamburger building, entrance N. 820 West Eighth street."
October 16, 1909:
"Hamburger’s - Safest Place To Trade - Broadway, Eighth and Hill Streets - The Arrow Theatre - 'Always a good show,' but this week a little better show than usual. Somehow the pictures seem to have been chosen with especial good fortune. See them. General, 5c; reserved, 10c."
January 18, 1910:
"Living Dolls - We have in our Arrow Theater real, living, human dolls, as a special attraction for women and children. It’s a great act. 'it is to laugh.' 5 cents."
November 26, 1910:
"Largest Department Store West of Chicago - Hamburger's - A programme of Especial Interest to Children In the Arrow Theater - When they have seen Santa and the Clown bring them to the fifth floor to the Arrow Theater. The programme Saturday will especially charm them. General admission 5c. Box seats 10c."
September 24, 1911:
"Grace Moreno to Sing In Our Arrow Theatre - Her rendering of the latest catchy songs will be a delightful addition to the regular programme of high-class motion pictures. The pictures shown here you will not see elsewhere and they portray deep heart interest, patriotism and rollicking comedy in a way that is both thrilling and enjoyable. General Admission…..5c (Fifth Floor)"
Thanks to Cinema Treasures researcher Jeff Bridges for doing the L.A. Times research.
A September 9, 1912 Hamburger's ad mentioning the Arrow. Thanks to Mary Mallory for locating it for her Daily Mirror article "Hamburger's Department Store - Arrow Movie Theater." The article has a great listing of various films, lectures and other events that played the theatre.
We don't get any titles but the Arrow does appear in this 1915 newspaper listing of local theatre attractions. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
We don't get any titles but the Arrow does appear in this 1915 newspaper listing of local theatre attractions. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
A 1915 ad for the theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting this one for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
The theatre got an organ installation in 1917, according to research by Jim Lewis. It's not known if this was the first install for the space or a replacement for an earlier instrument. He notes:
"The organ 'spoke' into the theater and also into the 4th floor restaurant by means of tone openings in the floor of the organ chamber. The organ didn't have a long life and was removed when the May Co. took over the building."
The last ads for the theatre as a regular operation appear in 1919.
Soon the floor was leveled and the theatre became a phonograph sales area. Thanks to Jim Lewis for locating this 1920 photo in the magazine Dry Goods Economist. Note the organ pipes near that left column.
The building was sold to the May family of St. Louis in 1923 and was renamed the May Co. in 1927.
The theatre was still usable in 1941. Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for locating this July 31 L.A. Times ad for free screenings of Charlie Chaplin in "Easy Street" along with the Mary Pickford film "Shadows of Doubt":
Presumably these were 16mm screenings. Ranjit includes the ad on the L.A. Revival Theatres page of his site about Buster Keaton's "The General". In addition to his research, also see our page here on this site about 16mm Revival Houses. Also see the pages about the Movie Parade on Gordon St. in Hollywood and Eddie Kohn's other Movie Parade/Nickelodeon location on Highland Ave.
Status: The building still stands at 8th and Broadway but as of 2019 only the ceiling of the theatre remained on the 5th and 6th floors. The May Co. closed this downtown store in 1986.
The building's first floor got turned into a warren of swap-meet style booths and rebranded as the Broadway Trade Center. The upper floors became a maze of garment manufacturing shops. It was owned by investors in Beverly Hills who were unable to come up with a viable redevelopment scheme. Ideas in the past had included condos and a hotel. It was placed on the market in 2013.
Roger Vincent reported the Broadway Trade Center's sale to New York based Waterbridge Capital in an April 2014 L.A. Times story. The article also had a nice history of the building. It has been gutted and is in the process of getting
redeveloped with a mix of retail, creative office space and a big food
hall. "The Curtain Lifts at 801 S. Broadway" was a July 2017 Urbanize story about the project.
In March 2018 the Commercial Observer had a story about Waterbridge and their partner Continental Equities seeking an additional $500 million in financing to complete the project. At the time they were going to call it the Museum Building.
Lots of demo has been done along with exterior restoration work and a seismic retrofit. In mid-2019 the project was stalled with the developers putting the partially completed project on the market. They got no takers and as of 2023 the project was still unfinished.
Looking toward what had been the stage in the 5th floor theatre space after lots of demolition. Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for both locating the space as well as taking this 2019 photo. Keep up with his most recent explorations: HunterKerhart.com.
The Broadway side of the building is about 80 feet off to the right. We're looking toward 8th St., across from the Olympic Theatre. This is the only double height space on the 5th floor -- note the lower height on either side. The auditorium pokes up into the space on the 6th floor. Note that thing hanging from the ceiling. It's a motorized movie screen.
