14948 Crenshaw Blvd. Gardena, CA 90249 | map |
The news: The theatre continues to operate as a single screen venue with both first runs and revival bookings. The Kim family that has run it since 1976 is trying to sell it. Judy Kim is keeping the theatre open with the help of volunteers until she finds a buyer.
Phone: 310-217-0505 Online: www.GardenaCinema.com | on Facebook | on Instagram |
Seats: 800
Architect: Unknown
In
the 1940s and 1950s the Park was run by Harry Milstein's Grand
Theatres as a second run house like their Grand Theatre and Stadium Theatre in
Torrance. At some point is was called the Morning Calm Theatre. Pacific Theatres was later involved. Sometimes it ran Spanish
language films as well as occasional Korean and Japanese films.
It was again called the Park in the 1960s and 1970s and was at the time operated by Joe and Mary Donato.
A 70s photo of Joe and Mary at the snackbar that was taken by Steve Mandoki. Thanks to Steve for sharing this. He comments:
"Many, many memories of going to the Park theatre from age 8 through high school. Saturday matinees and the drawings for snack bar treats including the pizzas that were made in the side room/kitchen. The big prize each week was a bicycle. Joe would buy the bike at Gemco which was a few minutes from the theatre. When I got older, I started assembling the bikes upstairs next to the projector room. They were super nice people. After they sold the Park theater, they operated a theater in the San Fernando Valley."
The theatre was purchased by John and Nancy Kim in 1976 and then operated by them with assistance from their son and daughter. In the late 70s and into the mid-90s it was called the Teatro Variedades, running a policy of Mexican films and the occasional live variety show.
In 1995 the Kims turned it into the Gardena Cinema, running as an independent single screen house with first run films. John's daughter Judy took over management duties in 1996.
It closed in early 2020 as a result of pandemic restrictions. They did several drive-in events in late 2021 but nothing indoors.
Status: The family reopened the theatre in October 2022. The website for ABC7 discussed the difficulties in maintaining the business in their November 15 story "Independent Gardena Cinema in South Bay offers old Fashioned movie-going experience."
The theatre is currently operating but in January 2023 the family started looking for a buyer. Nancy Kim died in 2022 and John wants to do some traveling.
In 2023 the theatre received a $5,000 grant from the L.A. Conservancy as one of five businesses selected for awards in round one of their Legacy Business Grant program. See their February blog post "Time, Taste and Tradition: Preserving L.A.'s Legacy Businesses." The program is supported by a donation from Wells Fargo Bank.
"Judy Kim of Gardena Cinema in Gardena, California, hopes to follow the nonprofit friends group model. Kim’s Korean immigrant parents bought the midcentury movie theater in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County in 1976, and her 84-year-old father still occasionally works in the ticket booth. (Her mother died in 2022.) Kim has set up a 501(c)3 called Friends of Gardena Cinema, to which she’d like to sell the property if she can raise enough money. But the cinema is also for sale on the open market, with Kim torn between her competing wishes to save the business and to spend time with her father. 'I feel like I have a deep obligation to preserve the place, because it was my mom’s dream,' she says. 'But I also want to take care of my dad.'
"Physically, the theater hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1946—the marquee and seats are original. While its future may be in question, the moviegoing community’s love of its old-school vibe is not. Once word got out about Kim’s dilemma a couple of years ago, volunteers stepped up to help her keep the 800-seat, single-screen theater going. They sell tickets and snacks, operate the projector, and assist with social media and fundraising. At her volunteers’ suggestion, Kim switched to showing repertory films, which pose fewer scheduling challenges than first-run films. 'Going repertory has really increased my market,' she says. 'Now we’re considered a destination.'"
The theatre's June 2025 calendar. Judy Kim shared it in a
Facebook post.
Interior views:
Looking into the lobby. Thanks to Granola for the photo, a 2018 post on
Cinema Treasures.
John Kim, 82 at the time of this shot, with his daughter Judy at the snackbar. It's a 2023 photo by Mel Melcon for the Times.
Judy in the letter room. It's a photo by Zaydee Sanchez that appeared with Victoria Alejandro's March 2024 LAist article "
Gardena Cinema - A story of love, sweat and repertory films." Thanks to Joel Pell and April Wright for spotting the story. The LAist page has a link to their 22 minute audio story "Revival House: The Gardena Cinema's Fight to Stay Open."
April is a board member of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. The organization is actively involved in the study and preservation of the
vintage theatres in the L.A. area. The group frequently supports events
and offers tours of various historic theatres.
www.lahtf.org |
LAHTF on Facebook
The rear of the house. Note the cry rooms adjacent to the projection booth. Photo: Granola -
Cinema Treasures - 2018
Another view to the rear -- but no blue cove lights. Thanks to April Wright for the 2023 photo.
