Opened: 1926. The location was on the east side of the street about five blocks south of Exposition Blvd. It's an area northeast of Leimert Park. 1927 was the theatre's first city directory listing. The closed theatre is on the right in this view looking south from the Sean Ault collection. Tina Asher also found a copy of it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
Architect: Unknown
This item about W. E. Johansen and his new theatre appeared in the November 8, 1925 issue of the L.A. Times. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating it. The building ended up looking more like a two-story building rather than what was noted here. In the 1928 city directory there's a W.E. Johansen listed as being in the real estate business.
When it was later operated by Fox West Coast, it was known as the Fox Western.
There was a period when it was used as a legit venue by a group called the Panda Players, headed by Jay Brooks. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating this fictitious business name statement in the April 28, 1954 issue of the Hollywood Citizen.
It was later used as a church.
A view of the theatre that appeared in the October 15, 1959 issue of the Los Angeles Sentinel with the caption "Old Home of Liberty Baptist Church." Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Mackerm for locating the photo for inclusion in Noirish post # 55370. He notes that after use by a string of churches, in 1965 the building was the home of Oliver's Artificial Flowers and Trees.
Status: It's been demolished. The site is now part of the Martin Luther King Therapeutic Recreation Center.
The theatre was on the right about where the parking lot now is. We're looking north on Western toward 39th St. Photo: Google Maps - 2018
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Western.
If you were looking for theatres that specialized in running westerns, see our pages here on this site about the Hitching Post Theatre - Hollywood, the Hitching Post - Santa Monica or the Hitching Post - Beverly Hills, later known as the Beverly Canon.
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