2035 E. 1st St. Boyle Heights (Los Angeles), CA 90033 | map |
Opened: 1914 or earlier. It's in the 1914 city directory as the New Lyceum Theatre. It's on the northwest corner of E. 1st and St. Louis St. That's three blocks west of Soto St. In this 2019 Google Maps view we're looking east with the Hollenbeck Police Station in the next block.
Architect: Unknown. Joe Vogel notes that the L.A. County Assessor’s office says that the building was erected in 1924 with major repairs or a remodel in 1930. It's unknown if the 1924 date actually represents a new building on the site to replace the original theatre or only a major remodeling.
Seating: 817
A 1914 ad located by Jeff Bridges listing R.F. Hale as the proprietor. The Lyceum listing was included in a directory ad featuring 30 other theatres. The full ad is on Flickr.
Also listed in the ad was the Olympus, another theatre operated by Hale. It was nearly across the street at 2014 E. 1st. In the early 30s it was renamed the Joy Theatre. Another theatre in the neighborhood appearing in the ad was The Nickelodeon, a house later known as the New Library Theatre, a block farther east at 2129 E. 1st St.
In the 1918, 1919 and 1922 city directories it was the Meralta Theatre at 2033 E. 1st St. In 1923 it's given the 2035 address.
Additional inducements to go to the movies. The Eastside Journal ad was included by Ken McIntyre in his Photos of Los Angeles post of 1938 ads. 
Opened: 1914 or earlier. It's in the 1914 city directory as the New Lyceum Theatre. It's on the northwest corner of E. 1st and St. Louis St. That's three blocks west of Soto St. In this 2019 Google Maps view we're looking east with the Hollenbeck Police Station in the next block.
Architect: Unknown. Joe Vogel notes that the L.A. County Assessor’s office says that the building was erected in 1924 with major repairs or a remodel in 1930. It's unknown if the 1924 date actually represents a new building on the site to replace the original theatre or only a major remodeling.
Seating: 817
A 1914 ad located by Jeff Bridges listing R.F. Hale as the proprietor. The Lyceum listing was included in a directory ad featuring 30 other theatres. The full ad is on Flickr.
Also listed in the ad was the Olympus, another theatre operated by Hale. It was nearly across the street at 2014 E. 1st. In the early 30s it was renamed the Joy Theatre. Another theatre in the neighborhood appearing in the ad was The Nickelodeon, a house later known as the New Library Theatre, a block farther east at 2129 E. 1st St.
In the 1918, 1919 and 1922 city directories it was the Meralta Theatre at 2033 E. 1st St. In 1923 it's given the 2035 address.
The Meralta was included in this group of eastside theatres advertising in the L.A. Evening Express in 1918. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad.
The Meralta name was derived from the last names of the two owners at the time, Pearl Merrill and Laura Peralta. In 1924 the ladies opened a Meralta Theatre in Culver City. A house in Downey, also called the Meralta Theatre, opened in 1926. Jack Berman was running the theatre by 1932.
An August 1935 ad for the Meralta and the Wabash Theatre from the Eastside Journal. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
An August 1938 ad for the Meralta and the Joy that Ken McIntyre spotted in the Eastside Journal. It was another post on Photos of Los Angeles.
"Modernized In Forms As Well As Decoration,"
was a full page story about the theatre's renovation that appeared on page 4 of the Better Theatres
section of the July 22, 1939 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It's on
Internet Archive. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
The text from the 1939 MPH article. The photos appear lower on the page.
In the 40s Eastland Theatres was running the Meralta. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these April 1942 listings from the L.A. Times. He added them as a comment to his post of the August 1935 ad.
Bill
Gabel notes that by 1957 it was being operated by Aladdin
Enterprises.
Running Japanese movies as the Kinema East in August 1965. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for posting this Times listing on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. The Kinema name had been used until about 1963 about seventeen blocks farther west for the theatre at 324 E. 1st that had originally been called the Fuji Kan.
After its run as the Kinema East, it was known as the Cinema Azteca or Teatro Azteca, running Spanish language product.
