Los Angeles Theatres: Art Theatre

551 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 | map |

Opened: June 1918 with a policy of art and foreign releases. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing this 1974 shot by an unknown photographer as a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page.

The Howell Hotel building that housed the Art Theatre was a pre-1907 structure on the west side of the street, the second building north of 6th. The hotel entrance was the doorway just north of the theatre, 549 Main St. The Art occupied the space in the building just north of what was once the Bijou Theatre, 553 S. Main. The Bijou was running from about 1909 until 1914.

It was a busy block. In addition to the Art and the Bijou, theatres on the west side of the block included the Gayety at 523 S. Main, the Star at 529, the Optic at 533 and the Picture at 545 (until 1926). On the east side of the street were the Rounder at 510 (around in 1910), the Galway at 514, the Sherman at 518 (running until 1919) and the Burbank at 548.

Seating: 350

This detail from plate 002 of the 1914 Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works shows the Howell Hotel Building as the second building north of 6th St. Also on the west side of the street were the Picture at 545, the Optic at 533, the Star at 529 (in the Green Hotel Building), and the Gayety at 523 (in the Interlaken Hotel Bldg.).

A section of a 1931 Sanborn insurance map from the Los Angeles Public Library collection showing the Art, Optic, Star and Gayety theatres. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for the photo.

A 1931 ad from the California Eagle, a newspaper covering the African American community in Los Angeles. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

Later the Art became a grind house running lots of westerns. In the mid 50s it began running mildly salacious striptease films and similar product. In the 60 it segued to a hardcore policy.

Status: The building the Art was in was demolished in September 1988. The site has been a parking lot since then.

Interior views:

Gary Graver explores the theatre during demolition in 1988. By that time it was an open air venue. Graver was a noted filmmaker and cinematographer who took many photos of dying single-screen theatres in Los Angeles. A compilation can be seen on YouTube: "Second Run - part 1" and
"Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photos.

A look to the back wall during demolition. Photo: Gary Graver

More exterior views:

c.1906 - Looking west on 6th St. toward the Todd's Men's Furnishings building on the northwest corner of 6th and Main and, on the far right, a sliver of the Howell Hotel building that would later house the Bijou and Art theatres. Earlier there had been a single story building on the Howell site. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

On the left it's the Pacific Electric Building (1903). The lot is cleared for construction of the Santa Fe Building (1907) on the northeast corner of 6th & Main. The Library also has a 1960s view west on 6th but we don't see anything of the Art in it.

1911 - Looking north from the Pacific Electric Building at 6th & Main. Over on the left, the 2nd building beyond the intersection is the Howell Hotel Building. The Art would come along as a tenant later. Here the Bijou can be seen occupying the center bay. Thanks to Tom Ohmer for spotting the photo when it was posted by the Los Angeles Times. It appeared on the "Framework" section of their website but that's now vanished. They titled it "Congestion on Main St."

The future home of the Star Theatre here has signage as Rowan & Co. and hotel rooms upstairs. The "Vaudeville" vertical is for the Optic Theatre, hardly visible just this side of the hotel. In the distance beyond 5th note one of the early Rosslyn Hotel Buildings.

1938 - A great photo by John Swope with the theatre running "Stage Door," an October 1937 release along with "Ellis Island" from 1935. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

1939 - "Having Wonderful Time." It's a January 19 photo from the Eric Lynxwiler collection. Thanks to Eric this for sharing this shot as part of his terrific "Los Angeles Theatres" album on Flickr. It also appears in the "Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation Group Pool" on Flickr that's curated by Michelle Gerdes.

1939 - A detail from Eric's photo. He's the co-author, with Tom Zimmerman, of the Angel City Press book "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965."

1939 - A Dick Whittington Studio photo looking north from 6th. It's in the USC Digital Library collection. Thanks to Joe Vogel for noting a vertical sign on the extreme right. It's the Burbank Theatre, here with the sign saying Mexico. On the marquee: "Peliculas Mexicanas."

1939 - A detail from the Dick Whittington photo. Note the Art's vertical sign. This is evidently the only photo showing it.

c.1948 - A lovely photo of the block with the Art hiding behind a fine array of streetcars. Thanks to Donald Pestana for finding the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group.

1955 - The Art Theatre is on the left in this photo of an 8 Line streetcar headed south. The theatre has lost its vertical sign and the building has lost its cornice. It's a photo in the Metro Library and Archive collection on Flickr. At the Burbank, by this time rebranded as the New Follies: Sande Marlowe, Lolana Frenchy and the Nudie Cuties.

c.1957 - Another view looking north from 6th with the Art on the left and the Burbank on the right. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.

1958 - We're looking north toward 6th during a Metropolitan Coach Lines strike with the Pacific Electric Building on the right. The arched entrance of the Art is visible in the end spot in the building on the left, just beyond the red "Loans" sign. And just to the right of the telephone pole is a partial view of the "Follies" vertical of the Burbank Theatre. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection. He notes that the guy on the right is Earl "Smokey" Stover, a funny dude who ran buses and trolleys in L.A. from the postwar 40's into the 60's.

c.1965 - A look east across the parking lots to the Burbank. The Optic is out of the frame to the left. On the right that's the side of the building housing the Art Theatre. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.

1967 - A photo by William Reagh in the California State Library collection.

1967 - "Pictures For Adults Only ... Always." It's a detail from the William Reagh photo.

c.1970 - Another look at the building from the Sean Ault collection. The Optic Theatre is up the street and a glimpse of the Star Theatre beyond. At 5th are the Rosslyn Hotel buildings. Thanks, Sean!

c.1971 - A fine view north from 6th with the Art on the left and the "Burlesk" vertical of the Burbank on the right. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

c.1973 - A photo by Victor R. Plukas that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The Library also has a shot north from the Pacific Electric Building by Plukas with the Art in the distance - and a pedestrian in the way.

