Los Angeles Theatres: Bijou Theatre

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

Opening: The Bijou Theatre was operating in 1910 if not earlier. It was on the west side of the street just north of 6th in the center bay of the Howell Hotel building, a structure dating from around 1907. The building later housed the Art Theatre which opened in 1918 at 551 S. Main, the space just north of the former Bijou's.

The c.1910 newspaper photo of the theatre is in the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collection. The film advertised on the banner, "The Tout's Remembrance," was a September 1910 release starring 'Broncho Billy' Anderson.

It was a busy block. In addition to 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, the Picture at 545 (until 1926) and the Art at 551. 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: Moving Picture News in 1914 gave the capacity as 128.

The 1910 city directory lists C.E. Halsell as running the theatre at this address. In 1909 or 1910 John A. Quinn, in partnership with G. H. McLain, leased the Bijou Theatre according to a 1913 biography of Quinn on rootsweb. The partnership also had the Banner Theatre.

By the end of 1910 they had split up with McLain keeping the Bijou and Quinn controlling the Banner. A nice article on the Internet Archive about Quinn and his theatres (including a brief mention of Quinn's Bijou) is in the Moving Picture World issue of March 28, 1914. It's on Internet Archive. The 1911 city directory still lists the venture as McLain & Quinn. See the page about one of Quinn's later ventures, the Superba, for more information about Quinn and his other theatrical holdings.

The theatre is in the 1912, 1913 and 1914 city directories as the Bijou.

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.).

Closing: 1914 might have been about it for the Bijou. It's not in the 1915 city directory.

Status: The building the Art and Bijou theatres were in was demolished in 1988. The site has been a parking lot since then.

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 Bijou can be seen in the center bay. Later it would house the Art Theatre. 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.

A detail from the Times photo. The Bijou's distinctive facade with three openings above the rectangular entrance can be seen in the building's center bay.

1955 - The Howell Hotel Building still surviving with a pawnshop in the Bijou's former home and the Art Theatre just beyond. This photo of an 8 Line streetcar headed south is in the Metro Library and Archive collection on Flickr. At the Burbank/New Follies: Sande Marlowe, Lolana Frenchy and the Nudie Cuties.

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

c.1971 - A fine view north from 6th with the Bijou's building 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 Facebook page.

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 Howell Hotel building in the distance.

1974 - A look at the building that was spotted on eBay by Sean Ault.

1974 - A view north from in front of the Pacific Electric Building. The Howell Building with 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. This is from the same batch of photos as the previous one. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting these on eBay. The building the Bijou and Art theatres had been in was demolished in 1988.

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 Facebook page.

The building formerly housing the Art and the Bijou is gone with the lot 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

Los Angeles Theatres

Bijou Theatre

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