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Victory / Burbank Theatre

207 S. San Fernando Blvd. Burbank, CA 91502  | map |


Opened: August 2, 1919 as the Victory Theatre by Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Mouffe. It was such a success that by September they were offering shows seven days a week. Thanks to Joe Vogel for finding this photo in a late 1919 issue of The Architect & Engineer. He notes that it appeared in an ad for the L.A. Pressed Brick Co. which said that the building was faced with pressed brick in ivory enamel, with grey and white enamel trim. Joe posted the photo on the Cinema Treasures page about the theatre.

The building, on the southwest corner of San Fernando and Angeleno Ave., was known as the Victory Building, as can be seen in the lettering above the marquee. It also contained the Burbank Hotel. An early address for the theatre was 205 E. San Fernando Rd.

Architect: Henry J. Knauer. He had been identified in the L.A. Pressed Brick Co. ad located by Joe Vogel. He comments about the architect: 

"He is best known for the numerous period style mansions he designed in such posh Los Angeles neighborhoods as Hancock Park and Windsor Square, as well as a number of Art Deco commercial buildings in and around Hollywood. He did design at least one other theater early in his career, a 1915 project on Vermont Avenue at 41st Place..."

Seating: Estimates range from 547 to 900. The 900 number is from a mention of the theatre's closing in Boxoffice.


 
A 1925 ad for the theatre. Thanks Wes Clark's Burbankia site for locating it. It appears in the site's lovely San Fernando Road album on Google Photos.
 
 

 
 Two ads that appeared in April 1926. They're in the Burbankia San Fernando Road album.  



A 1927 ad when the theatre was being operated by B. Myers. It's included in Burbankia's San Fernando Road album.

In the 1928 city directory it's still called the Victory Theatre. Sometime prior to 1932 it got renamed the Burbank Theatre at which time it was owned by Bern G. and Neva H. Richardson. They were suing Al Minor at the Loma Theatre over product, claiming he got his choice of the better bookings. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this item in an October 1932 issue of the L.A. Times:

"Conspiracy in restraint of trade is charged in a suit filed yesterday in the Superior Court in a controversy between two Burbank theaters over motion picture films. The action is brought in the name of Bern G. Richardson and Neva H. Richardson, owners of the Burbank Theater building, against A.F. Minor, proprietor of the Loma Theater, and practically all the larger film-distributing concerns. According to the Richardsons' complaint, the film companies conspired with Minor to sell films for Burbank showing only in his theater."

In December 1937 competition got even more intense when Minor opened the Major Theatre in Burbank. At this time the Jimmy Edwards circuit had the Burbank Theatre. In 1938 Minor took it over with the transaction reported in the December 10, 1938 issue of Boxoffice. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating the item. Minor would go on to build the Magnolia Theatre in 1940. He died in 1941. In the 1945 through 1949 editions of the Film Daily Yearbook it's his widow, Minnie Minor, listed as the owner of Minor Theatres. After Al's death the company's four theatres were managed by his son Charles.

Closing: The Burbank closed in 1950. An item in an April issue of Boxoffice that was located by Ken McIntyre noted:

"BURBANK, CALIF - The Burbank Theater, one of four showcases operated here by Charles Minor, has gone dark. Minor explains that the current business outlook does not warrant it remaining open at this time. It is a 900-seat house. Minor will continue operating the Loma, Magnolia and Major theaters." 

Ron Strong reports that Sterling Theatres, Inc., a firm headed by William J. Kupper, Jr., bought the remaining Minor Theatres holdings in August 1950. Charles stayed on as manager of the Loma, Major and Magnolia for them. Sterling was also involved with the Cornell Theatre (1949) and the California Theatre (1950). The firm was no relation to the Seattle-based Sterling Theatres.

Status: The theatre spaces got absorbed into the hotel operation. The building was demolished in 1979 with the site then being used as a parking garage for the Holiday Inn.

 
An interior view:

This image by Walters Studio appeared in the 1928 promotional publication "Your Burbank Home." Several pages were posted on Facebook by Silver Cup Vintage. Thanks to Deanna Bayless for spotting the post. 
 