1974 - A look north from in front of the Pacific Electric Building. The Art is just to the left of the street lamp with a fuzzy view of the Optic way down the block. On the right there's a bit of the Burbank Theatre's marquee just beyond the Santa Fe Building. It's another view from the same batch as the photo above. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this one on eBay.

1979 - "X X X" added above the entrance as the theatre entered it its hardcore era. A photo by William E. Ault. Thanks to L.A. transit historian Sean Ault for sharing the photo taken by his grandfather.

1979 - A closer view by William E. Ault from the Sean Ault collection.

Alissa A Welsch comments: "Greg King and Mike Thomas from the Strand Theatre in SF acquired this sign and it was stored in the backstage area behind the screen for at least a decade during the 80s/90s. It was beautiful."

1983 - A fine view taken in January that appeared on the now-vanished American Classic Images website.

c.1985 - Thanks to John Rice for sharing this photo he took as a post on Cinema Treasures. "Open All Night" by this time had become Fridays and Saturdays only.

1988 - The Howell Hotel building and its neighbor on the corner vacated and boarded up. Photo: Gary Graver.

1988 - Ready for demolition. Even the tree is dying. Photo: Gary Graver

1988 - A closer view of the entrance. Photo: Gary Graver

1988 - A detail of the marquee. Photo: Gary Graver

1988 - The theatre prior to demolition with some signage removed revealing earlier copy. Photo: Gary Graver

c.1989 - After the demolition. Or, as James F. Staub titles his photo: "LA following the carpet bombing." We're looking southeast toward the Santa Fe and Pacific Electric buildings at 6th and Main. Staub took the photo from the back of the Los Angeles Theatre Center on Spring St. It appeared as a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture private Facebook group.

The building formerly housing the Art and the Bijou is gone with the site awaiting paving as a parking lot. Note the wallpaper remaining from the hotel rooms that had been on the second and third floors. The building on the corner was soon to go as well.

2019 - Looking south toward 6th St. from the middle of the block toward the site of the building that once housed the Art and Bijou theatres. It's all parking lots. Photo: Bill Counter

2019 - The view north from 6th St. The Art and Bijou were in the Howell Hotel building, once where the green sign is. It's nice the block still is part of the movie business. It looks like the lot was being used as a base camp for a film shoot. Photo: Bill Counter

The Art in the Movies:

Raymond Burr takes a walk south on the 500 block of S. Main at the very beginning of Peter Godfrey's film noir "Please Murder Me" (Distributors Corporation of America, 1956). He passes the Art, running striptease films, and heads to a pawn shop to buy a gun. It'll be used in the last scene. The film also stars Angela Lansbury, Dick Foran and John Dehner. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for three more shots of Burr's stroll by the Art.

"We are now in the skid row area of a large Eastern city of the United States." Well, that's how the narrator introduces Main St. footage in "The Forbidden" (Olympic International, 1966). The Art is over on the right as we approach 6th St. This "Mondo Cane" style mock-documentary takes us to nightclubs and other venues around the world -- wherever there's a chance to show sin and bare breasts. The film was written and directed by Benjamin Andrews and Lee Frost. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for views of the Optic and Burbank theatres from this segment plus shots of the Cinematheque 16, Tiffany and Follies theatres.

A fine view of the Art's signage from the great epic "Maidens of Fetish Street" (Cameo Pictures, 1966). The film is also known as "Girls on F Street." A big thanks to Nathan Marsak for including screenshots from the film in his Noirish Los Angeles post #29000. Visit Something Weird Video for more about the film. "Maidens" also has views of the Burbank, the Follies and the Galway Theatre. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for those shots.

We get a look at the Art as part of an opening montage displaying many of L.A.'s high culture sites in "The Swinger" (Paramount, 1966). The film stars Ann-Margret and Tony Franciosa. She's a journalist posing as a swinger to get magazine editor Tony to publish a story she wrote while his goal is to get her to pose for the centerfold instead. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots of five other theatres seen in the opening travelogue.

We get a look at the Art behind James Coburn in "Hard Contract" (20th Century Fox, 1969). We're looking out from the boxoffice at the Burbank Theatre. Thanks to Larry Harnisch for the screenshot. In his post on the blog The Daily Mirror he notes that the film used a number of Main St. locations. The film also features Burgess Meredith, Lee Remick and Karen Black. That's the Spring side of the Arcade building on the right of the frame. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for several Burbank Theatre views.

Sylvester Stallone and Reni Santoni ask questions about a killer in front of what had been the Art's boxoffice in "Cobra" (Cannon, 1986). Thanks to Sean Ault for noting the film's Main St. action. George P. Cosmatos directed this tale of an L.A. policeman who has his own violent ways of dealing with criminal types. Also featured are Brigitte Neilsen, Andrew Robinson, Lee Garlington, Brian Thompson and John Herzfeld. The cinematography was by Ric Waite. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for more Main St. shots plus views of several Long Beach theatres.

We get a fuzzy view of the Art in "Inside Deep Throat" (Universal, 2005), a documentary about the making of the film and its later influence. The film didn't actually play the Art, but we're just exploring the underbelly of the film business. Our Main St. drive-by also hits the Optic and we visit the Sunset and the Monica as well. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for more shots from the film.

2 comments:

AnonymousOctober 27, 2024 at 6:40 AM
The "Howell Hotel" stairway to the right of the Art Theater was a filming location for a montage scene in the movie Cobra. Stallone is shaking down scum to get info on a killer. Him and his partner comendown those stairs. Cobra was filmed between October 1985 and January 1986, so the building was torn down within a few years of Cobra's release in '86.