Globe / Jewel Theatre

202 E. 5th St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 | map |

Opening: The Globe Theatre opened September 19, 1908 on the southeast corner of 5th and Los Angeles St. Joe Vogel notes that their Los Angeles Herald ads proclaimed it to be the "…most beautiful motion picture theater in the state…." It was a project of the short-lived Globe Amusement Co., one of about fifteen locations the company envisioned. At least seven got built but within a few years were sold off to other operators. 

In this 1911 view looking east on 5th from Los Angeles St. we see the theatre's signage in the lower right. It's a photo in the Huntington Library collection taken by G. Haven Bishop for the Southern California Edison Co.

A closer look at the signage from the G. Haven Bishop photo. It was taken from the Hotel Baltimore on the southwest corner of 5th and Los Angeles.

Architects: Theodore Augustus Eisen and Percy Augustus Eisen (father and son) of the firm Eisen and Eisen.

Seating: 600  

 

A September 1908 classified ad in the Times announcing the grand opening. 

 

A similar ad running in the Herald promoting the opening.  

 

 

Students from the Electrical department of the United Trade School were noted in this 1910 article as doing some work at the Globe for H.W. Nixon. The school's bricklayers were also doing some work at Tally's Broadway. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these three news items for a thread about various Globe theatres for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

In the 1909 and 1910 city directories there's a listing under "moving pictures and machines" for H. W. Nixon at 202 E. 5th. The Globe and Mr. Nixon both get listings in the 1911 city directory. He was the general manager of Globe Amusement Co.

"Let Your Money Work For You." Well, it didn't work for long. Globe was a short-lived venture. This ad for their stock offering appeared in the L.A. Times on March 31, 1912. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this as well as many other Globe items for a Facebook thread on Ken's Movie Page.  

 

 An April 7, 1912 L.A. Times article about the construction of Globe #3 at 1624 W. Sunset (much later called the Holly Theatre) talks about a proposed demolition and replacement of this Globe Theatre #1 at 5th & Los Angeles Streets with a 10 story office building by the Chapman Bros. On the ground floor was to be a "modern vaudeville theatre" with a capacity of 1,400 seats. That project didn't happen. See the full article.

The Globe Theatre #2 was at 3511 S. Central Avenue, later called the Amusu and Florence Mills. The Globe Theatre #5 was in San Pedro. The Victor Theatre, 1718 S. Main, was initially a Globe Amusement operation. Globe was also the initial tenant of what became the Starland Theatre, 2624 N. Broadway. Globe #6 was the Starland Theater on the Ocean Park pier. #7 was at 2624 N. Broadway in Lincoln Heights, a house later called the Starland.

The Globe is seen in the building at the southeast corner of 5th and Los Angeles in the center of this detail from Plate 002 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. That's 5th St. running up the middle of the image.  

In 1914 there's a city directory listing under "motion picture theatres" for the Globe at 202 and for F. H. Whiswell at 204. In 1915 S. W. McCormick gets a listing at 202 E. 5th. 

 

The theatre reopened in December 1915 as the New Jewel. Joe Vogel found a trade publication item saying that the operators of the Jewel were Silverman and Kramer.

This item appeared in the December 10, 1915 issue of the L.A. Herald-Express. "The Long Chance" was a November 15 release from Universal.

 

A December 11, 1915 ad for the reopening. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this ad, as well as many of the other items on this page, for a Facebook thread about the theatre on Ken's Movie Page. 

 

A December 11 news item located by Ken. 

An ad that appeared in a December 1915 issue of the L.A. Express.  

 

 

 

A December 1915 item about the German war films. 

 

 

The Jewel advertising "The Woman Who Lied" in January 1916.  

 

"Big Action Film." The Jewel got some news coverage during their run of "The Woman Who Lied" in January 1916. 

 

 

 

Another selection of war films was noted in this January 6, 1916 news item from the Herald-Express. "The Scarlet Sin" was an August 1915 Universal release with Hobart Bosworth and Jane Novak. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding these items regarding the Jewel for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

 

A labor film about Clarence Darrow  "From Dusk to Dawn," was touted in this February 2, 1916 item located by Ken McIntyre.  

 

 

 

Getting a bit less serious with Chaplin in "Shanghaied." It's a February 11, 1916 item located by Ken Mcintyre. 

The 1916 city directory listed the Jewel Theatre as at 204 E. 5th.

Closing: 1916 was it. Ken McIntyre notes that there were no ads after February. It was remodeled into a bus depot. 

In the 1917 city directory it's listed as the the location of a half dozen stage lines. In the 1920 city directory it's identified as the Union Stage Depot. On the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey the outline of the building is unchanged from earlier years but it's identified as part of the bus depot. They had also acquired three lots behind the theatre on Los Angeles St.

Status: The building was eventually demolished. The current building on the site, called the 5th & Los Angeles Plaza, dates from 1989.

1922 - The bus depot waiting room, presumably the space that had been the auditorium of the Globe Theatre. The photo from the May 1922 issue of the trade magazine Bus Transportation appears in the 2008 book "Motoring: The Highway Experience in America" by John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle. It's on Google Books. The authors seem to think the depot didn't open until 1922. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Hoss C for finding the photo for his Noirish post #23930.

1929 - The building as the Union Stage Depot. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the Examiner Prints Collection appearing on the USC Digital Library website where they give it a 1932 date. The photo is also indexed as part of a six photo set in the USC collection listed as 1929 that includes several interior views.

1929 - A detail of the corner from the previous photo and, on the left, what had been the theatre's entrance. Note the vertical sign on 5th St., possibly redone from the building's theatre days.

1929 - Inside the bus depot. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

c.1937 - Looking west on 5th toward what had been the theatre at the corner of Los Angeles St. The Herman Schultheis photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Thanks to Hoss C for finding it for his Noirish post #23917 about the corner. 

2019 - The Globe's entrance was to the left of the corner in the earlier building that was on the site. On the left we're looking east on 5th. That's Los Angeles St. on the right. Photo: Bill Counter.

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Globe.

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