Rosemead Theatre

9029 Valley Blvd. Rosemead, CA 91770 | map | 

Opened: 1938 as a conversion of an existing store building. The 1939 photo appears on page 108 of Kelli Shapiro's fine 2024 Arcadia Publishing book "Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres." It's from the S. Charles Lee Papers Collection  at UCLA but apparently one of the many items not digitized. 

 

The Rosemead was operated by the Edwards circuit. It was on the north side of the street just east of Rosemead Blvd. An earlier address, before renumbering, was 1629 E. Valley Blvd. 

 

 

Lisa Kouza Braddock found this 1952 ad for the La Sala Realty Co. in the storefront east of the theatre that's seen as the Raines Dress Shop in the photo above. They were using a 9031 address. 

Architect: S. Charles Lee. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. In the Los Angeles Public Library's California Index he found a card referring to the August 19, 1938 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor that noted Edward Goral had received the contract from the Edwards circuit to remodel an existing building at 1629 E. Valley Blvd. into a theatre designed by S. Charles Lee. Kelli Shapiro notes that the conversion cost was $50,000. 

Seating: 713 was the number in the 1950 Film Daily Yearbook, according to Ken Roe.  

Another 1939 shot with the same program on the marquee as the photo from UCLA. This one appeared in Theatre Catalog. Thanks to Cinema Tour for sharing it on their page about the theatre. 

 

The Rosemead got a mention in "Decision Issued in Film Plaint," a July 16, 1941 article in the Venice Evening Vanguard regarding a consent decree decision about clearances between first run bookings in Pasadena and then second runs in Alhambra, followed by bookings in Rosemead, Temple City and Monterey Park. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story. 

 

It got a remodel in 1947, according to research by Kelli Shapiro.  

Closing: It closed in the early 1950s. Cinema Tour offers a 1953 date. Evidently the area was too sparsely populated at the time to generate enough business.

Status: It got remodeled into a market. And that was demolished in the late 80s or early 90s. There are newer buildings on the site.

 

 

The building's demolition. Thanks to George Helmer for sharing his photo in a post on the You Grew Up in Rosemead California if you... Facebook page. George's comment: 

 

"Found in my photo collection a photo of the 1938 Rosemead Theatre that was in the process of being torn down. I took this photo I believe in the late 80s or early 90s. It was located at 9029 Valley Blvd., now where Carls Jr. is located." 

Thanks to Chris Nichols for spotting the post.

 

Looking east on Valley from Rosemead Blvd. The theatre was over on the left, perhaps just beyond the second building where there's a Carl's Jr. Lots of contributors discuss it on Cinema Treasures but nobody is able to quite pinpoint where it was. Photo: Google Maps - 2019.

More Information: Cinema Tour also has a page. See Kelli Shapiro's 2024 Arcadia Publishing book "Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres." 

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