United Artists Theatre

606 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101 | map |

Opened: 1931. In the Mott Studios photo they're running "The Yellow Ticket," an October 1931 Fox release with Elissa Landi and Lionel Barrymore along with "Slow Poison," a two reel comedy short from RKO. This photo is one of three views in the California State Library collection cataloged as set # 001387098.

The building is on the south side of the street between Madison Ave. and El Molino Ave. Although the stagehouse of the Pasadena Playhouse is just behind it, there appears to have been some retouching of the photo to make it vanish. The State Theatre was just two blocks farther east on Colorado.

Architects: A.R Walker and P.A. Eisen with Clifford Balch. Balch designed many theatres on his own including the Pomona Fox and the 5th Avenue in Inglewood.

The firm of Walker and Eisen, teamed with Balch, did a number of projects for United Artists in the early 30s including similar theatres in Long Beach, East Los Angeles, Inglewood and the Four Star on Wilshire Blvd. Earlier, on their own, they had designed the building containing the United Artists Theatre downtown although not the theatre itself, which was done by Detroit-based C. Howard Crane.

 

A sketch that appeared with "A Group Of Small Theatres," a four page article in the December 19, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It's on Internet Archive and also reproduced at the bottom of the page about the Four Star. They don't identify it as a particular theatre but say it's typical of the group of UA houses at the time.

 

A main floor plan from the Motion Picture Herald article. 

 

A mezzanine plan from the article.

Seating: 912 originally, down to 736 after re-seating in 1960.

Stage: This house was strictly for the movies, with no stage facilities.

Like all the other United Artists houses of the early 30s, this theatre was built in response to a feud UA was having with Fox West Coast about what they thought were less than optimum terms and dates for their films. They typically picked locations as near as possible to existing Fox houses. By the time the theatre opened, the feud had been patched up and, like the other UA houses, ended up getting operated by Fox.

The United Artists was used for lots of previews and test screenings including Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and Orson Welles' "Magnificent Ambersons." Starting in 1950 as a result of the consent decree it was operated directly by the United Artists Theatre Circuit.

Thanks to Joe Vogel for finding this February 4, 1950 Boxoffice article that listed the twelve California theatres that Fox had been operating that would go to the newly reactivated United Artists Theatre Circuit. Earlier UATC had taken over the Loew's State in downtown L.A.

In 1960 it got a remodel and was advertised as "newly glamorized." Joe Vogel found an article about the project in the February 6, 1961 Boxoffice. Part of that glamor was an uninspired sheet metal facade covering the original deco plaster. Work on the $250,000 makeover also included new seating, carpet and drapes.

70MM at the United Artists:

"Presented the way it was meant to be seen!" A 1962 ad in the Pasadena paper for a run of "Oklahoma" in 70mm and 6 channel sound along with the short "The Miracle of TODD-AO." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. Later "Omen" (1976) and "Alien" (1979) played the United Artists in 70mm.

Closing: The theatre closed in 1990. At the time United Artists Theatre Circuit was also operating the UA Marketplace 6 in downtown Pasadena.

For years after closing as a theatre the building was used as a retail store, Angels School Supply. In 1997 they removed the ghastly 1960 vintage sheet metal facade and did a nice restoration job on the deco detailing.

The building sold again in 2015 after Angels vacated. Jesse Lattig, the Preservation Director at Pasadena Heritage, reported in their July 2015 Newsletter that the new owner at the time, BlankSpaces, was considering using the building as a co-working facility.  That went nowhere. What he did do was lots of interior demolition before selling the building. The next sale was in 2018 to Morton Development Group. The Pasadena Star-News had an October 2018 story that reported a price of $5.3 million. Thanks to David Zornig for spotting the story.

Status: The building retains its facade but the only other vintage items remaining are the display cases at the entrance and one simple plaster beam across what had been the rear of the auditorium. The front half of the auditorium got built out starting in 2019 for a Sweetgreen restaurant. They opened in June 2020. The back half, with an upper floor inserted, opened in 2019 as a branch of Anytime Fitness. The east storefront is now a clinic operated by Carbon Health, the west something called Superfood Cafe. 

