El Monte Theatre

11006 Main St. El Monte, CA 91731 | map | 

Opened: 1939 as part of the Sanborn circuit. The building is on the south side of the street just east of Tyler Ave. Thanks to Chris Brame for his 1992 photo. He has it on Cinema Treasures. Before street renumbering, the theatre's address was 110 E. Valley Blvd. It later went through a period when it was called 11006 Valley Mall.  

Architect: Earl T. Heitschmidt. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. He notes that the project was announced in the February 3, 1939 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor.

Seating: 900 originally.

This was perhaps the fourth theatre for Sanborn. His first theatre investment in the L.A. area had been c.1918, taking over a West Adams house called the LaSalle, later renamed the Adams Theatre. In 1921 he and partners opened the Rivoli Theatre at 4521 S. Western Ave. Later he took over the Rialto in El Monte, a house later called the Valley Theatre. It was about three blocks west of his new El Monte. 

The Sanborn family claims to be the oldest theatre operating company in the western United States. There's a history of the company on the website for their The Movie Experience location in San Luis Obispo. That operation appears to be their sole surviving location. 

The El Monte was later operated as a Spanish language house by Metropolitan Theatres. Some of the programming included Mexican plays and vaudeville. They twinned the theatre sometime in the 1980s.

Closing: It closed in the mid-1990s.   

Status: It's been gutted and is now retail and office space.

 

An interior view:

This auditorium shot is from a collage appearing on the website of Sanborn's The Movie Experience in San Luis Obispo.

 

 

More exterior views: 

 

 

 

1949 - "That Wonderful Urge" was a December 1948 release. "Criss Cross" was out in February 1949.  It's a photo from the Sanborn collection that appears on the website of The Movie Experience in San Luis Obispo. 

 

 

 

1984 - Running as a Spanish language house operated by Metropolitan, at this time still a single screen operation. Thanks to American Classic Images for the photo from their collection.  

 

 

 

1992 - Another fine photo by Chris Brame of the house as a twin. It's on Cinema Treasures. 

 

2003 - Thanks to Adam Martin for this post-closing view. It appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.  

 

2003 - An entrance detail. Thanks to Adam Martin for the photo. Head to the Cinema Tour page for five additional views.

 

 

2007 - A photo from a Loopnet listing for the theatre as it was getting rehabbed. They noted that the building is 22,000 sf. 

 

 

2011 - The building repurposed for retail use. Photo: Google Maps 

 

 c.2020 - Thanks to Ernie Pearl for sharing this photo of the building. 

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the El Monte for fine research by Joe Vogel and other contributors. Cinema Tour has seven 2003 exterior views by Adam Martin.

The 1923 city directory had a listing for an El Monte Theatre at 331 W. Main St. It was perhaps a mistaken listing for the new Rialto/Valley Theatre, opening in 1923 with an address across the street at 326 W. Main.

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