A look across the area that had once been the stage. The upper windows are on the 6th floor level. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The rear of the theatre. No more booth -- or at least not the bottom of it. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2019
A closer look at the back wall. The booth had been where that section of plaster is hanging down. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Looking up into the area where the booth had been. There was no evidence remaining of any wiring or exhaust ducts. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The top of the theatre as it appears on the 6th floor. The bump out we see at this end is the area above where the booth had been. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The 6th floor was never a sales floor. Presumably it was used for storage or offices. The windows we see look onto 8th St. from the very top of the building. Broadway is a ways off to the right.
On the 6th floor around on the west side of the theatre ceiling at the stage end. It appears to be a 1908 vintage exhaust fan for the theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Another theatre space in the building:
The May Co. Exposition Room in 1930. The Dick Whittington Studio photo is in the USC Digital Library collection. Also see a 1930 photo of the room filled with women for a fashion show.
A 1930 view from house left. Thanks to Dave Etchie for finding the Mott Studios photo for a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture Facebook page. It's one of 18 interior views of the store in a set in the California State Library collection that also includes several closer shots of the proscenium.
The Library also has another set of 11 views of various store departments plus a set of two views of the store's music department.
A fine proscenium detail located by Dave Etchie. He added it as a comment on his SoCal Facebook post.
It's unknown where in the building this room was. It's wider than the 5th floor theatre space. Floor heights in the building vary with the 1st and 2nd floors having the requisite height for this space. It obviously wasn't on the 1st floor. Column width in the building also varies with both the 1st and 2nd floors having a single wider bay running down the center from north to south as well as another on the center running east to west.
A 2nd floor space that could have been the location of the Exposition Room. Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for his 2019 photo as well as suggesting this as a location. That's Hill St. on the left and 8th on the right. Note the new shear wall, typical of many recently installed throughout the building.
On the roof:
The company sometimes set up a temporary theatre on the roof. This Dick Whittington Studio photo dates from a November 1929 circus event. Thanks to Escott O. Norton for locating this in the USC Digital Library collection. There are four images in the set.
More exterior views:
A construction view appearing with an article about Asher Hamburger on the website of the Jewish Museum of the American West. Hill St. is at the bottom. We're looking northeast. Broadway is off to the right. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for including the photo on his Noirish post #52619.
c.1908 - At the left we're looking south on Broadway toward the Majestic Theatre. 8th St. is going off to the right. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.
c.1908 - Another postcard of the new building. Thanks to Mary Mallory for finding this one on eBay. The Los Angeles Public Library also has a version of it.
1909 - A detail from the Bird's Eye View of L.A. that shows the building's original configuration before the additions along Hill St. The Arrow Theatre was to the right of the taller of those two structures on top of the roof. The 1929 addition filled the space between the department store building and the Majestic Theatre. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Brent Dickerson for including it on his Noirish post #52620.
A slightly different version of the 1909 map appears on the Library of Congress website.
c.1913 - One panel of a five section panorama by C.C. Pierce in the USC Digital Library collection from the California Historical Society. It was taken from 9th and Main. Between the Majestic Theatre and Hamburger's there's a view of Tally's Broadway Theatre. If you look down the street to 8th and Broadway you'll note that the Merritt Building isn't there yet. The rooftop in the lower right is the Woodley/Mission Theatre.
1930 - Looking north toward 8th St. after the May Co. had done their 1929 addition on the south end of the building where Tally's Broadway had been. Here they're still working on the storefronts. The newly opened Eastern Columbia Building is on the left. The Majestic Theatre, here running "Top Speed" with Joe E. Brown, would get demolished in 1933. At the Orpheum it's "Little Accident" with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Anita Page. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.
1939 - A great look east on 8th from Hill St. with the May Co. on the right and the Tower Theatre across Broadway. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.
1970s? - A Herald Examiner photo looking north on Broadway toward 8th St. It's from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
2018 - The very slow redevelopment process underway. Photo: Bill Counter
More Information: Mary Mallory's terrific Hollywood Heights / Daily Mirror article from 2013 has some fine research on the Hamburger Building and she details many of the programs presented at the Arrow. She also did a 2018 repost of the article on Daily Mirror.
Wikipedia has an article about the building.
The Cinema Treasures page on Tally's Broadway has many great items about the Arrow unearthed by diligent researcher Jeff Bridges, aka Vokoban. Tally's was just down the block at 833 S. Broadway and was swallowed up by the May Co. expansion of 1929.
Surviving theatre buildings on the 800 block: Tower | Rialto | Orpheum | In addition to the Arrow, the vanished theatres on the 800 block include: Garrick | Tally's Broadway | Majestic | Woodley/Mission |
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