Alcazar / Liberty 3 Theatres

4426 Gage Ave. Bell, CA 90201 | map |

Opened:  April 30, 1925 as the Alcazar Theatre. The contractor was W. M. Bell. It was on the south side of the street a block west of Atlantic Ave. The town of Bell is due east of Huntington Park.

Many thanks to Jason Vega for finding this pre-opening view on eBay that was taken by the Shirley Studio. It's a teaser. The front of the marquee says "April Thirty" and then a blank space where a title should be, and then "World Premier." The bottom line promised "Stars - Orchestra - Acts - Stars."  

Seating: Originally announced as 1,800. Later the count, while still a single screen operation, was 1,380.

Architect: Julian T. Zeller. Joe Vogel notes that the estimated cost of the building, including its Estey pipe organ, was $105,000. Zeller was also the designer of the nearby Maybell Theatre, a 1922 vintage house that S. Charles Lee turned into the Alpha Theatre in 1938.

By 1931 the Alcazar was an operation of Fox West Coast. The Alpha was also run by Fox. The third theatre in town was the Bell Theatre, opened in January 1938 by Frank Valuskis at 3934 Gage Ave. The Alcazar had a fire in 1944 with much of the interior damaged. Ken McIntyre located this article from the September 14, 1944 issue of the L.A. Times:

"Fire Sweeps Bell Theater - An early morning blaze in the Alcazar Theater, 4426 Gage Ave., yesterday caused damage of approximately $50,000. A lighted cigarette left in a loge is believed to have started the blaze. The fire destroyed the entire inside of the building. In an all-night fight, the fire departments of Bell, Maywood and Huntington Park confined the blaze within the theater and saved apartments above from damage. Projection and sound equipment was saved, but the theater screen, stage, seats and other equipment were destroyed. No one was injured." 

The theatre soon reopened with new screen, seats and draperies. A stabbing incident in the restroom and lobby that was recounted in a December 24, 1964 newspaper article left two teenagers dead. The perp was a Huntington Park youth with a record of previous problems.

The theatre got triplexed in 1977 and was then known as the Liberty 3 Cinemas. The reopening was August 12.

Closing: 1987, as a result of damage from the Whittier Narrows earthquake. 

Status: The building was demolished in the late 80s.


Interior views: 

A proscenium view taken after the 1944 fire. It's from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

The Alcazar's auditorium in 1945 after the post-fire redecorating. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.


More exterior views:

1931 - The theatre was playing the April release "The Secret Six," a gangster film with Wallace Beery. And for your convenience, there's an Ex-Lax store on the corner.  The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. It also appears on page 116 of the 2008 Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Marc Wanamaker. The page with the photo is included in the book's preview on Google Books.   

1931 - Thanks to Jason Vega for spotting this view of the Alcazar on eBay. They were running the June release "Five and Ten" with Marion Davies.

1945 - "Keep Your Powder Dry" with Lana Turner and Laraine Day was the attraction on the marquee. The co-feature was "Flame of the West." Note the much earlier sign on the side of the building advertising "The Home of Talking Pictures... Movietone & Vitaphone Sound Features, Acts and News..." It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1945 - A closer look at the entrance during the run of "Keep Your Powder Dry." It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1946 - A look at the revamped marquee. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1964 - The Alcazar, at the time still running as a single screen theatre. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1981 - The theatre as a triplex, the Liberty 3 Cinemas. Thanks to the now-vanished site American Classic Images for sharing the photo from their collection.

1983 - An entrance detail from American Classic Images. Thanks!

2017 - The site of the theatre, now with a Chase Bank branch on it. Photo: Google Maps

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the theatre, which they list as the Liberty 3, for some nice research by Ken McIntyre, Joe Vogel and others.

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