Opened: January 12, 1949. It was an independent venue owned by the Mo-Kan Theatre Co. The building is on the east side of the street just south of Centinela Ave. The photo appeared in the 1949-1950 edition of Quigley Publications' Theatre Catalog. It appears on the Cinema Tour and Cinema Treasures pages about the theatre.
"Only at the La Tijera you drive right into the lobby..." A pre-opening ad located by Ken McIntyre for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.
A January 12 ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page.
Seating: 1,530
Architect: S. Charles Lee
A fanciful early sketch for the exterior. It's on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection. 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. Most of the collection has not been scanned. See the Finding Aid for the S. Charles Lee Papers on the Online Archive of California site for a list of the collection's holdings.
A plan of the La Tijera showing the corner "drive-in" lobby and freestanding boxoffice. It's from the 1949-50 Theatre Catalog. Thanks to Cinema Tour for reproducing it on their page about the theatre.
A trade magazine article located by Bill Gabel noted: "The general construction of the building is steel and gunnite concrete. The front of the theatre is red Roman brick with accenting Arizona flagstone, glass, and copper trim all strikingly blended. The house has been designed to combine the outside lobby and inner foyer to give the appearance of one unit. An entirely glass partition forms the only dividing line between the two areas. An island concession stand is situated in the foyer, and around the wall are built-in plant areas. Circline lighting is carried through from the outside into the foyer. The lobby has built-in wall seats around the candy stand. The asbestos limpit walls of the beautiful auditorium are painted kelly green and accented in white and gold."
A January 1949 ad for "Blanche Fury" at the La Tijera. We see the film on the marquee through the lobby windows in a photo by Mr. Lee that's in the UCLA collection.
Closing: The poor La Tijera was doomed. It ran only for about four years and was then converted into a bowling alley. There wasn't a huge population in the area at the time and competition was fierce for bookings of top product. Fox West Coast had the Loyola and the Fox Inglewood nearby so as an independent, the La Tijera didn't have a chance. They were also up against UA's United Artists Inglewood and the Paradise. The latter was also an independent but they managed to hang on longer.
The sale for conversion to a bowling alley happened in 1952. Ken McIntyre found this item in the December 14 issue of the L.A. Times: "The La Tijera Theater has been sold for approximately $300,000 by the Mo-Kan Theater Co. to J.T. Tregoning, Raymond Tauber and Vincent Rehers. The building will be converted into a 16-lane bowling alley with a cocktail bar and cafe. The alley will open in January."
At the time of the closing the La Tijera was operated by Phil Isley, who was also having problems with several other venues:
This article appeared on page 26 of the December 20, 1952 issue of Boxoffice. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating it. It's just a guess that the third theatre named in the article was the California Theatre in Burbank, a house that opened in 1950. Earlier Isley had operated the Lankershim Theatre and one of the Meralta Theatres, although it's not known which one.
Status: After years as a bowling alley, the building was gutted in the early 1980s for use as office space.
Interior views:
The street and signage as seen from the lobby. The photo is on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection. They credit Mr. Lee as the photographer.
The La Tijera's snackbar as seen in a 1949 L.A. Todd photo. It's on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection. Note the congratulatory opening night bouquets on the back of the banquette.
The ladies lounge. The uncredited photo is on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection.
The curious mural at the entrance to the auditorium. The uncredited photo is on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection.
A look in from the rear of the auditorium. It's an L.A. Todd photo on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection.
A fine look at the ceiling and front of the auditorium. Thanks to Bill Gabel for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures. The photo also appears in Flying Wedge's Noirish Los Angeles post #13299.
More exterior views:
1949 - They had trouble getting product away from Fox West Coast. Here they've settled for a reissue Abbott & Costello double bill from 1941-42: "Ride 'Em Cowboy" and "Keep 'Em Flying." Plus a sneak preview the night the photo was taken. It's a photo by Alpheus Blakeslee on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection.
1949 - A detail of the "drive-through" entrance taken from the previous photo.
1949 - The theatre running "John Loves Mary," a February release with Ronald Reagan and Jack Carson along with "High Fury," a November 1948 film with Madeline Carroll. The image by an unknown photographer is on Calisphere from the UCLA S. Charles Lee Papers Collection. A comment on the site, presumably by Maggie Valentine:
"Lee designed his theatres to be most effective at night. The tall neon sign seems to hang in the air above the building. A grid of round lights underneath the canopy forms a high marquee and illuminates the entrance. Translucent panels on the lobby walls glow invitingly and the aluminum frames reflect the light. The poster cases are illuminated internally and outlined by neon strips."
c.1956 - A view after conversion to a bowling alley and cocktail lounge. Note that the display cases survived and the former boxoffice got turned into a planter. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection but seems to have gone missing online during a software changeover.
2012 - The La Tijera, now an office building. We're looking north toward Centinela and La Cienega. Photo: Google Maps
2019 - A closer view. It certainly it doesn't look like it was ever a theatre. Photo: Google Maps.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the La Tijera. The Cinema Tour page has three vintage photos.
Noirish Los Angeles contributor Flying Wedge located a number of photos of the La Tijera for Noirish post #13299.
Several photos of the theatre appear in "The Show Starts on the Sidewalk," a book by Maggie Valentine about S. Charles Lee. There's a preview on Google Books.
| back to top | South, South Central and Southeast theatres | Downtown theatres | Westside theatres | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | Along the Coast | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | Los Angeles theatres - the main alphabetical list | Los Angeles theatres - list by address | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment