Edison Theatre

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

Opened: Sometime around 1908. It was on the east side of the street in the middle of the block between 4th and 5th. The building it was in had three storefronts at 432, 434 and 436 plus upstairs office space. 

In the 1907 city directory the space at 436 was listed as the Savoy Restaurant. In the 1908 edition it was listed as "motion pictures" with W.A. Hummel and Harry Ward of Hummel and Ward as operators. Next door at 434 was an arcade called Automatic Vaudeville operated by Harry Temperly. 

436 S. Spring is in the 1909, 1910 and 1911 city directories as the Edison Theatre. 

 

"For Sale - Moving Picture Theater - will sacrifice if sold this month." The operator was trying to unload it in July 1910. And there were many other theatre investment opportunities if you checked in with the Theatre Exchange, 739 S. Main St. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this column of ads for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

This detail from plate 002 of the 1910 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works shows 432, 434 and 436 S. Spring as storefronts between the Johnson Bldg. on the south and the Delta Bldg. on the north.

In the 1911 city directory Albert Burford was listed as the proprietor. 

Closing: Perhaps 1911. That's its last city directory listing as a theatre. 

Status: The building once housing the theatre space been demolished. The site is now a park between the El Dorado lofts on the north and the Rowan Building on the south.

The Spring Street Park is now on the site of the building once housing the Edison Theatre and the Automatic Vaudeville operation. The Rowan Building dates from 1912. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

More Information: Cinema Treasures has a page on the Edison Theatre but nothing more is currently known. They have the address as 236 S. Spring.

See the page about the Automatic Vaudeville arcade at 434 S. Spring. Theatres on this side of the 400 block just a bit south of the Edison were the Unique Theatre at 456 S. Spring and the Herman Theatre at 460 S. Spring. Across the street were the Chronophone / Horne's Big Show at 423 and the Penny Arcade / Johns & Devlin Nickelodeon at 433 S. Spring. 

The Edison Theatre Not in the Movies: An Edison theatre appears in the 1968 Richard Widmark film "Madigan." Joe Vogel notes on Cinema Treasures that this is a New York theatre at 2700 Broadway. Cinema Treasures lists it as the Columbia. Joe comments: "Some of the movie’s scenes were indeed filmed in downtown Los Angeles, but this scene was not among them."

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