Opened: The Colonial Theatre was running by 1913. It was on the north side of the street between Ditman Ave. and Townsend Ave. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for locating this 1913 view on eBay for his Noirish post #2544. The back of the photo says just "Los Angeles 1913." They were running "Broncho Billy For Sheriff" which was released in 1912.
The initial proprietors, E.C. Randolph and H.E. Shepard, were listed under motion picture theatres in the 1913 city directory although the theatre wasn't named. By May 1913 a D.W. Ross was running the venue. It's listed as the Colonial in the 1914 and 1915 city directories under motion picture theatres. In the 1916 directory it's not listed in the classified section but is still listed in the alphabetical section.
When the theatre was running, the address was 3915 E. 1st. This section of the street was renumbered around 1924. In the city directory that year the Colonial's building at 3915 was occupied by a dry goods merchant named Jos Berkowitz. In the 1925 directory the building with Berkowitz in it was listed with its new address of 3621.
A detail from the 1913 photo located by Mr. Ethereal Reality.
A May 1913 program. The first film on the program, "Brutality," was a December 1912 release directed by D.W. Griffith. Thanks to Jeff Greenwood for
sharing this from his collection of memorabilia related to his
great-grand-aunt Anna Robinson. She was a vaudeville performer and on
the bill here for May 26 and 27 in slot #6 as "the favorite singing comedienne." She was also engaged for the program on May 28 and 29. She was sometimes billed as "The Little Girl with the Big
Voice" and "The
Great Coon Shouter."
A closer look at the photo from the May 1913 program. One of the films they were running at the time was "The Fire Cop," a December 1912 release from Selig Polyscope.
The program for May 26 and 27, 1913.
Ms. Robinson billed as a "ragtime singer" for May 28 and 29, 1913. On May 30 and 31 she was playing the Optic Theatre in Whittier.
A 1906 photo of Ms. Robinson from the Jeff Greenwood collection. With her magician husband Frederick Palmer they appeared in vaudeville theatres for years with acts such
as "Palmer and Robinson, The Sorcerer and the Soubrette" and "The Maid and the Mountebank." In 1905 they had played at Fischer's Theatre and the Unique Theatre downtown. Thanks, Jeff!
Closing: Perhaps 1916 was it for the Colonial. It's not in the 1917 city directory.
Status: The long, skinny building the Colonial was in survives but it's been remodeled for retail. The Unique Theatre is in the next block to the east.
The Colonial building is seen here with Garcia's Jewelry as the tenant. We're looking east toward Townsend St. That's the vertical of the Unique Theatre in the next block. Photo: Google Maps - 2019
More information: Well, there isn't any yet.
There was another Colonial Theatre in Los Angeles at 5421 S. Vermont but it didn't start using that name until 1917.
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