 

 

A snackbar view:

A 1951 view with the theatre promoting "Pagan Love Song." Also coming was "Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone." Note the 30s bas-relief panels on either side behind the bar. It's a photo by Pasadena photographer J. Allen Hawkins in the collection of the Pasadena Museum of History. They featured it in a June 2020 Tweet to celebrate National Candy Month. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for spotting a post of it by David Sorenson on the You Know You Are From Old School Pasadena When.. Facebook page.

 

 

Additional vintage interior views:  There seem to be no other verifiable interior photos of the building when it was still a theatre. All these early 30s UA houses had similar facades but differed somewhat inside in terms of wall treatment and decorative details.

An early 30s United Artists auditorium view. But we don't know for sure which one. Pasadena? The Four Star on Wilshire? Unknown. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the photo. It's definitely not Long Beach. That's the only one of this group of theatres where a good set of photos exists. See the page about the UA Long Beach for that set.

The interior as Angels School Supply:

A ticket lobby view as Angels School Supply. The area used to be open to the street.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

The east display cases. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

In the former lobby area. The auditorium is off to the left. Photo: May W. - Yelp - 2009

Looking across the former auditorium. Photo: May W. - Yelp - 2009

The screen end of the space. Photo: May W. - Yelp - 2009. Thanks to Chris Nichols for spotting May's photos on Yelp.

  Looking back toward the booth in the former auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

The interior as Sweetgreen:

The ticket lobby during the Sweetgreen buildout. Still with display cases but an earlier owner ripped out the light bulb studded ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - October 2019

Looking to the booth end of the space during the Sweetgreen buildout. Note the surviving deco ceiling beam but the pilaster on the wall is gone. Photo: Bill Counter - October 2019

 
A view toward the former ticket lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - October 2019

The screen end of the space. Actually the screen would have been way back behind the new wall. The rear half of the auditorium is now built out as a gym. Photo: Bill Counter - October 2019

Nothing historic left to see. Photo: Yelp - 2020

More exterior views:

1931 - A detail taken from the Mott Studios photo at the top of the page. 

 

1931 - A Mott Studios photo from the California State Library with the theatre running "The Yellow Ticket."

 

1931 - A peek into the ticket lobby. It's a detail from the previous Mott Studios photo. 

1931 - Another "Yellow Ticket" view. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1931 - "Once a Lady" was a November release from Paramount. The photo appears on page 26 of "Pasadena, A Business History" by Patrick Conyers, Cedar Phillips and the Pasadena Museum of History (Arcadia Publishing, 2007). Note the See's candy store at the left. The text notes that Mary See was a Pasadena native. The page with the photo appears on Google Books as part of their preview of the book. The photo also appears, with other views of the theatre, on Tourmaline's Noirish Los Angeles post #20423.

1932 - An entrance view by Peerless Photo Service that used to be in the collection of Johnny Bresnik. It now resides in the Ronald W. Mahan collection. Thanks, Ron!  "Skyscraper Souls" was a July release.

1936 - A view of the theatre all dolled up for "San Francisco" with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. The marquee says they were giving away a 1936 Plymouth sedan that night. It's a Harold A. Parker photo taken for the theatre that's now in the Huntington Library collection.  Bruce Kimmel notes that the photo was taken July 27.

c.1939 - Looking west on Colorado Blvd. with the UA hiding behind a palm tree on the left. It's an image by the Dick Whittington studio in the USC Digital Library collection.

 

1945 - A look at the marquee after they got rid of the milk glass letters and got "modern" white readerboard faces installed. Thanks to Marc Wanamaker for this photo from his Bison Archives collection appearing on page 106 of the great book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Mr. Wanamaker (Arcadia Publishing, 2008). There's a preview of the book on Google Books. 

