330 W. Las Tunas Dr. San Gabriel, CA 91776 |
map |
Opened: February 18, 1942 as the Edwards San Gabriel. The initial bill was "Two Faced Woman" with Greta Garbo along with Claudette Colbert in "Remember the Day," according to research by Chris Brame. The location was on the south side of the street in the block west of San Marino Ave. The 1982 photo is one that appeared on the now-vanished American Classic Images website.
Seating: 660
Architect: Clifford A. Balch. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. He located a reference in the Los Angeles Public Library's California Index to an item in the January 31, 1941 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor:
"Theater
(San Gabriel)— J.B. Lilly… has the contract and will start work about
February 5 on the construction of a moving picture theater on Las Tunas
Drive between San Marino and De Anza Avenues, for O.W. Lewis. It will
contain 10,000 square feet and will seat 750 persons… C.A. Balch,
architect…"
It was still listed as the Edwards San Gabriel in the 1967 directory. After a renovation and installation of a new marquee, Edwards called it the
Edwards Century Theatre. The reopening was June 3, 1967 according to research Ron Strong did for his
Bijou Memories page about the theatre. Ron notes that the circuit closed the house on September 5, 1979.
Beginning in November 1979 Edwards leased out the venue to an operator who ran Chinese product and called the house the Kuo Hwa Theatre, a name that translates as Grand Theatre. Joe Vogel notes that perhaps it was named for Yu Kuo-hwa, the premier of Taiwan from 1984 to 1989.
Thanks to Ron Strong for locating this November 14, 1979 opening ad. He notes: "The debut screening was of the Shaw Brothers films 'Spiritual Boxer Pt. 2' and 'The Daredevils,' two action comedies that were incredibly popular in Hong Kong several months earlier."
Ron notes that although they initially ran Shaw Brothers releases there was a switch to Golden Harvest product in 1986. The October 1, 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake caused enough damage that the building was closed pending city approval for reopening, which happened October 21.
Jeff Briggs notes that many major films from Hong Kong played the Kuo Hwa because they got the big Golden Harvest releases. On his list of important films playing the theatre in 1992 are:
"Twin Dragons" (Jackie Chan)
"Police Story II" (Jackie Chan)
"Police Story III: Supercop" (Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh)
"The Story of Ricky"
"Royal Tramp" (Stephen Chow)
"Royal Tramp II" (Stephen Chow)
A 1992 ad from the Jeff Briggs collection. He comments: "'Police Story III: Supercop,' starred Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. It opened on August 27 and played for several weeks. (I saw it there four or five times!) Its co-feature, mentioned in the ad, was 'Dances with Dragon,' starring Andy Lau."
Another 1992 "Police Story III" / "Dances with Dragon" ad from the Jeff Briggs collection. Thanks!
Jeff notes that major films playing the house in 1993 included:
"City Hunter" (Jackie Chan)
"Once Upon a Time in China III" (Jet Li)
"King of Beggars" (Stephen Chow)
"Fong Sai Yuk" (Jet Li) "Island of Fire" (Jackie Chan)
"Fight Back to School II" (Stephen Chow)
"Fight Back to School III" (Stephen Chow)
"Once Upon a Time in China IV"
"Crime Story" (Jackie Chan)
"Fong Sai Yuk II" (Jet Li)
The operators closed the theatre on October 9, 1993 and the Kuo Hwa name moved over to a new twin theatre at 250 W. Valley Blvd.
The house was renamed the Bridge Theatre with a reopening October 30, 1993 under different management.
Jeff Briggs notes that major films playing in 1993 after the reopening included:
"The Mad Monk" (Stephen Chow)
"Executioners" (Michelle Yeoh)
"Project S" (Michelle Yeoh)
A February 1994 ad for "Drunken Master II" with Jackie Chan and "Executioners." Thanks to Jeff Briggs for sharing this from his collection. He notes that the co-feature, "Executioners," stars Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui. It had played at the top of a bill at the Bridge in November 1993.
In addition to "Drunken Master II," other major films to play the Bridge in 1994 included these titles according to Jeff Briggs:
"The Tai Chi Master" (Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh)
"Justice, My Foot!" (Stephen Chow)
"Treasure Hunt" (Chow Yun-fat)
"Love on Delivery" (Stephen Chow)
"New Legend of Shaolin" (Jet Li)
"Hail the Judge" (Stephen Chow)
"Wonder Seven" (Michelle Yeoh)
"Wing Chun" (Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen)
"He’s a Woman She’s a Man"
"Fist of Legend" (Jet Li)
On his
Bijou Memories page for this theatre Ron Strong notes that the theatre continued to run Golden Harvest releases until they lost that contract in 1994 and those releases began to be booked at the new Kuo Hwa twin.
The theatre was called the Bridge in these ads from April/May 1995 that were distributed with a Chinese language
newspaper. Thanks to Jeff Briggs for sharing this from his collection. Ron Strong has it on the page about the Garfield on his
Bijou Memories site. He notes:
"When three
Chinese-language theaters ruled Alhambra and San Gabriel. At the
Garfield: 'My Father is a Hero' with 'Whatever You Want'; At the Bridge:
'Peace Hotel' and 'I Have a Date with Spring'; and at the Kuo Hwa
Cinemas: 'Love in the Time of Twilight' and 'From Beijing With Love' in
Theatre # 1, and 'Lover of the Last Empress' and 'Always Be the Winners'
in Theatre #2."
Jeff Briggs comments that "Peace Hotel" starred Chow Yun-fat and would be the last major film to play the Bridge in 1995. See our page about the the
Garfield/Hua Sheng here on this site.
Closing: May 1995 was the last month of operation. Ron Strong says the city's health department visited months earlier and not happy about "vermin infestation." An item noting that the theatre was closed for good was in the local paper Chinese language paper on June 2nd.
Status: It was demolished around 1996.
More exterior views:
The theatre with the new signage as the Bridge. Thanks to Ron Strong for sharing the photo from his collection. It's one taken by William Connolly and came to Ron via Chris Poggiali. Jeff Briggs notes: "The movie title is 'He Ain't Heavy, He’s My Father!' The picture is from either late December 1993 or January 1994."
The replacement building. We're looking west on Las Tunas Dr. Photo: Google Maps - 2019
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the theatre, which they now have indexed as the Bridge Theatre. Thanks to Joe Vogel for his research.
Don't miss Ron Strong's delightful tales about his times visiting the theatre on the page about the San Gabriel on the
Bijou Memories site.
The Huo Kwa Twin:
The October 7, 1994 grand opening of the new twin theatre, the Kuo Hwa Cinemas at 250 W. Valley Blvd. Thanks to Ron Strong for the photo. He notes that the gentlemen in the photo were all Taiwanese pop stars, in town for the opening. For more data see Ron's Bijou Memories page about the twin.
The theatre closed in September 1998.
Cinema Treasures also has a page on the Kuo Hwa Cinemas.
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