Opened: Evidently sometime in 1911. It was on the east side of the street in the south storefront of the Adolphus Theatre building (later called the Hippodrome) mid-block between 3rd and 4th. The building fronting on Main dated from the 1880s and was built when there was a huge circular Panorama building behind it. The facade got a remodel following the demolition of the Panorama and construction of the new theatre to replace the Panorama building in 1911.
Bert Lustig was operating the Rex. It got a mention in a February 24, 1912 issue of Moving Picture News that was mostly about Lustig's other house, the National: "Mr. Lustig has recently opened the 'Rex' Theatre on Main street, between Third and Fourth streets, and the house like the National is proving to be a winner."
The National, at 448 S. Main, was soon replaced by another theatre on its site and later renamed the Regent. The rest of the article is on the Regent page. Thanks to Brooklyn-based theatre historian Cezar Del Valle for finding it for a post on his blog Bijou Dream.
This detail of plate 002 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works has the Rex indicated as "theatre" in the south storefront of the Hippodrome Building.
The Rex was around to get listings in the 1912, 1913 and 1914 city directories. There's no listing for it in 1915.
Closing: Perhaps sometime around 1915.
Status: The building the Rex was in stuck around until 1984 and then became a parking lot. The auditorium of the Hippodrome Theatre behind it had been demolished in 1952. There are no historic buildings remaining between 3rd and 4th on the east side of the street.
c.1895 - The building in front of the Panorama before its remodel. The new facade was occasioned by the opening of the Adolphus Theatre behind it in late 1911. It's unknown if the Rex moved into that southern storefront (with the awning) before the remodel or following it. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.
c.1956 - Decades earlier the Rex had been in the storefront seen here as Gus's Liberty Cafe. In 1952 the Hippodrome's auditorium behind this building had been demolished and turned into a parking lot. You had the fun of driving through the former lobby. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
2019 - The site of the Hippodrome Building. The entrance to the Rex would have been about where the car on the left is. We're looking east through to buildings on Los Angles St. At the center it's a garden and events space associated with the mixed-use Medallion Building on the northeast corner of 4th and Main. Several more buildings were planned for the complex but they've not yet materialized. Photo: Bill Counter
More information: See the Hippodrome Theatre page for more photos of the building the Rex was in.
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