Los Angeles Theatres: Rose Theatre

527 S. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 | map |

Opened: It was running in 1909 or earlier as the Odeon. It was on the west side of the street three storefronts south of the Alexandria Hotel.

There aren't any theatres listed at 527 in the 1908 city directory. The theatre is listed in the 1909 directory as the Odeon with H.W. Mixon as proprietor. The 1907 city directory had listed an Odeon Theatre across the street at 522 S. Spring, a location later called the Scenic Theatre.

In 1902, long before the theatre moved in to the 527 address, the location was a store for the California Novelty Co. In the same year the Diamond Window Cleaning Co. was also using 527 S. Spring as an address as was the real estate firm Kestner & Grimes. In the 1906 and 1907 city directories 527 was listed as a bamboo goods store run by George B Tani. On January 11, 1908 a restaurant called Brown's held its grand opening at 527. Thanks to Brent Dickerson for researching the history of the location. He's got it all on his Noirish Los Angeles post # 53388.

The Odeon appears on this 1909 "Red Coupons" list from the Los Angeles Express. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a thread about early theatres on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

The theatre at this 527 address was operating in 1910 as the Orchestrion. The 1910 city directory also has a listing under theatres for Firhard & Fox at this address. In the 1911 city directory the address is listed as the Crown Theatre. By mid-1911 the theatre had been renamed the Rose Theatre.

Thanks to Brent Dickerson for locating this August 23, 1911 Los Angeles Herald article about problems in the booth. In the 1912 and 1913 directories it's listed as the Rose.

In this c.1913 California Historical Society photo on the USC Digital Library website we're looking north toward 5th St. The theatre is that second storefront in from the left. The larger buildings beyond are the Alexandria Hotel annex (1911) and the original hotel building (1906).

A detail from the c.1913 photo. It appears that's a rose on the left side of the signage.

An item about the Rose appearing in the November 24, 1913 issue of the Los Angeles Herald. Thanks to Brent C. Dickerson for locating it for his Noirish Los Angeles post # 53393.

Closing: 1913 was the end of it. It's not in the 1914 or 1915 city directories. Brent found an ad announcing that the premises were reopening as the Mission Cafe on December 23, 1913.

Status: The building that housed the theatre was demolished, perhaps in 1914. The later building on the site was demolished around 2006. The location is now a parking lot.

A detail from plate 002 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works showing the 500 block of Spring. The Rose Theatre is shown mid-block as "Theatre" in the 525-527-529 building. Behind the Rose is Clune's Broadway, the theatre later known as the Cameo.

The building to the south of the Rose, the bay-windowed Le Grand Building, was at 531-533-535. Mercantile Place was replaced by the Arcade Building in 1923. The theatre shown on the east side of the street at 542, next to the blue rectangle, was the Isis.

A few more street views:

Looking north from 6th in 1906. Beyond the bay-windowed Le Grand Building in the center, the single story building with the three storefronts is visible where the theatre would soon be. With the conversion of the space into a theatre, the storefront would lose the awning we see here. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

The arched entrance of the theatre is visible in the center of this detail from another c.1913 California Historical Society photo on the USC Digital Library website. On the left it's a bit of the Spring St. end of Mercantile Place.

Looking north toward 5th in 1929, after the theatre building was replaced by a three-story structure. It's a photo by Keystone Photo Service that's in the USC Digital Library collection.

A detail from the 1929 photo. The building in the center (to the right of the one with the bay windows) had earlier been the site of the theatre and two other single-story storefronts.

A 1939 view of the block south from 5th St. That's the original Alexandria Hotel on the corner and the 1911 annex beyond. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

A detail from the Dick Whittington photo of the three small buildings that were once north of the Arcade Building. Also see a sharper 1939 view looking north that's in the collection.

A c.1953 view north from the California Historical Society. It appears on the USC Digital Library website.

The block in 2019 with a parking lot where the theatre building and its later replacement once were. That's the Arcade Building on the left. At the back of the parking lots are the Arcade and Cameo theatres. On the right is a sliver of the Alexandria Hotel annex. Photo: Bill Counter

More Information: Cinema Treasures has a page on the Rose Theatre which reports what little is known about this vanished venue. Thanks to Joe Vogel and Velostigmat for some fine research.

Did the Rose Theatre sign move to Burbank? There's a 1917 photo of what could be the same sign hanging on Burbank's first movie theatre at 133 N. San Fernando Road. See the page about Burbank's Rose Theatre for more information.

Los Angeles Theatres

Rose Theatre

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