Odeon / Scenic Theatre

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

Opened: It's listed as the Odeon Theatre with the 522 address in the 1907 city directory. The location was in the middle of the block on the east side of the street between 5th and 6th.

Seating: 300

There was no Odeon listed in the 1908 city directory. In the 1909 directory we get an Odeon listed as being across the street at 527 S. Spring, a venue later called the Rose Theatre. 

By mid-1907 this venue at 522 had been named the Scenic Theatre. 

 

"Where To Go Tonight." The Scenic was included in this September 1907 column of ads from the Los Angeles Record. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. Nice copy, don't you think? 

"Moving pictures and pictured melodies. If you see it here, it's new."

The other advertisers: The Royal Theatre was at 246 S. Broadway. "The Original Penny Arcade" at 125 S. Main was a venue later known as the Happy Hour Theatre. "Automatic Vaudeville" at 434 S. Spring was evidently the theatre later known as the Edison. The Theatorium at 444 S. Main was just north of the location of the current Regent Theatre. The business at 258 S. Main offering "all the latest songs and moving pictures, 1c" was Kingsley, Moles & Collins Co. They were mostly a printing and stationery firm and it sounds like they added some peep show machines.

 

This venue at 522 is listed as the Scenic Theatre on page 35 in the 1907-08 edition of Henry's Official Western Theatrical Guide. The publication is on Google Books. The Scenic was also included in the 1907, 1908 and 1909 lists of theatres compiled by Billboard magazine. The 1908 list is on Google Books.

Mr. C.G. Puffel was arrested for being too friendly with a chorus girl at the Scenic. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing the news. It's an article from October 12, 1907.   

Southwest Amusement Co. was the operator and they were running three shows daily, according to some listings. The company was a partnership of Billy Clune and C.M. Bockoven. The 522 S. Spring address is listed for Southwest under "amusement, places of" in the 1907 city directory as well as in the alphabetical listings. In the 1908 directory that listing just appears in the alphabetical section. 

They were dissolving the organization in 1908 with many of the theatres getting sold off to other operators, a number of them soon getting their names changed. Scroll down to the bottom of the main page about the Cameo Theatre for more about Southwest and other Billy Clune theatre locations. 

 

There's no listing for a Scenic Theatre in the 1907, 1908 or 1909 city directories. That's not unusual in the case of these early nickelodeons. The listing was frequently for the name of the operator rather than the theatre. There's no listing for Southwest Amusement on Spring St. in the 1909 city directory, but they are listed for the Electric/Lyric at 262 S. Main. In the 1910 directory they get a listing with a 727 S. Main address, presumably offices. 

Closing: Maybe 1909 was the end for this one. If it even lasted that long.

We're looking north toward 5th St. In the center that's the Los Angeles Theatre Center, using an address of 514 S. Spring. The Scenic would have been just to the left of the brightly painted Joe's Parking building. That first storefront in their building is using a 524 address. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

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