Bellflower Theatre

16610 Bellflower Blvd. Bellflower, CA 91203 | map |

Opening: 1925 or 1926, when the main street of the town was called Somerset St. It was later renamed Bellflower Blvd. The theatre was on the east side of the street three lots south of Belmont St. Ron Pierce notes that it appears on a 1925 Sanborn fire insurance map.

In the photo we're looking north toward Belmont St. with the theatre on the far right. On the marquee: "Our Gang Comedy." That sign across the street in the distance says "Bellflower." The photo is from the California Historical Society collection and appears on the USC Digital Library website. They date it as 1929 but it's most likely earlier. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Hoss C for finding it for Noirish post #17910.

A detail from the California Historical Society photo.

This was the first of two theatres to use the Bellflower name, both operated by Lester Funk. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating a brief biography of him in the April 14, 1945 issue of Boxoffice. The item said he had opened his first theater in Bellflower in 1926, then opened the replacement Bellflower Theatre in 1929. That second Bellflower was later renamed the Nubel Theatre. Also noted was that Funk opened the Circle Theatre nearby on Flower St. in 1941.

Seating: 500, according to the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook. Thanks to Ron Pierce for the data.

Closing: 1929 was the end of it when the new Bellflower Theatre opened on the other side of the street. Ron notes that the 1932 Sanborn map shows the building as having been converted to retail space.

Status: The building has been demolished.

 

 

Another 20s view of the Bellflower. The theatre is on the right advertising "Comedy & Feature" on the end of the marquee. Thanks to Chris Nichols for locating the photo. He's an editor at Los Angeles magazine and is also the author of the Taschen book "Walt Disney's Disneyland."

 

Chris found the photo via the site Ancestry.com. It had appeared in the 1957 Yearbook of the Excelsior High School in Norwalk. The first, but erroneous, guess was that this was a photo of an early theatre in Norwalk. Thanks to Dick Morris for recognizing that this was a view of the Bellflower.   Dick comments: 

 

"It's not surprising that the Excelsior Union High School Annual would have a photo of a theater in Bellflower. Bellflower had been in the EUHS attendance area until about 1950 when Bellflower High School was built."

Looking south toward the theatre. It's the last building of the row. The postcard is in the California State Library collection, their item #001409129. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for spotting it in the Library's collection. 

A detail from the postcard. 

  

A view south on Bellflower Blvd. in 2019. That's Belmont St. on the left. The theatre was the third small lot down from the corner, in the middle of this new complex. On the right note the replacement Bellflower theatre, later called the Nubel and the Holiday. It's been churched. Photo: Google Maps

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about this first Bellflower Theatre.

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