Los Angeles Theatres: Optic Theatre

7011 Greenleaf Ave. Whittier, CA 90602 | map |

Opened: January 31, 1910. The poster in the photo is for "A Critical Situation," a February 1910 release. The board at left lists the cast for "Twisted Trail," a March 1910 D.W. Griffith film. It's a photo on Calisphere from the Whittier Public Library. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating it.

The address before street renumbering was 111 S. Greenleaf Ave. The address is just shown as "S. Greenleaf" in the 1911 city directory. The other theatre listed was the Family Theatre.

The Optic was on the west side of the street, the third building south of Philadelphia St. In 1916 the Gale Theatre would open just south of this spot. The Family Theatre was across the street. In 1932, the Wardman (now the Whittier Village Cinemas) would open south of the Family's site, also on the east side of the street.

A May 30 and 31, 1913 program. One of their films, "A Poor Relation," was a January 1913 release with Florence La Badie. "Just Hard Luck" was also out in January 1913. "Henpeck Bids For Freedom" was a November 1912 release. Thanks to Jeff Greenwood for sharing this from his collection of memorabilia related to his great-grand-aunt Anna Robinson. She was a vaudeville performer and appears on the bill here as "Happy Anna Robinson." For the four days prior to this engagement she played the Colonial Theatre in East L.A.

An undated photo of Ms. Robinson from the collection of Jeff Greenwood. In earlier years she was sometimes billed as "The Little Girl with the Big Voice" and "The Great Coon Shouter." With her magician husband Frederick Palmer the couple appeared in vaudeville theatres for years with acts such as "Palmer and Robinson, The Sorcerer and the Soubrette" and "The Maid and the Mountebank." In 1905 they had played at Fischer's Theatre and the Unique Theatre downtown. The couple settled in L.A. in 1912. Thanks, Jeff!

Closing: 1915 was the end of it. Ron Pierce notes that it was reported in the Whittier News in June 1914 that E.C. Hause, an oilman, bought it and planned a remodel. It closed in 1915 and became a hardware store.

Status: Unknown. The building currently on the site may be the one that housed the Optic.

Looking south on Greenleaf. Turnbull's Tavern, with the black awning, is at 7011, the Optic's former location. Photo: Google Maps - 2019

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Optic Theatre. Thanks to Ron Pierce for the research. See Nicholas Edmeier's 2023 article "History of Whittier Movie Theaters" on the Whittier Museum blog.

A mystery theatre in Whittier: There was a Majestic Theatre running in 1911. It's not in that year's city directory nor in the 1910, 1911 or 1912 phone books. At this point it's unknown wether or not it was a name used for a short period at the Optic or the Family. Or an entirely different venue.