237 on The Pike Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |
The first theatre on the site: the Columbia
Opened: The first theatre building on the site, the Columbia Theatre, was running by 1910. The opening date isn't known. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this July 1910 photo. It has a July 27 postmark and was a custom card made for the sender by Emerson & Hiller, Seaside Studio, at 225 Pike, in the building we see on the right side of the photo. The easel is advertising "Trailed To the Hills," a July 1910 release.
The message on the back.: "This is where I am singing. See if you can find me. Did you rec. my letter. Write soon. Your old pal D.V.C." On the front of the card, beside the image: "Reading from right to left. operator - violin player - me - manager - wife - spieler [?] - piano player..."
A theatre had been projected for the site as early as 1908. A March 5, 1908 LA Times article located by Ken McIntyre mentions the location:
"SURFEIT OF THEATERS The city, after a famine, is to have a surfeit of playhouses. A deal for a third theater was closed today between the Seaside Water Company and the E.C. Edmundson and R.C. McDonald, former manager of the Long Beach Theater. The site leased is a 58x200 foot lot between the bath-house and the Majestic Rink, and heretofore has been used as a children's playground. Mr. McDonald has the plans and capital for a modern theater which will be erected at once and will cost $40,000. Meanwhile, the new Tarrytown, a block west, is being built, and the Naples Construction Company today signed contracts to begin work on the Bentley Theater, west of the Majestic Rink."
This "third theater" is definitely the Columbia's location. But evidently it didn't get built "at once" as anticipated. $40,000 would have bought quite a substantial theatre in 1908. There's nothing in the 1908 or 1909-1910 Thurston Long Beach city directories for a theatre at this location. The assumption is that a smaller theatre called the Columbia was built on the site in 1909 or 1910.
The Columbia gets its first listings in the 1911 and 1912 Thurston's city directories with a 231 The Pike address. In the 1913-14 directory it's just shown as being on "The Pike."
That's the Columbia in pink as "Moving Pictures" at 229-233 between the Majestic Rink on the West and the Bathhouse on the east. It's a detail from image 28 of a 1914 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map in the Library of Congress collection.
A Moving Picture World story from July 1914 that's included on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Columbia noted that as of 1914 the theatre had been open four years. From the article:
“Balboa Picture Breaks Records Breaking all former records in big box office receipts at the Columbia Theatre in Long Beach, California. The Balboa Amusement Producing Company’s four-reel feature film, 'A Will o’ the Wisp,' was shown at the playhouse named last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. In the four years since the theater was instituted there never before had been such a great crush of theater-goers, blocking the doors and massing in crowds for several hundred feet from the entrances…During the three afternoons and evenings this week, the services of city firemen and policemen were necessary to hold the throngs in check at the theater doors, and hundreds were turned away daily because the playhouse was not large enough to seat the hosts of eager pleasure seekers. On Tuesday evening several women were hurled to the pavement by the press of the surging crowds and for a time it seems they would be seriously injured, but were rescued by three policemen and carried outside the throng..." (from page 1249)
The 1914-15 and 1915-16 directories list the Columbia as at 233 or 235 on The Pike. S.S. Blachly was listed as manager in this period. In the 1916-17 directory compiled by the Los Angeles Directory Co. the theatre is listed as the Strand Theatre with a 235 The Pike address. Maurice H. Kuhn was the manager and Margaret Kuhn, presumably his daughter, was the cashier. The Strand name would would be back for this location beginning in 1928. It was also used briefly around 1920 for the Bentley Theatre at 319, west of Cedar Walk.
The Columbia name is back in the 1917 and 1918 directories compiled by Seaside Printing Co. They give a 233 address and in the 1917 edition again list Blachly as manager.
Closing: This first theatre on the site presumably closed in 1918. That was its last directory listing.
The replacement theatre: Hoyt's / Strand
The new construction and opening as Hoyt's Theatre: In 1919 the Columbia was demolished and replaced with a much larger theatre with full stage facilities called Hoyt's, also advertised as Hoyt's Pantages. Initially Hoyt's was mostly a vaudeville and stock company house with
use of films only as fillers. Later they began running features along
with the vaudeville shows. The 1919 and later directories list the theatre as the Hoyt Theatre or Hoyt's Theatre "on The Pike."
From 1909 until 1915 Otis O. Hoyt was based in Missoula where he had been a partner in the Hoyt-Dickinson Piano Company and was also one of the proprietors of that city's Empress Theatre. In 1915 he unloaded his Montana holdings and moved to Long Beach.
Thanks to Jim Lewis for locating this article in the May 18, 1915 issue of the Missoula Sentinel.
In 1916 Hoyt had been the initial operator of the Liberty Theatre up on Ocean Blvd., the house that ended up as the Roxy. In April 1919, while Hoyt's was in the final stages of construction, he bought the Bentley Grand Theatre. Hoyt renamed it the Hip. It had been running stock productions as the Hart Theatre. In an April 2 article he's quoted as saying that he needed another theatre because of all the vaudeville acts he had contracted for. The Hip would run acts from the Hippodrome circuit. When Hoyt's opened it would play Pantages acts. Hoyt was also involved in the Rialto Theatre on the Pike and later operated Long Beach's Ebell Theatre. See a May 11, 1944 obituary that was located by Ken McIntyre.