A January 19, 1981 ad for the renamed theatre. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org
Closing: 1988, according to research by Mike Rivest.
Status: The building survives but it has been churched.
Interior views:
A proscenium view taken before the 1939 remodel. It's one of four photos appearing with "Modernized In Forms As Well As Decoration," the story in the July 22, 1939 issue of Motion Picture Herald.
The auditorium after the 1939 remodel. It's a photo from the Motion Picture Herald article.
More exterior views:
1922 - Thanks to Brooklyn-based theatre historian Cezar Del Valle for locating this photo that he featured in a 2014 Theatre Talks post. It had appeared in the May 27, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review with this text:
"K.C. Manny, manager of the Meralta Theatre, a Los Angeles
suburban house, put Goldwyn’s 'Watch Your Step' over by means of two
unique exploitation stunts at very little costs. Obtaining an old steam
automobile with a high-speed record, he placed it in the lobby. Running a
wire from an ordinary electric socket to a buzzer placed under the hood
of the machine, he obtained the suggestion, which was further
heightened by a mounted six-sheet hung directly over the automobile, and
a row of stills stretched from stern to stern of the 'old boat.'
"Taking advantage of the possibilities of the title, Mr. Manny had a stencil made, reading 'Watch Your Step' and lettered the sidewalks within a radius of half a dozen blocks of the theatre, in addition to stencilling the title on the automobile. Three-sheets, one-sheets and color enlargements, obtained from the exchange, added color to the lobby display. A ten-dollar bill more than met the cost of both stunts."
"Taking advantage of the possibilities of the title, Mr. Manny had a stencil made, reading 'Watch Your Step' and lettered the sidewalks within a radius of half a dozen blocks of the theatre, in addition to stencilling the title on the automobile. Three-sheets, one-sheets and color enlargements, obtained from the exchange, added color to the lobby display. A ten-dollar bill more than met the cost of both stunts."
1938 - The facade before the remodel. It's a photo from the 1939 Motion Picture Herald article.
1939 - The glamorous exterior after a remodel. It's a photo from the July 22, 1939 Motion Picture Herald article.
early 1960s - The Meralta is on the far right in this view east from Cummings St. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1981 - A photo that appeared in the Roosevelt High School Yearbook. The text with it advised that Juan Torres was the proprietor at the time and he was calling it "El Neuvo Cinema Azteca." Thanks to Chris B. for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
c.1990 - The theatre after closing. It's a photo taken by Gary Graver, who documented many dying single screen theatres. Wikipedia has an article about him. Two compilations of his photos can be seen on You Tube: "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photo.
2012 - The churched building. Photo Bill Counter
2014 - Looking west on 1st across St. Louis St. with the Meralta on the right. The Joy Theatre was once over on the left half way down the block. That's the 5 down beyond Cummings St. Photo: Google Maps
1939 - The glamorous exterior after a remodel. It's a photo from the July 22, 1939 Motion Picture Herald article.
early 1960s - The Meralta is on the far right in this view east from Cummings St. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1981 - A photo that appeared in the Roosevelt High School Yearbook. The text with it advised that Juan Torres was the proprietor at the time and he was calling it "El Neuvo Cinema Azteca." Thanks to Chris B. for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1983 - Another view of the building as the Azteca, running Spanish language product. Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for once posting the photo. Stu Adamson comments: "'Nosotros Los Pobres' was a 1948 oldie that often played around Christmastime. Generations of families would come out to see it."
c.1990 - The theatre after closing. It's a photo taken by Gary Graver, who documented many dying single screen theatres. Wikipedia has an article about him. Two compilations of his photos can be seen on You Tube: "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photo.
2012 - The churched building. Photo Bill Counter
2014 - Looking west on 1st across St. Louis St. with the Meralta on the right. The Joy Theatre was once over on the left half way down the block. That's the 5 down beyond Cummings St. Photo: Google Maps
2024 - Thanks to Dave Hunter for this shot, one he shared in a Facebook post as an addition to his Theatres album.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Meralta. Ken McIntyre has links on the page to a set of 2007 photos he took of the Meralta.
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