Red Mill / Boulevard Theatre

4549 Whittier Blvd. East Los Angeles, CA 90022   | map |

Opened: 1922 or 1923 as the Red Mill Theatre. The image is a detail from a 1925 photo by Dick Whittington Studio. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating it in the USC Digital Library collection. "In Every Woman's Life" was a September 1924 release with Virginia Valli and Lloyd Hughes. The building is on the north side of the street at McBride Ave.

Architect: Frank Meline designed the building. The Dick Whittington photo was taken for him. In 1918 Meline had designed the Iris, later renamed the Fox Theatre, in Hollywood and in 1920 had done a remodel of the Mission Theatre on Broadway. Joe Vogel notes that the L.A. County Assessor's Office gives the building a 1922 construction date with a remodel of some sort in 1928.

The building got a serious moderne renovation around 1937 by Clifford A. Balch & Floyd E. Stanbery. Balch designed many Los Angeles theatres, including the Golden Gate down the street. With Walker & Eisen he also did the United Artists a block to the west of it.

Seating: 916

The Red Mill was listed as being in the Belvedere Gardens neighborhood in a September 2, 1923 L.A. Times ad celebrating Paramount Week. It was one of many theatres listed in the ad as running that studio's product for a week of celebrations. Thanks to Jeff  Bridges for posting the directory listings from the ad on Flickr. Joe Vogel has noted that the Belvedere designation had been "historically applied to a good-sized swath of the unincorporated east side..." Cinema Treasures contributor Organnyc notes that there's a record of a Robert Morton pipe organ getting installed at the Red Mill in 1923. 

There was some renumbering in this section of Whittier Blvd. It gets a 1924 city directory listing as 5217 Whittier. In 1925 they had it as 5215 1/2 Whittier. By the time the 1926 directory was compiled the address had shifted to 4549. The 1929 edition gave it a 4551 address. Ken McIntyre found a 1930 ad in the L.A. Times listing the Red Mill (at 4549) as a Fox West Coast operation. The theatre didn't get a listing in the 1932 directory.

 

It appears that the theatre was having some trouble with the projectionists union in October 1932. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this Eastside Journal article for a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

Some time before the 1933 city directory was compiled the house had been renamed the Boulevard Theatre. It's also been known as the New Boulevard. After being a Fox West Coast operation it was later operated by Statewide Theatres. 

 

1n 1979 it became the Teatro Boulevard, a Metropolitan Theatres operation. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating the December 23 grand reopening ad. Visit his site: movie-theatre.org

Closing: It was still running as a Spanish language bargain house in 1983 and closed sometime later in the 80s. 

Now, of course, it's known as the Huggy Boy Theatre. The vertical used to say "Boulevard" on its nine protrusions. The Huggy Boy now lettered on the sign refers to Dick Hugg, the host of an American Bandstand-like show that aired from the theatre in the 80s. Earlier he had used a ballroom on Telegraph Rd.

Status: It's been a church for several decades.

Interior views:

Looking out from the lobby. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2009

Low inventory at the snack bar. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2009

Looking in toward the auditorium. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2009

Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for this 2007 view of the Huggy Boy Church. It was a post on Flickr. And, if you have the time for a real treat, go browsing his 500+ photo Los Angeles Theatres album.

Another view of the auditorium in church mode. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2009

More exterior views:

 

1925 - The image at the top of the page is a detail from this Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection. Joe Vogel calls our attention to the windmill on the roof as advertising. Elias Perales found this on the USC site to use for a 2013 "then and now" comparison that received many comments on the Who Remembers in East L.A. Facebook page.

 

c.1948 - A shot from a clip located by April Wright for a post on her Going Attractions - Entertainment, Amusements, Americana Facebook page. She notes that it's from the 2004 Passport Video DVD set "30 years of Academy Award Winners 1972-2002." It's available on Amazon. In the clip on April's post we also see the Monterey, Golden Gate and Whittier theatres. Thanks, April!

 

1979 - A photo by Anne Knudsen looking west with the theatre in the next block on the left. It's a view in the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the photo in the collection. 

 

1983 - "Staying Alive" and "Flashdance." It's a photo by the late Greg Rodriguez. Thanks to his friend Jim Staub for digitizing it and sharing in a Facebook post.

 

1983 - Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for once sharing this view of the Teatro Boulevard."Tiempo de lobos" was a 1981 film.

1984 - Another photo from American Classic Images. Thanks!

2004 - Thanks to Ken Roe for this shot of the building in use as a church. At the time of the photo they were still putting letters on the marquee. This one appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.

2004 - A view from the east. Photo: Ken Roe - Cinema Tour

2007 - A look at the display cases at the Huggy Boy Theatre. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing his photo on Flickr.

c.2008 - A view by Martin that appeared on his now-vanished site You-Are-Here.com.

2009 - A look up the vertical sign. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2009 - A view of the boxoffice. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2009 - Casing the joint. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2009 - Clifford Balch's porthole design entrance doors. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2009 - A view of the terrazzo. Photo: Michelle Gerdes. Many thanks to ace theatre explorer Michelle for permission to use her photos of the Boulevard. For more of her great work, see her various albums of theatre photos on Flickr.

c.2010 - Thanks to Debra Jane Seltzer for this great terrazzo shot appearing on page five of the California Theatres section of her immense site Roadside Architecture. The page also has three other photos of the Boulevard.

 2012 - A view east. Photo: Bill Counter

2012 - An entrance detail. Photo: Bill Counter

2019 - Looking east on Whittier. Photo: Google Maps

2019 - We get a view of the auditorium with a look west. It's parallel to Whittier Blvd. Photo: Google Maps

2019 - On McBride St. looking south toward Whittier Blvd. That's the screen end of the building facing the street. Photo: Google Maps

 

2019 - Another facade view. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

The Boulevard in the Movies: 

Cruising and looking for trouble in Michael Pressman's "Boulevard Nights" (Warner Bros., 1979). The theatre is on the right in this shot looking west. Richard Yniguez, Danny De La Paz and Marta DuBois star in the drama of family ties tested by gang activity. The cinematography was by John Bailey. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for two more shots of the Boulevard plus five of the United Artists/Alameda. There's also a shot of protests during a preview of the film at the Picwood Theatre. 

 

The Boulevard on Video:

A view of the theatre from WAR's 1975 video "Low Rider." Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting it on YouTube and getting the screenshot. 

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Boulevard for a lively discussion. Also check out the Cinema Tour page on the theatre for five exterior photos from Bob Meza and Ken Roe.

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