Opened: April 8, 1932 with Leo Carrillo and Lupe Velez staring in "The Broken Wing." It was built for Fox West Coast Theatres. The building was on the south side of the street just west of Compton Ave.
The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. They were running "Panama Flo," a January 1932 release with Helen Twelvetrees. At the center we get a tantalizing view into the courtyard. The arch at the right is to drive through to get to the parking lot in the rear.
The Fox Florence was set way back from the street with smaller retail
buildings out front and the theatre entered after a walk through a
Spanish style courtyard. The courtyard style approach was somewhat of a
rarity, even with southern California's good weather. Other theatres
either with this sort of layout or a forecourt more open at the street
end include Grauman's Chinese, Grauman's Egyptian, the Fox Fullerton, the Pasadena Playhouse and the Golden Gate.
Elsewhere, the courtyard approach can be seen at the Plaza in Palm
Springs, the Fox Arlington in Santa Barbara and the Varsity in Palo
Alto.
Seating: 1,707
Architect: S. Charles Lee, L.A.'s most prolific theatre architect. The announced cost was $400,000.
A first floor plan. In the auditorium note the outline of the front of the balcony. The driveway to the auto park is across the top of the image. Thanks to Maggie Valentine for reproducing this as well as many photos of the theatre beginning on page 50 of "The Show Starts on the Sidewalk," her 1996 Yale University Press book about S. Charles Lee. The pages with the Fox Florence photos are included with the book's preview on Google Books. It's available on Amazon.
A detail of the courtyard from a slightly different plan showing the array of stores.
A detail of a plan for the stage end of the building. Off left there are several dressing rooms for principals, a chorus room and a music room. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating the plan details for posts on Cinema Treasures.
A September 15, 1931 item about bonds for sale to pay for the new theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this. The Compton location that's mentioned was presumably the Tower Theatre, another S. Charles Lee design for the circuit. It didn't get open until February 1936.
A March 31, 1932 L.A. Times item that Ken located.
A March 1933 ad for "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and "Topaze" that was spotted by Ken McIntyre. The co-feature starred John Barrymore and Myrna Loy. See "Fresh, Sparkling Comedy In Film Play at Florence," a March 20 article about "Topaze" that he also found. Also see a Mott Studios photo with these films on the marquee as well as a closer entrance detail from the image.
Status: The building was demolished in 1968.
The courtyard:
A peek into the courtyard in 1932. We're looking in from the porte cochere at the point where you'd drop off your passengers before proceeding to the auto park. Note the stairs to the balcony. Inside the lobby there was only one set of stairs, going up to the opposite side of the balcony. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
Another angle looking in toward the stairs. It's a 1932 trade magazine photo located by Dallas Movie Theaters for a post on Cinema Treasures.
Another look up the stairs toward the balcony promenade. Photo: UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection / Maggie Valentine -"The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" - 1932
Only a small fraction of the Lee collection has been digitized. The link above takes you to a finding aid for the collection on the Online Archive of California site. There are over 600 photos and drawings from the collection on online as Calisphere collection #12661. These are also indexed on the UCLA Library Digital Collections website.
The center fountain. Photo: UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection / Maggie Valentine -"The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" - 1932
A view along the entrance arcade toward the house right balcony stairs. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
Looking back out toward the boxoffice. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
The stairs to the second floor spaces west of the entrance. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
Interior views:
A 1932 main lobby view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
A lobby fountain. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
A lobby fountain. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
Stairs to the balcony. Photo: UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection / Maggie Valentine -"The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" - 1932
Another view toward the landing. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
Another view toward the landing. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
The balcony level of the lobby. Photo: UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection / Maggie Valentine -"The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" - 1932
One of the lounge areas. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
A look down into the auditorium. Photo: UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection / Maggie Valentine -"The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" - 1932. Thank you, Maggie!
A ceiling detail. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932
One of the side wall niches. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932. Thanks, DMT!
One of the side wall niches. Photo: Dallas Movie Theaters - Cinema Treasures - 1932. Thanks, DMT!
More street views:
1931 - A construction view in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1932 - The boxoffice ready for the grand opening. It's a trade magazine photo located by Dallas Movie Theaters for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1933 - A Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection. It's one of two photos in set # 001387282. Bruce Kimmel comments: "'The Mystery of the Wax Museum,' besides being called a 1932 film, opened in February 1933 exclusively at two LA theaters, then went wider in early March."
1933 - "Two Big Pictures." It's the second Mott Studios photo in the California State Library set # 001387282. Bill Housos comments: "The photo shows the theatre after the March 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Many streetlight glass shades broke as well."
1933 - A tower and signage detail from the second Mott photo.
2020 - Looking east on Florence Ave. The white box of a Rite Aid is on the site of the Fox Florence. Photo: Google Maps.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Fox Florence for a bit more history and memories of contributors who went to shows there. The site Cinema Tour has a page with one 1932 photo.
Another theatre on the southend that used the Florence name was the World Theatre on S. Broadway. The Florencita Theatre was listed in the 1938 city directory as the Florence, but that was just a typo. There was a Florence Theatre as well in Pasadena, a house later known as the State Theatre.
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The Alex Theater in Glendale also has a similar open courtyard design. I wonder how this theater did in the March 1933 Long Beach Earthquake.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have no idea about what, if any, earthquake damage it sustained. But obviously it survived well enough to run until 1965.
DeleteWent there as a child countless times when I was a kid in the fifties. One of the little shops on the side of the courtyard was a record store at that time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Sorry I never saw the Florence. Looks like was a great building.
Delete