Palace Theatre

30 Pine Ave. Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |

Opened: September 30, 1916 as Fahey's Palace with Mary Pickford in "Hulda From Holland." It was a project of William J. Fahey, who also had the Theatorium and would later operate the State Theatre. It was on the east side of the street in the first block north of Ocean Blvd. The building owner was E.W. Bollinger. The 1917 photo by G. Haven Bishop that's in the Huntington Library collection was commissioned by Southern California Edison. 

 

 

 

A full page of congratulations appearing in the Long Beach Daily Telegram on December 29, 1916 - the day before the opening. Even the architect bought an ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this for a post on Cinema Treasures. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

The June 23, 1917 issue of the trade magazine Motography said the house had been "open since October" and noted that: "The theatre is beautifully decorated and is well designed and modern in every detail. The ushers are garbed in neat uniforms. Needless to say, the slogan of the house is 'Fine pictures and absolute courtesy.' The chief programs used are Paramount, Artcraft and Clara Kimball Young productions." The issue is on Internet Archive.

Architect: H. Alfred Anderson. It got a 1921 remodel (also by Anderson) which included a higher ceiling and balcony seating. Anderson had his office in the building. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. 

Warner Bros., via their Pacific National Theatres subsidiary, was running it in the late 20s. They gave it a deco remodel in 1929 designed by the firm of Merrill & Wilson. Anderson came back and remodeled the lobby and added a new marquee in 1942.

Seating: 850

 

"Everybody's Going!" The Palace was featured in a September 6, 1920 Daily Telegram ad for Paramount Week.

 

 A December 21, 1920 ad that ran in the Long Beach Daily Telegram. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the ad.

 

The theatre was listed in a September 5, 1921 Daily Telegram ad for Paramount Week that year where it was announced "Long Beach joins in the national demonstration of the better motion pictures." The Palace also participated in "First Annual Go To Theatre Week." See the February 11, 1922 Daily Telegram ad announcing that event that encouraged patrons to "Go At Least Three Times!" 

  

 

A 1922 ad located by Ken McIntyre for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. "Orphans of the Storm" was a December 1921 release. 

A February 26, 1922 ad from the Daily Telegram. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the ad. 

 

 

 

"Wonderful Ventilation - Comfortable Chairs." A 1923 ad for the Palace, listed along with other "Leading Theatres of Long Beach," in the Yearbook for the station employees of the Union Pacific Railroad. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for finding the book on eBay. At this point Fahey hadn't yet taken over the State. 

 

 

 

An April 27, 1924 ad in the Daily Telegram. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing it.

 

 

 

The Palace is seen in blue in the upper center of this detail from a 1926 map from the Long Beach Historical Society. Note the skinny lobby with the auditorium tucked deeper in the block. Thanks to Ron Mahan for supplying the map and coloring the theatre locations. Also see a larger section of the map.

 

The Palace reportedly ran the first sound films in Long Beach. Fox West Coast operated the theatre from the 40s. 

 

 

The theatre gets a new manager in 1941, Harry Denny. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this December 7 news item for Facebook thread about the theatre on Ken's Movie Page. 

 

 

The change in policy to a newsreel format announced a week after Pearl Harbor. Ken McIntyre found this December 14 story.

 

Beginning December 20, 1941 the Palace was a newsreel house called the News Palace. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating this December 19 ad for a post on Cinema Treasures.

 

 

Fox West Coast changed managers again. This August 2, 1942 item was located by Ken McIntyre.

  

 

"All Buses Stop at the News Palace." It's a December 27, 1942 ad located by Ken McIntyre. 

 

By 1947 or so the theatre would drop the news policy and be back to running regular features. Later it had another fling as a newsreel house called, appropriately enough, the Newsreel. This time they actually took down the "Palace" signage and put "Newsreel" in neon above the readerboards.

 

 

 Thanks to Ken for finding this July 17, 1951 ad. 

 

Thanks to Scott Pitzer for locating this 1951 ad for the Newsreel. 