A pre-digital shot of the booth. The photo was a 2012 post on the theatre's
Facebook page.
The theatre's digital projector. It was a 2012 post on the theatre's
Facebook page.
Programming the digital projector. Photo: April Wright - 2023
A porthole view. Photo: April Wright - 2023. Thanks, April!
Sean Baker, director of "The Florida Project" and "Anora," in the booth. He was looking for a summer job and, after being rejected by several fast food chains, ended up at age 17 working at a single screen theatre in New Jersey where he soon was the manager projectionist. The photo by Carlin Steihl appeared with Tim Grierson's October 16, 2024 L.A. Times article "
His Palme d'Or may change things, but for now, he can still go to the movies in L.A."
More exterior views:
The Park Theatre in 1972. Thanks to Steve Mandoki for sharing this image. It's a frame from some some 8mm footage he shot. On the marquee: "The Call of the Wild" with Charlton Heston and Michèle Mercier.
Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for this January 1983 view of the theatre as the Teatro Variedades.
A 2008 photo by Ken McIntyre.
A 2011 view. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for his photo, a post on the private Facebook group
Photos of Los Angeles.
A 2014 photo that once appeared on Loopnet.
Looking south on Crenshaw in 2015. Photo: Google Maps.
The Gardena in the Movies:
"World
Premiere - Dolemite - Rudy Ray Moore in Person." It's copy on the
marquee for the shoot of Craig
Brewer's film "Dolemite Is My Name" (Netflix, 2019).
This
shot furnished by the theatre appears with "
How 6 Historic Movie Theaters Maintain the Magic of The Big Screen," the 2025 article by Meghan Drueding on the National Trust's site Saving
Places. Thanks to April Wright for spotting it for a
Facebook post.
A shot from the film. Eddie Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore, out looking for a house to run his 1975 film "Dolemite" because he can't get a distributor. While doing PR for a club date
in Indianapolis a DJ in town (Chris Rock) says he knows the owner of a
theatre.
He does a deal for a midnight show at the "Uptown Cinema" and when
checking out the theatre asks the owner "When do I get my money?" and
learns what a four-wall deal is all about. When asked if he can get a
share of the popcorn revenue he's told "No, that's mine." We see more of
the auditorium and, later, lobby and exterior views. See the
Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for lots of shots of the Orpheum Theatre from the film.
The Gardena on TV:
It's
seen as a theatre called the Capitol supposedly somewhere in the San
Fernando Valley in 1975 for "Summer of the Shark," episode 1 of "Voir,"
the 2021 Netflix "documentary" series. Thanks to the
Cinema Heritage Group Facebook page for the screenshot.
More information: For a lovely tour of the theatre see Sandi Hemmerlein's 2023 Avoiding Regret photo essay "The End of the Line for the Last of its Kind, Gardena Cinema." Thanks, Sandi!
Check out the Cinema Treasures page on the Gardena Cinema. The Cinema Tour page has several 2003 exterior views. There's a nice minute and a half video tour (even going to the booth) on YouTube, dating from 2012 when the venue was for sale.
See our page on the
Gardena Theatre, a house on Gardena Blvd. that closed in 1955. There's also a page on an earlier theatre in Gardena, the
Embassy, located on Vermont Blvd. There
was also an earlier venue at 918 Palm Ave. in Gardena. In the 1922-23
Watts-Compton city directory and the 1925 Watts directory it's listed as
The Auditorium. In the 1927-28 city directory it's listed as the
Gardena Theatre.
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Joe and Mary Donato owned the Park Theater in the 1960’s and 70’s.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful time to attend this amazing theater. The world premiere of the original “Gone in 60 Seconds” took place at the Park Theater. The original Eleanore mustang was on display during the run of the film.
Joe and Mary were wonderful people.
Kids loved the double feature Saturdays with drawings for snack bar treats and a weekly bicycle.
Thanks for your comments! Good to hear from you.
DeleteMany, many memories of going to the Park theater from age 8 through high school.
DeleteSaturday matinees and the drawings for snack bar treats including the pizzas that were made in the side room/kitchen. The big prize each week was a bicycle. Joe would buy the bike at Gemco which was a few minutes from the theater. When I got older, I started assembling the bikes upstairs next to the projector room.
I have a picture which I took of the theater with the full tower that spelled PARK but I don’t see that I can attach it.
I also have a picture of Joe snd Mary that I took in the 70’s.
Hi! Steve -- Thanks for your comments. I'd love to get your photos on the page. I'm at counterb@gmail.com
Delete