Opened: October 31, 1920. The initial film was "The Little Grey
Mouse," an October release with Louise Lovely. The image is a detail from a 1937 Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection. The 1921 city directory noted that William S. Howe was the manager.
Architect: Alfred F. Priest. Joe Vogel notes that Priest was noted as the architect in an item in the February 13, 1920 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor. Priest also designed the Tuesday Afternoon Club, the auditorium of which was later known as the Villa Glen Theatre. Clifford A. Balch did a remodel for Fox West Coast in 1939.
The cost of the building was $60,000. The location was on the east side of the street a half dozen buildings south of Broadway. The project was financed by Dr. W.C. Goodno and was later owned by Louise Goodno. This was the second building to use the name. The earlier Glendale Theatre at what is now 520 E. Broadway had opened in 1910 and was closed by 1917. The building it was in survived into the early 70s.
This second Glendale Theatre got a stage expansion and dressing room addition in 1924. Joe Vogel notes that the $20,000 project was mentioned in the June 26 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor. Later the Glendale was operated by Fox West Coast and it was the advertised as the Fox Glendale. The story is that at one time John Wayne lived in an apartment upstairs.
The 1939 remodel was mentioned in the July 7, 1939 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor. Joe Vogel notes that the project, designed by Clifford Balch, included a new concrete floor, acoustic plasterwork, boxoffice renovations and new display cases. Ron Strong reports that the theatre closed July 7 and reopened October 19. He notes that in 1941 the building was sold by Louise Goodno to the Landau Investment Company.
In 1943 it was sold to Adolf Ramish Inc. and in 1950 sold again to Mr. and Mrs. Irving Epsteen.
The theatre took down the vertical sign following the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. On April 21, 1980 it closed for another remodel, this time a twinning. Ron Strong notes that the last film to run was "Little Darlings."
A June 13, 1980 ad for the reopening as a twin. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this. The two films for the opening were "Urban Cowboy" and "Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp." Mann Theatres was the last circuit to operate the house, advertising it as the Mann Glendale Twin.
Closing: The last day of operation was August 10, 1990. Ron Strong notes that the last films on the two screens were "Presumed Innocent" and "The Jungle Book."
Status: It was demolished in 1996. The Glendale Marketplace project was built on the site of the Glendale Theatre and adjoining buildings. That complex was home to the Mann Marketplace 4.
Interior views:
A view of the booth with its Powers projectors in 1920. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating the trade magazine photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
More exterior views:
1922 - A look north on Brand with the theatre (and its roof sign) over on the right. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for digging the photo out of his files and posting it on Norish post #33729. His post also includes a 1905 view: just a road.
c.1923 - The Glendale Theatre is on the far right in this Charles C. Pierce photo from the California Historical Society. It's on the USC Digital Library website. There's also a copy in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1925 - A look north with the theatre and its roof sign on the far left. Thanks to James J. Chun for locating this photo by Dolberg for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. Jack Feldman picked it up and included it on his Water and Power Associates Museum page "Early Views of Glendale."
1937 - A Dick Whittington photo looking north on Brand Blvd. The Glendale Theatre is on the right. They were running "Waikiki Wedding" with Bing Crosby and Martha Raye. The co-feature was "An Angel From Texas." It's a photo in the USC Digital Library collection.
1937 - Another Dick Whittington "Waikiki Wedding" photo from the USC Digital Library collection. The image at the top of the page is a detail taken from this photo.
1937 - Yet another Dick Whittington "Waikiki Wedding" shot in the USC Digital Library collection.
1939 - A view looking north on Brand from the Special Collections division of the Glendale Public Library. They have it on Flickr. On the left, the Capitol Theatre is playing "Gunga Din" and "Woman Doctor" while the Glendale, on the right, is running "Suez" with Loretta Young. See the Special Collections album on Flickr for many treats. Visit the Library's website for access to their services and collections. Also check out their Book Talk blog for articles on historical topics.
c.1950 - The spire of the Alex is seen on the far left and the vertical of the Glendale is hiding behind the rear of Red Car 5005. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1955 - The theatre is up on the right in this June 19 view posted by Richard Wojcik on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page. That day was the last day for streetcar service on Brand Blvd. Richard credits the photo to the Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society, Ralph Cantos collection. It's also been on the Photos of Los Angeles page as a post from Bill Gabel.
1960 - A fine view of the Glendale's marquee. It was a post on the Facebook page Burbank in the 60s.
1960 - A "Tunnel of Lights" view north on Brand Blvd. The Glendale was running the November release "North To Alaska" with John Wayne along with "Bells Are Ringing." Thanks to signage expert Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this photo from his collection on Flickr.
1970 - A Christmas season view north. Bruce Kimmel notes that the photo was taken in November when the theatre was running "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," perhaps along with "Support Your Local Sheriff!" Thanks to Diana Stoliker for locating the photo for the Vintage Glendale "The Jewel City" Facebook group. And thanks to Alex Rojas for spotting the post.
1978 - The theatre running "King of the Gypsies." Thanks to David T for posting the photo on Cinema Treasures.
1980 - Thanks to Ron Strong for this renovation view. It's a photo appearing on his Bijou Memories page about the theatre. When the theatre reopened it would be as a twin.
1981 - A photo from the Stacie Inkel collection. Thanks to David Zornig posting it on Cinema Treasures. Note that the center boxoffice was removed during the twinning process.
1982 - The theatre playing "Chariots of Fire" and "Fighting Back" on the two screens. Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for the photo.
1983 - "Educating Rita" at the Glendale auditorium #1. The title is a mystery in auditorium #2. It's a photo from the American Classic Images collection.
c.1985 - Thanks to Nathan Marsak for spotting this view by an unknown photographer on Flickr.
c.1991 - A view of the Glendale Theatre after closing that was taken by Gary Graver.
c.1991 - Another photo by cinematographer Gary Graver. See a Wikipedia article about him. Many of his photos of dying vintage theatres can be seen in two compilations on YouTube: "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photos.
The Glendale Theatre in the Movies:
A shot from a film clip appearing in the documentary "Bukowski: Born Into This" (Magnolia Pictures, 2003). The vertical and marquee of the Glendale Theatre are over to the right, this side of the Famous department store. The clip appears with the comment that in the 1940s, after wandering the country, Bukowski returned to
L.A. to stay. John Dullaghan directed
the film which, in addition to archival footage, also features Linda Lee
Bukowski,
Marina Bukowski, Bono, Taylor Hackford, Joyce Fante, John Bryan and
many others. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for three shots at the Sunset Theatre on Western Ave.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Glendale. Joe Vogel has done a terrific job researching the history of the building.
Ron Strong's fine page about the Glendale Theatre on his Bijou Memories site offers a number of details about the building as well as his recollections about going to movies there.
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