Opened: June 27, 1923 as the Metropolitan Theatre with the world premiere of "Circus Days" starring Jackie Coogan as well as five acts of vaudeville. Thanks to Ron Felsing for sharing this early postcard view from his collection on Flickr.
A drawing of the proposed theatre that appeared in the January 19, 1923 issue of the Hermosa Beach Review. Thanks to John Waltz for locating this to add as a comment to a thread about the theatre for the private Facebook group Vintage Neon Heaven. The Review used the drawing again the week of the opening. It was reproduced again in the December 12, 1996 issue of Easy Reader.
Joe Vogel comments that the project was also noted in the January 26, 1923 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor.
The building is on the southwest corner of Hermosa Ave. and 13th St. The
theatre was a project of Ralph E. Matteson, of the First Bank of
Hermosa Beach, and his partners. The $200,000 building also contained
the bank, retail stores, offices on the second floor, and two lodge halls
on floor three.
Seating: 1,200 was the capacity mentioned in the announcement of the construction. Later, when still a single screen house, the capacity was listed as 864.
Pipe Organ: It was a Robert Morton.
It was renamed the Hermosa Theatre in 1930 or 1931. It's listed
as the Hermosa at 1231 Hermosa Ave. in the 1931 and 1936 city
directories. The address was 1229 in the 1947 and 1952 directories.
West Coast Theatres was the operator from the time the theatre opened. After that firm was renamed Fox West Coast in 1929 the theatre was advertised as the Fox
Hermosa. At some point the circuit dropped the house and it became an independent operation.
They were calling it the Hermosa Cove in this November 1976 ad from the collection of Geoff Hagins. Thanks to Sharrye Hagins for sharing it as a post for the Lost Angeles Facebook group.
Thanks to Harold Lloyd for locating this discount card for a post on the South Bay / Los Angeles Days of Old California Facebook group.
Closing: 1996
Status: Much of the interior plasterwork remains in the lobby as well as in the proscenium area. For years the lobby and rear of what had been the auditorium had been an art gallery called Gallery C. Since 2013 that area has been occupied as a Chase Bank branch.
Interior views:
A c.1923 photo on display in the stage end of the building that, until 2020 was the offices of Beach City Capital. The photo is still positioned inside the front door.
Looking into the lobby after the theatre had closed. Note the new wall creating a separate office space in the rear of the auditorium. It's a 2003 photo by Ron Pierce that appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.
Looking toward house right in the inner lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A backstage view. At the left it's the rear of the house right organ grille. Farther along we're behind the proscenium. Above, note that a ceiling has been installed part way up in the stagehouse. Thanks to Mike Hume for this 2022 photo.
For a real treat visit Mike's Historic Theatres Photography website for tech information, history and thousand of great photos of many of the theatres he's explored.
More exterior views:
1940s - The theatre is seen toward the lower right in this shot. Thanks to Joseph Snyder for locating it for a post on the South Bay/Los Angeles Days of Old Facebook page.
c.1970 - Looking north toward the Hermosa, at this time still running as a single screen operation. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1992 - Thanks to Chris Cenci for sharing this shot on the I Love Hermosa Beach Facebook group.
2003 - Thanks to Ron Pierce for this photo, one that appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.
2005 - The theatre space as Galley C. It's a photo from Joan S. on Yelp.
2009 - A photo taken by Ken McIntyre on one of his many wanderings.
c.2019 - A view with the auditorium and stagehouse shown in yellow that appears on the Beach City Capital
page about their vision for the "Beach-centric Co-Working Office Space."
2019 - The alley along the south side of the building. Photo: Bill Counter
2019 - A look along the north side. Photo: Bill Counter
2019 - The stage end of the building. Photo: Bill Counter
2021 - The back wall as seen from the pier. The orange-vested city employees on the top of the stagehouse are preparing to unfurl a blue tarp to hide the mural prior to the official June 28 unveiling ceremony, a fundraiser for the city's mural project. The light beige structure we see to the right of the stagehouse is the third floor of the portion of the building in front of the auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter
The Hermosa/Bijou in the movies:
We see lots of scenes in various beach towns from Venice on down the
coast in George Armitage's film "Private Duty Nurses" (New World
Pictures, 1971). Here we're on The Strand with a
view of the stage end of the theatre. This great epic features
Katherine Cannon, Joyce Williams, Peggy Boucher, Joseph Kaufmann and
Dennis Redfield. The cinematography was by John McNichol. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for another shot a moment earlier as well as a view of the film on the marquee at the Los Angeles Theatre.
April Wright, who is from Hermosa Beach, includes shots of the theatre in her 2019 documentary "Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace."
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Bijou Theatre for more history. The Cinema Tour page has twelve 2003 exterior photos by Ron Pierce. See the History of the Bijou Theatre page on the Hermosa Beach Historical Society website.
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