More exterior views:


c.1919 - The theatre running "Heart o' the Hills," a November 1919 release with Mary Pickford. Note that there's no vertical sign yet. The photo appeared with a November 4, 1922 article in Exhibitors Herald about the use of face brick in theatres. The issue is on Internet Archive. The Herald's caption: "VICTORY theatre, Burbank, Cal., shows a very effective use of light gray brick with terra cotta embellishments."



1926 - A photo attributed to C.C. Pierce. The front of the marquee says "Now Showing Leading Photoplays." They have a banner up for "Desert Gold," a March 1926 Paramount release with Neil Hamilton and Shirley Mason. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for posting the photo on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. There's a version of it on the USC Digital Library site from the California Historical Society. 



1920s - A look north on San Fernando Rd. with the Victory Theatre on the left. The California Historical Society photo appears on the USC Digital Library website. In the previous photo the building in the block beyond the theatre had been a hotel. Here it's morphed into some other use.



1920s - A detail from the California Historical Society photo. It appears they're running a film with Pola Negri.


 
c.1927 - A photo from the Burbank Historical Society that appears on their website's photo gallery. It's also on the website of the Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library with this caption: 
 
"The Burbank Hotel was located at 205 S. San Fernando Boulevard in the Victory Building. The Victory Theatre was a part of the building at the time. Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Mouffe opened the Victory Theatre on August 2, 1919. In 1979, the building was demolished and a parking structure for the Holiday Inn was built in its place."
 
 
 
1927 - Looking north on San Fernando Rd. It's a photo that was located for Wes Clark's site. It makes an appearance in the site's San Fernando Rd. album on Google Photos.
 
 
 
1927 - A detail from the photo above. On the left it's the Loma Theatre, 319 S. San Fernando Rd. The Victory is in the next block, with its vertical just saying "Theatre."
 
 

1927 - A different detail from the wider shot that's two images above. It's one appearing in the Burbankia San Fernando Road album on Google Photos. 



1928 - "An Independent Theatre" playing "Once and Forever" and "The Bronc Stomper." The photo by Walters Studio appeared in a publication with the caption "Burbank's leading theatre, which provides good, clean entertainment for the entire family, featuring only the best in pictures at popular prices." Thanks to Wes Clark's Burbankia site for locating this one. The photo appears in the site's San Fernando Road album.



1935 - A look at the vertical after it had been changed to read "Burbank." It's a detail from a postcard in the Burbankia San Fernando Road album.



1940s - A photo from the Burbankia San Fernando Road album on Google Photos.



1946 - Thanks to Paul Lori for posting this one on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles. He says his great uncle took the photo when he worked here as a young man. The theatre closed in early 1950.



1963 - The repurposed marquee used for the hotel. It's a photo from the Burbank Historical Society that appears on the website of the Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library. With the photo: "In 1979, the fire department used the building for testing and training purposes before demolishing it. Later a parking structure for the Holiday Inn was built in its place."



mid-1960s - Looking north with Tujunga Ave. in the foreground. The photo appears in Burbankia's San Fernando Road album on Google Photos. Note the "Burbank Hotel" roof sign on the former theatre building on the left.



c.1969 - The Cine-Globe, a temporary theatre. That's the Burbank Theatre building over on the left. The photo appears in Burbankia's San Fernando Road album on Google Photos. Thanks to Deanna Bayless for finding this one in the collection.



1970s - Malling the street in front of the former theatre. Thanks to Deanna Bayless for her photo, a post on Cinema Treasures.



1979 - Demolition of the building after it had been used for practice by the Burbank Fire Department. It hadn't been a theatre since 1950. Thanks to Deanna Bayless for the photo.

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Burbank Theatre. The Cinema Tour page has several vintage photos from the Burbank Historical Society.

The other Burbank Theatre: Dr. David Burbank, who the city was named for, built a theatre on Main St. in downtown Los Angeles called, appropriately enough, the Burbank Theatre.

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