 

1950 - The theatre well used as a viewing stand for the Rose Parade. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for spotting the photo as a post by Cherie Hawkins on the You Know You Are From Old School Pasadena When... Facebook page. They have two Merian C. Cooper productions from 1935 that got reissued as a package in July 1949. "She" with Helen Gagahan and Randolph Scott along with "The Last Days of Pompeii" with Preston Foster ad Basil Rathbone.

Cherie calls our attention to the scaffolding holding cameramen from the studio of J. Allen Hawkins. She notes that he was the official photographer from the 1940s into the 60s. His work included photographing the Queen and her court in November and then covering the parade and the game. Hawkins is behind his camera on the right side. The others were either his employees or those he hired for the day. 

 

 

1955 - That's the theatre's vertical popping up in the center of this view east on Colorado. Thanks to Charles Phoenix for sharing this photo in a post on the Charles Phoenix Facebook page. 

 

 

 

1957 - Celebrating the Rose Parade with "Oklahoma!" playing at the UA. Not in 70mm. Thanks to Noirish L.A. contributor Ethereal Reality for finding the photo on eBay for his Noirish post # 47524. And thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting it on Noirish and sharing with a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.  

 

1957/58 - A through-the-windshield shot taken by Ernest Specht or one of his sisters, evidently several days before they rode in the Rose Parade. Thanks to Jim Staub for sharing this one and several other Colorado Blvd. shots from his collection in a Facebook post. Jim also shared several of the images in the set as a post on the You Know When You're From Old School Pasadena... group. On the end of the marquee: "Jerry Lewis as 'The Sad Sack,'" a November 1957 release.  

 

 

1981 - A look at the 1960 vintage facade cladding from the now-vanished American Classic Images website. 

1983 - Thanks to the American Classic Images collection for this photo.

1996 - Thanks to Tahoe 61 on Flickr for this look at the closed theatre.

c.2005 - Thanks to Debra Jane Seltzer for this fine shot of the restored "Unity" panel. It appears on page ten of the California Theatres section of her immense site Roadside Architecture.

c.2005 - The "Artistry" panel. Photo: Debra Jane Seltzer - Roadside Architecture

2009 - A lovely view by Joe Schumacher on Flickr. It's in his Pasadena and Los Angeles album.

2010 - A rainy day view in the Angels School Supply era with a look at the Pasadena Playhouse stagehouse behind. The photo by Petrea Burchard appeared with "Vestiges of Deco Glory," a post on her blog Living Vicuriously, aka Pasadena Daily Photo.

2010 - A view from the west. Photo: Bill Counter

2010 - A closer look at the center of the facade. Photo: Bill Counter

2010 - Around the back. The alley side of the Pasadena Playhouse is out of the frame to the left. Photo: Bill Counter

2017 - Thanks to Jonathan Raines for sharing this shot.

2018 - A look skyward from Mike Hume. For thousands of great photos of the theatres he's explored in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere visit his Historic Theatre Photography site.

2018 - Another facade view from Mike Hume. Thanks, Mike!

2019 - Gutted and still partially for lease. The storefront on the right was being used as a preview center for Anytime Fitness. Photo: Bill Counter

2019 - A September view to the east by Valentino Herrera. It was a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture Facebook page.

2019 - New signage for the United Artists Sweetgreen and the storefronts up in November, using the same font as the earlier Angels School Supply signs. Photo: Bill Counter

2020 - The display cases on the east side of the ticket lobby after the renovations. Photo: Bill Counter

2020 - A look at part of the terrazzo. Photo: Bill Counter

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the UA Pasadena for lots of data from Joe Vogel and links to more exterior photos by Ken McIntyre and others. The Cinema Tour page has several post-closing exterior views from the Scott Neff collection.

The site From Script to DVD has a page on the United Artists with several 2002 exterior views. It's on the site's section celebrating theatres that were 70mm equipped.

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