525 Long Beach Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |
Opened: The Rivoli opened December 24, 1936 with the address originally listed as American Ave. before the street got renamed. It was on the west side of the street just south of E. 6th St. Many thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the 1954 photo.
Architect: Floyd E. Stanbery. Thanks to Joe Vogel for his research:
"Awarding
of the contract to W.J. Burgin for construction of the Rivoli Theatre
was announced in Southwest Builder and Contractor issue of August 7th,
1936. The owner of the building was named as L.T. Edwards, and the plans
were prepared by structural engineer F.E. Stanbery (no mention is made
of Stanbery’s usual partner, architect Cliff Balch.) The building was to
be of reinforced concrete construction, and the estimated cost was
$45,000- a tidy sum in that depression year."
Seating: 1,105
The initial lessee was Cabart Theatres, headed by C.A. Caballero and Milt Arthur -- with some involvement by Fanchon & Marco.
A page of articles and congratulatory ads located by William Miller in the December 24 issue of the Long Beach Sun noted that it would be the regular policy to run the same feature in both houses. Various ads advised that W. Jay Burgin was the general contractor, M.S. Peebles was the interior decorator, the marquee and vertical were by Long Beach Neon, refrigeration and ventilation were done by The Air Conditioning Co., Dean A. Alger was the plumbing contractor, Pacific Electrical and Mechanical did the electrical and sound installation, National Theatre Supply provided the booth equipment and that the booth was manned by members of Moving Picture Machine Operators Local No. 521.
Joe Musil as an usher in 1952. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the photo. Ron notes that Joe would have been around 16 and still going to Wilson High School in Long Beach. He would later design displays for the Rivoli and work as a manager at the West Coast.
In the 50s and 60s the Rivoli was operated by Cabart as
a first run. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this December 31, 1950 ad in the L.A. Times for the Rivoli and other Cabart Theatres.
By the early 70s it was a 49 cent bargain house owned and operated by Pacific Theatres. In August 1973 Pacific leased the house to Malcolm Hardy. His operation grew into Century
Theatres, Inc. Soon he also had the Reseda, the Cameo in El Sereno, the Wardman (now known as the Whittier
Village Cinemas), the Whittier
Theatre, the Whittwood, and the Cove in Hermosa.
Century also operated the Rialto
and Highland Twin in San Bernardino, the Pismo Theatre in Pismo Beach, the San
Luis Obispo Drive-In, the Town in Gilroy and the Mt. Burney Theatre in
Burney. Hardy's Century firm shouldn't be confused
with the Century Cinema Circuit operated by Fred
and Robert Stein that was also in business in the LA area in the 1970s.
Closing: It closed in 1979 with Century as the final operator.
Status: The Rivoli was demolished to make way for the now-defunct Long Beach Mall.
More exterior views:
1953 - The theatre running the 3-D film "Bwana Devil." Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan collection for the photo. Ron notes that the front for this engagement was designed and built by Joe Musil at a time when he was apprenticing in the theatre's display department.
1955
- Manager A.C. Furman enlisted the help of local divers to promote
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," a December 1954 release. Thanks to
Dallas Movie Theaters for locating this trade magazine photo for a post
on
Cinema Treasures. Joe Musil worked on the front.
1955 - Mister Roberts" is on the marquee in this view looking south that appeared on the now-vanished American Classic Images website.
1955 - A detail from the previous image from the American Classic Images collection.
1955 - A "Mister Roberts" shot from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. The film was a July release. The front for the film was another designed and built by Joe Musil.
c.1959 - A fine view north toward the Rivoli's vertical. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this one from his collection. Mark Forer comments: "'Astrojet' outdoor board puts this shot around ‘58-60."
1979 - Cleveland Wrecking Company on the job for the demolition. Many thanks to Mark J. Brown for sharing this photo in a post for the
Lost Angeles Facebook group.
2019 - At the left we're looking south on Long Beach Blvd. On the right it's 6th St. going west. The Rivoli used to be just in a bit from the corner on the left. It's long gone but there's now a new little legit house: The Found Theatre.
The Rivoli in the Movies:
There are several partial views of the theatre in "It's a Mad, Mad,
Mad, Mad World" (United Artists, 1963). Here it's over a bit to the right of
center with part of the marquee and vertical visible. They used a YMCA
that's out of the frame to the left as the police station for the
fictional town of Santa Rosita. This gleeful guy has just run over
Spencer Tracy's hat that was tossed out a window when he missed the hat
rack. We're looking south on Long Beach Blvd.
Much later in "Mad World" we get this view of the side of the Rivoli
over on the left beyond the car dealership as Tracy leaves the station
to go find the loot everyone's been looking for. The State, Roxy and
West Coast theatres are also seen in the film. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for those shots.
The marquee is used for the opening credits of "Coming Attractions"
(Cinema Finance Associates, 1978). Thanks to Deanna Bayless for the
screenshot. Ira Miller directed the film, retitled "Loose Shoes"
for a 1982
reissue. Featured in this comedy structured as a series of skits and trailers are
Bill Murray, Buddy Hackett, Royce D. Applegate, Lewis Arquette, Tom Baker and Dorothy Van. See the
Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies
post for marquee shots of the Whittier, Wiltern, Palace, Orpheum and La
Reina theatres. The Gilmore Drive-In is seen at the film's end.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Rivoli for lots of information contributed by Deanna Bayless and others.
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I worked at the Rivoli as an usher, ticket seller, and snack bar worker in the early 1970s when it was 49 cent theater, showing second run movies after they had played at other Pacific theaters in the LA area. One little factoid: during Nixon's "price freeze," Pacific Theaters raised the price of admission to 75 cents but was forced by the feds to lower it back to 49 cents until the price freeze was lifted. All of the hourly workers were represented by IATSE, and we worked under a union contract.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Teresa I work at the Rivoli theater 1977 - 1978 snack bar l love working there.. it was a beautiful place to work
DeleteI worked there in 1953,,54,, an 55 for 75 cents an hour. They played the same movie for weeks we memorized the script.
DeleteMy brother, sister and myself were dropped off by my parents on saturdays at the Rivoli theater around time of the late 1960’s. It was always exciting going there enjoying the cartoons, movies and popcorn. Those were memorable times and the greatest of times growing up in Long Beach
ReplyDeleteThat was my first job around 1969-70. I was let go after being 5 min. Late due to signing up for college with my parents, The Asst. Mgr told me I was off the day before but the Mgr didn’t believe me. I was devastated! Would have left anyway when I started school. I did like working there.
ReplyDeleteI used to go see B horror movies with my friends when it was . 51 cents any seat, in 67-68.
ReplyDelete