In 1952 the theatre gave up on newsreels and reverted to the Palace name. In its final years as a grind house, it was operated by Walnut Properties, of Pussycat Theatres fame. 

 

A c.1966 ad located by Scott Pitzer. 

Closing: The Palace closed March 19, 1984.

Status: It was demolished in the late 80s. The whole block has been redeveloped.

 

 

Interior views:

 

 

A lobby view taken sometime after the 1929 Warner Bros. remodel designed by Merrill & Wilson. We're looking in from the entrance. The stairs to the balcony are just beyond the arch on the right. The Winstead photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

 

 

 

A lobby view looking toward house right with the auditorium off to the left. The post-1929 Winstead photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

The auditorium after its 1929 remodel by Warner Bros. It's a Winstead photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection that appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Palace. There's also a version in the Los Angeles Public Library collection that shows a bit more of the side wall murals. 

 

"Axis Implements of War," a wartime display in the lobby of the Palace. It's a photo from the Long Beach Fireman's Historical Museum Photographs Collection that appears on the Cal State Dominguez Hills website.  

More exterior views:

 

1916 - The Palace is under construction in this photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. On the beach end of Pine Ave. the framing was going up for the Markwell Building/State Theatre, adjacent to Municipal Auditorium. The work on the State was halted due to wartime materials shortages. 

 

 

 

1917 - The manager, W.J. Fahey, at left showing off his display for "The Valentine Girl," an April 22 release. Note that nice painted frieze above the doors. The photo appeared in the June 23, 1917 issue of the trade magazine Motography. It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for finding this one for a post on Flickr. It's in her Vintage Cinemas: California album where she's posted a delightful array of photos from various trade magazines.

 

1917 - A detail from the G. Haven Bishop photo at the top of the page from the Huntington Library collection. "The Girl at Home" was an April 26 release. 

 

 

 

1917 - The Palace playing "Romance of the Redwoods," a May release with Mary Pickford. It's a photo from the Historical Society of Long Beach that appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Palace. There's also a version on the Los Angeles Public Library website where their caption advises us that it's Mr. Fahey on the left and a Mr. Ketelson, who was in the sign business, on the right.

 

 

 

1917 - A view of the Palace running William Desmond Taylor's "The Varmint," an August release. The photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection makes an appearance on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Palace.

 

 

 

1920 - Well, our photographer missed the Palace. It was off to the right. The posters are advertising various Long Beach theatrical events. That's the train station on the left. We're looking across Ocean Blvd. and north on Pine. The building with the tower across 1st St. at 115 Pine is now called the L'Opera Building, originally the First National Bank of Long Beach Building. It's a 1906 design by Train and Williams, who also have a few theatres to their credit. The photo from the Historical Society of Long Beach appears on "Early Long Beach Theatres," a page from Cal State Long Beach. 

 

 

 

1920s - The Palace is running something starring Gloria Swanson. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this lovely card from her collection. There's also a copy in the Long Beach section of the site Penny Postcards from California. Two copies of the card are reproduced in black and white on pages 15 and 16 of Marlin Heckman's 2000 Arcadia Publishing book "Long Beach in Vintage Postcards." It's on Google Books. The red brick building beyond the Palace had been the home of the Coughran Opera House.

 

1929 - A shiny new deco marquee and Vitrolite facade. This facade was part of the remodel designed by Merrill & Wilson. The photo from the Long Beach Public Library appears on page 90 of the 2006 Arcadia Publishing Book "Long Beach Art Deco" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, John W. Thomas and J. Christopher Launi. 

 

They note that the facade would get altered again in 1938 and 1942. The page with the photo is included in the preview on Google Books. The marquee is advertising "In the Headlines," not an indication that it's a newsreel house yet, but rather it's a 1929 feature with Grant Withers and Marian Nixon.

