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Cinemaland

1021 N. Broadway Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA 90012  | map |


Opened: This building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Cottage Home St. in Chinatown dates from 1962. It got a remodel in 1964, perhaps that was the addition for the theatre. In 1969 it was called Cinema East. In the 70s and 80s it was active as a home for films from Hong Kong, especially Golden Harvest product. The theatre was also known as the Gum (Kim) Go Theatre, the Pagoda Cinema and the Royal Pagoda Theatre.

The photo of the Cinemaland entrance in the 80s is by Gary Graver, a cinematographer who took many photos dying single-screen theatres. Wikipedia has an article about him. Compilations of his photos can be seen on YouTube in "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for the photo.

 

It's the Pagoda Cinema in this 1984 ad for the Chinese language houses in town that appeared in the Mandarine Commercial News. See the pages for the Sing Lee/King Hing, Kuo-Hwa/San Gabriel, Monterey, Kim Sing and Garfield theaters. Thanks to Ron Strong for sharing the ad. Visit his Bijou Memories site for many articles about the theatres in the area he once attended.

Closing: Sometime prior to 2007. The the auditorium was converted into a garment manufacturing operation.

Status: Haley S. notes that in notes that in 2013 the space was remodeled into a venue for Human Resources, an art gallery and exhibition space. They're using an address of 410 Cottage Home St.. www.h-r.la/ | instagram.com/humanresourcesla |
 

A booth view taken in early 2013 by Warren Hong as the remodeling process was nearing completion. Thanks to Ron Strong for locating the photo.
 

A look back toward the booth in April 2014. It's a photo from Katie Grinnan taken at her Astrology Orchestra show at Human Resources. Thanks to Ron Strong for locating the photo. 

 
More exterior views: 


The theatre entrance had been on the right, up Cottage Home St. Note the Cinemaland vertical sign still on the building. Photo: Google Maps - 2014


 
Looking south toward Broadway with a look at the entrance and a bit of the auditorium's side wall. Photo: Google Maps - 2014 
 

No sign of any life on this visit. Photo: Bill Counter - May 2021


More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Cinemaland.

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2 comments:

  1. WilMay 9, 2021 at 11:08 PM

    Actor James Hong was once managed the Gum Go Theatre.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 21, 2022 at 2:33 AM

    Wow. I frequented this theatre often with my little brothers in the early 80's. There were many Shaw Bro features and the last films we saw there was Alexander Fu Sheng's last appearance that was released posthumously called "Lil Brats".

    ReplyDelete

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