Esquire Theatre

2670 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91107 | map |

Opened: April 1, 1964 by Laemmle Theatres as a first run art house. "The Lovers of Teruel" was the initial film. The building is on the south side of the street just a bit west of San Gabriel Blvd. Thanks to Marcel for posting his 1997 photo of the theatre on Cinema Treasures.  L.A. Times film critic Kevin Thomas commented in an April 3 article: "Pasadena’s first art theater, the Esquire, combines elegance and comfort." 

Architect: It was a conversion of a space that had been a pizza joint. Noted motion picture art director Eugène Lourié designed the various aspects of the remodel.

Seating: 525

An opening day ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.

 

 

 

An April 1964 ad for the opening film "The Lovers of Teruel." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this and other Esquire ads for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page.   

 

Joe Vogel located an April 6, 1964 Boxoffice article that noted the opening and listed several interesting features including a wheelchair platform and a row of seats wired for hard-of-hearing patrons.

The Esquire was discussed in Matt Hormann's now-vanished 2011 Hometown Pasadena article "Ghost Theatres of Colorado (Part 2 of 2)." He noted:

"A no-frills art house, its programming epitomized the independent spirit of the Laemmle franchise. It hosted an annual Cinéma Français series, ballet film festivals, performances by the Youth Theater Workshop, and periodic retrospectives devoted to the work of Michelangelo Antonioni and others. 

 

"It was also noteworthy for presenting live acts such as singer Marni Nixon and pianist Lillian Steuber. The Esquire could even boast of having violinist Jascha Heifetz attend one of its classical music performances, according to a 1988 L.A. Times article."

Closing: The Esquire closed in late 2000. This theatre and the nearby Colorado (also a Laemmle operation), were made superfluous with the opening of the chain's Playhouse 7. 

Status: It was converted into a Washington Mutual branch in 2004 and later was a Chase branch. As of 2019 it was vacant. By 2022 it had become a thrift store to benefit Huntington Hospital. 

 

More exterior views: 

1992 - Running "The Crying Game" with Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson. Thanks to Kelli Shapiro for locating the image for the discussion of the Esquire on page 125 of her 2024 Arcadia Publishing book "Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres." It's a photo from the Tom B'hend/Preston Kaufmann Collection at the AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library. 

1997 - Thanks to Scott Neff for his photo. It appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre. 

c.1999 - A photo of the closed theatre that once appeared on the now-vanished website L.A. Okay. 

2010 - The building as a Chase branch. Photo: Bill Counter

 

2019 - The former theatre available for lease. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

2022 - A new life as a thrift store. Thanks to Chris Nichols for doing the reconaissance and snapping the shot. He's an editor at Los Angeles magazine and is also the author of the Taschen book "Walt Disney's Disneyland."

 

Recent interior views:

A 2023 photo by Chris Nichols. As he says: "Not much left inside except for the badly patched terrazzo floor at the (former) entrance."

 

Looking south toward the screen end of the building. Photo: Chris Nichols - 2023

 

The view back toward the street. Photo: Chris Nichols - 2023. Thanks!

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page for more data and recollections. The Cinema Tour page has a 2003 Ken Roe photo in addition to the 1997 Scott Neff photo here on this page. 

Check out Kelli Shapiro's 2024 Arcadia Publishing book "Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres."

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