Los Angeles Theatres: Atwater Theatre

3183 Glendale Blvd. Atwater Village (Los Angeles), CA 90039 | map |

Opened: The new theatre was running by June 1940. It was on the west side of the street just south of Edenhurst Ave. in the Atwater Village shopping district. This rendering appeared with the April 11, 1940 San Fernando Valley Times article reproduced below.

Thanks to Ron Strong for locating the article and rendering. Visit his Bijou Memories site for tales of theatres he used to visit in Burbank and Glendale.

Architect: Paul F. Hartman, who designed the Vogue in Glendale, opening the following year.

Seating: 650

The article above mentions Smith's operation of the Roxy and Cosmo theatres in Glendale. He would also be the lessee of the Vogue Theatre when it opened across the street from the Cosmo in November 1941. Smith acquired the the York in Highland Park in 1944 and in 1945 he got the Show Stop in Glendale, a house later known as the Villa Glen.

The Atwater was owned by Harry Owens, composer, bandleader and radio and TV performer. In the 1930s he was music director at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. Owens, a former vaudeville performer, was a leading exponent of Hawaiian music and achieved fame with his song "Sweet Leilani," Bing Crosby's first gold record and winner of a 1938 Academy Award. He and Crosby had met in 1926 while performing at the Club Lafayette in Los Angeles.

The same rendering seen at the top of the page, as well as Smith's picture, also appeared with an April 1940 story in the Eagle Rock Sentinel titled "To Build New Atwater Theatre." Their text:

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a thread about the Atwater on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

A June 1940 ad for the three theatres that Grover Smith was then operating. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it. "Seventeen" and "Northwest Passage" were both February 1940 releases.

Later in 1940 Smith also got into the restaurant business, opening the "El Modena" between Eagle Rock and Pasadena. See a September 18 article and opening night ad that Ken McIntyre located in the Pasadena Star-News. The article noted that he had once operated the Raymond Theatre in Pasadena.

A November 1941 Times ad located by Ken McIntyre that listed the four theatres operated by Grover Smith.

A December 27, 1941 ad that Ken McIntyre located.

A 1942 ad for the Atwater. It's reproduced on page 90 in the Arcadia Publishing book "Atwater Village" by Netty Carr, Sandra Caravella, Luis Lopez, Ann Lawson and Friends of Atwater Village. They note that "Owens decorated the theatre with beautiful murals of Hawaii that depicted mountains, waterfalls, and beach scenes. The carpets and stage curtains had bold tropical leaf and flower patterns."

A June 1944 ad located by Ken McIntyre.

In February 1945 Smith added a new manager for the circuit, E.H. Silcocks, formerly of the Sierra and Eagle theatres in Eagle Rock. Thanks to Ken for locating the article.

In July 1947 Grover Smith was in trouble with the distributors for allegedly underreporting his grosses. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for the thread about the Atwater Theatre for the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

A 1948 listing for the Atwater and Grover Smith's other Glendale theatres spotted by Ken McIntyre.

An August 1949 listing located by Ken.

An "A" student at Van Nuys Junior High takes time out to dance at the Atwater in September 1950. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the article.

Closed: It was running at least into the mid-50s.

Status: It's been remodeled for retail use. The Pampered Birds store was for decades in what used to be the lobby, part of the auditorium and booth. The rear half of the auditorium was used as an artist's studio. In 2024 the lobby and front half of the auditorium became a furniture and home decor shop called deKor.