Opened: Sometime around 1927 as the Glassell Theatre. The location was on the east side of the street at Avenue 35. The theatre is in the center of this c.1948 image from the Sean Ault collection.
A detail from Sean's photo. The marquee says "For Sale or Rent." Thanks, Sean!
Seating: The capacity was 700 according to a mention in "Down Memory Lane," an article about theatres north of downtown appearing in the October 1991 issue of the Tom B'hend publication Greater L.A. Metro Newsreel. The issue is in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks to Ron for scanning the article. It's reproduced at the bottom of the page.
The theatre is not in the 1926 city directory but is listed in both the 1927 and 1929 city directories as being at 3526 Glassell Ave.
The street got renamed. In this 1931 column of ads spotted by Ken McIntytre the theatre is using their new address of 3526 Eagle Rock Blvd. It's similarly listed in the 1932 and 1936 city directories.
It's in the 1942 directory as the Dale Theatre. The Dale was a Laemmle operation, evidently running under their management until at least 1951. The Laemmles also had the Franklin Theatre and Park Theatre in Highland Park. The Dale was later operated by Bill Jenkins.
Closing: An October 1955 fire was the end of the building.
An item appearing in the October 5, 1955 issue of the Times. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
The fire was noted in the October 8, 1955 issue of Boxoffice: "A recent blaze damaged the Dale Theatre in Eagle Rock so badly that owner Bill Jenkins has decided not to rebuild, at least for the time being. He took over the showcase some time ago from Kurt and Max Laemmle."
Is this the interior of the Glassell? Possibly. It's an unidentified photo included with the Newsreel article. The illustrations appear to follow the order of the theatres as discussed in the text.
Status: It's now a parking lot next to a thrift store, a building that dates from 1939, formerly used as a hardware store.
The site of the Dale Theatre as a parking lot. Photo: Google Maps - 2019
The article from the October 1991 issue of the Metro Newsreel:
More Information: Wikipedia has an article on the Glassell Park neighborhood.
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