 

1933 - People wandering Pine Ave. after the March 10 earthquake. We're looking north from Ocean Blvd. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this photo from his collection. It's on Flickr. Check out the Angel City Press book Eric wrote with Tom Zimmerman: "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965." Also see Eric's 2016 book "Signs of Life: Los Angeles is the City of Neon."

 

 

1933 - A detail from Eric's photo. The Palace was running "The Crooked Circle," a September 1932 release with Zasu Pitts and James Gleason. 

 

 

 

c.1947 - The Palace is over on the right with "Duel in the Sun" on the marquee as one of their features. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this from her collection. Nathan Marsak also has a copy he featured on Noirish Los Angeles post #1167. He also has it on Flickr.

 

 

c.1950 - A look across from Ocean Blvd. toward the Newsreel Theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the image for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page. 

 

 

1951 - A Julius Shulman photo of the theatre in its "Newsreel" era from the Getty Research Institute collection. He was commissioned to shoot Bank of America branches. The Getty's set of three photos for this job #1092 also includes one looking south on Pine but we're too far from the Palace to get any detail. If you have a few days to spend, you could browse thousands of photos in the Getty's Julius Shulman Photography Archive. Also see a Shulman Resources page. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Hoss C for for locating the photo for his Noirish post #31318.

 

 

 

1954 - The theatre is down the block in this photo from the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. It appeared with this caption: "And here's the same Pine avenue of today! Following the discovery of oil on Signal Hill, the city grew faster than a mushroom! In 30 years it has realized income of over $232,000,000 from both upland and tidelands oil." 

1950s - Thanks to Kevin Fleming for locating this card to share on the private Facebook group Southern California Nostalgia.

1956 - Another look north on Pine toward the Palace. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this photo from his collection. 

 

 

 

1956 - A detail from Sean's photo. The Palace was running "The McConnell Story," a 1955 release with Alan Ladd, along with William Castle's 1955 epic "New Orleans Uncensored" and "Revenge of the Zombies," from 1943. That's the former home of the Coughran Opera House just beyond the Palace. 

1966 - A fine Christmas view with the Palace running the 1964 features "The Long Ships" with Richard Widmark, "What A Way To Go" with Shirley MacLaine and Robert Mitchum, plus a third feature. Thanks to Augie Castagnola for locating the photo for a post on the Old Palos Verdes, San Pedro and Long Beach Memories Facebook group. Note a "Reagan for Governor" poster on the second floor of the building on the far right.

 

 

 

1971 - An uncredited photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.  

 

1971 - Another view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

 

 

 

c.1977 - A view by an unknown photographer that was spotted somewhere by theatre explorer Ken McIntyre. 

 

 

 

1980 - A fine view taken by Vic Stapf that appeared on Synthetrix - Photos of the Forgotten. It was on their Architecture of Southern California page where it can still be glimpsed briefly before the page rolls over to an auction ads site.

 

 

 

1983 - Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images collection for this fine photo.

 

 

 

1983 - Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this view. Ron included this shot, along with many other great ones from his collection, in "Why I Love Long Beach," a video that he posted on Facebook to help the "Long Beach Gives" fundraising campaign for the Historical Society of Long Beach.

 

 

2019 - A look south on Pine across 1st St. The Palace was once over on the left. Across Ocean Blvd. the site of the State Theatre is on the left. On the right it's the Ocean Center Bldg., dating from 1929. Photo: Google Maps

 

 

2020 - A look north on Pine. The Palace used to be over on the right. Thanks to Augie Castagnola for sharing the photo with a 1966 shot on the Old Palos Verdes, San Pedro and Long Beach Memories Facebook group. 

 

The Palace in the Movies: Ken McIntyre notes that the Palace is seen in H.B. Halicki's film "Gone in 60 Seconds" (H.B. Halicki International, 1974). See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots of the State and Tracy theatres from the film. 

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page for nice research by Joe Vogel and Ken McIntyre. Cinema Tour also has a page on the Palace. Also see the page about the theatre from Cal State Long Beach.

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