Opened: 1931 or 32. The United Artists is less than a block west of the Golden Gate Theatre at Whittier and Atlantic. We see it on the left in this 1937 photo by Herman Schultheis from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The UA is running "Damsel in Distress" with Fred Astaire and Burns and Allen along with "Checkers" with Jane Withers.
A facade rendering of the theatre that appeared with "A Group Of Small Theatres," a four page article in the December 19, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It's on Internet Archive and also reproduced at the bottom of the page about the Four Star.
Seating: 916
The UA building spree in the early 30s was the result of a dispute with Fox West Coast. UA thought their films weren't getting decent dates and terms in the Fox houses. In picking sites for their new theatres, they got locations as close as possible to existing Fox houses, in this case the Golden Gate.
But by the time these new theatres were ready to open, the dispute had been patched up and Fox ended up operating the theatres. This house, like the others UA built, was later operated by United Artists Theatre Circuit after a consent decree settlement made Fox relinquish control of many of the theatres they had been running.
In the 80s UATC renamed it the Alameda Theatre when it was running Spanish language films. The Alameda name had also been tried briefly at the United Artists downtown. As the Alameda it was also operated by Metropolitan Theatres.
Closing: The closing date is unknown. Sometime in the 1980s.
Status: It got stripped out inside and repurposed as retail space. The building was for sale in 2004. And again in 2014. Loopnet had reported an asking price of $1.95 million in 2014. The listing came down in January 2015. The Eastsider had a November 2014 story about the theatre being on the market: "A reminder of Whittier Boulevard's movie house past is up for sale."
The building got a major exterior renovation in 2019. Since January 2020 it's been a discount store called Los Angeles Family Outlet. Thanks to Jason Vega for the news.
Interior views:
A bonus look upward to check out the tower construction, something not possible before the retail conversion. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
More exterior views:
1981 - As the Alameda, running Spanish language product. We're looking east with a bit of the Golden Gate on the left. Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images websitee for this photo.
1983 - Another fine view from American Classic Images.
c.1995 - The 2014 Loopnet listing for the "Old Alameda Theatre" had included this shot from when the building had a tenant in the auto sound system business.
2004 - The building as a gay thrift store. Many thanks to Ken Roe for the photo. It was a post on Cinema Treasures along with four other views from the same year.
2009 - A look at the facade from down the block to the west. Photo: Michelle Gerdes
2009 - Checking out the tower. Photo: Michelle Gerdes
2009 - "Unity" - Photo: Michelle Gerdes
2009 - A detail of the top of the tower. Photo: Michelle Gerdes
2009 - "Artistry" - Photo: Michelle Gerdes. See more of her adventurous theatre explorations in the Theatres-California album on Flickr. Thanks, Michelle!
2010 - "Everything $2.99 - $3.99 & UP." Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - A corner view. Photo: Bill Counter
2014 - A look toward the back of the building that appeared with the building's listing on Loopnet.
2014 - A tower view that appeared with "A reminder of Whittier Boulevard's movie house past is up for sale," a story on the site The Eastsider.
2014 - A view of the "Unity" panel by an unknown photographer that appeared with the 2014 article on The Eastsider.
2014 - The "Artistry" panel, a view by an unknown photographer.
2019 - Stripped down and ready for a makeover. It's an April image from Google Maps.
2019 - The building getting fixed up again. Photo: Bill Counter
2019 - The UA ready for a new tenant after a redo, looking better than it has in decades. Photo: Bill Counter
The United Artists / Alameda in the Movies:
Cruising and looking for trouble in Michael Pressman's
"Boulevard Nights" (Warner Bros., 1979). 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 four more shots of the Alameda plus three of the Boulevard Theatre. There's also a shot of protests during a preview of the
film at the Picwood Theatre.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Alameda for a history of the building and links to other exterior photos.
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