Architects: William Horace Austin (1881-1942) and William Lee Woollett (1874-1955). The assumption is that Austin did the structure and exterior design and Woollett did the interior. The two men are credited in several newspaper accounts of the theatre's opening. Among other projects, Austin was one of the designers of the 1932 Long Beach Municipal Auditorium. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database has a page on Austin.
The PCAD page on Woollett notes that he also designed a house
for Otis Hoyt in Long Beach in 1920. Woollett was also the designer of the auditoria for three Sid Grauman projects: the Million Dollar (1918), the Rialto (1919 remodel) and the Metropolitan/Paramount (1923). The theatre's interior
architectural details are certainly bizarre and in a style recognizable
as Woollett's. Woollett also designed a 1926 renovation of the marquee. In later years, much of the auditorium was painted over
in pink, turquoise and white.
The logo on the Hoyt's letterhead was drawn from a bit of Woollett's ornament design for the auditorium. See a 1921 letter from the Jim Lewis collection that has the architect's proscenium totem pole designs running down the sides of the sheet.
Seating: 1,362
Hoyt thought he was going to get the theatre open by February 1, 1919. It didn't happen until June 30. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this November 15, 1918 news item.
A June 30, 1919 grand opening ad that features designs based on some of William Lee Woollett's auditorium ornament. Thanks to Mike Rivest for determining the date and locating this for a post on Cinema Treasures. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org
An article in the February 13, 1920 issue of the Missoula Sentinel. Thanks to Jim Lewis for locating this. Regarding the architectural features of the house, actor Tom Lindsay, who had played the theatre, comments in a somewhat garbled quote:
"The decorations of the theater are, I believe, unique. The front [of the auditorium] is ornamented with futuristic desings, [sic] and on either side is a great totem pole, with Indian inscriptions on them and surmounted by figures of bears. The scenery [i.e. decor in the rest of the theatre] also is striking. There is none of this pillar effect, with cupids holding up draperies at all, but the decorations also... are futuristic."
An ad for "Sweet 16" a "miniature musical comedy" appearing in the December 21, 1920 issue of the Long Beach Daily Telegram.
Another ad the same day in the Daily Telegram in 1920.
An account of Hoyt installing an Estey organ in 1921 that appeared in the May 5 issue of the Daily Telegram. Although it mentions two chambers, it appears that they were both on the house left side of the auditorium. Thanks to Ron Mahan for locating the article.
In December 1921 the organist at what he termed a "small instrument" was Roy Medcalfe. He'd been out promoting Estey organs and was looking for part of a commission on the organ at the Iris Theatre in Hollywood. That one had been intended for a theatre in Long Beach to have been called the Queen, a project that didn't happen. Note the design of the letterhead, taken from William Lee Woollett's designs for the auditorium's decoration.
Thanks to Jim Lewis for sharing this letter from his collection.
In 1922 Hoyt's participated in the "First Annual Go To Theatre Week." See the February 11 Daily Telegram ad announcing that event that encouraged patrons to "Go At Least Three
Times!" Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing these
ads.
A 1923 ad for "Hoyt's Pantages Theatre - On the Pike," listed along with other "Leading Theatres of Long Beach" in the Yearbook for the station employees of the Union Pacific Railroad. The ad noted: "This theatre plays all of the New York road attractions immediately following their Los Angeles performances." Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for finding the book on eBay.
In the 1926 city directory the theatre gets an actual address again, 237 Pike. 1927 is the last directory listing for the theatre as Hoyt's. The house became the Strand Theatre on December 25, 1927.
A two page display for the newly renamed theatre that appeared in the December 24, 1927 issue of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. The theatre opened as the Strand with the flying picture "The Lone Eagle" as its first attraction. Thanks to Mike Rivest for determining the date and locating these pages for a post on Cinema Treasures.
It's listed as the Strand in the 1928 city directory with Roy Reid as manager. In 1929 W. F. Meyer was listed as the proprietor. By mid-1930 it was being operated by Simon Lazarus and Harry Vinnicof, doing business as Lazarus-Vinnicof Theatres.
Thanks to eminent Long Beach theatre historian Ronald W. Mahan for locating this August 15, 1930 story that appeared in the Long Beach Sun. The article is a bit of a scam. What it doesn't mention is that the Lazaraus-Vinnicof circuit was also running the Million Dollar Theatre at the time. Maybe Universal had promised two prints but it could only deliver one and it was up to Lazarus to determine where he wanted to run it.
Evidently the Strand had a remodel in 1930 when Lazarus and Vinnicof took over as they were calling it the New Strand, even putting the "New" part on the top of the roof sign. In the 1935 city directory it's listed as the New Strand and "New" was part of the neon of the new angular marquee when it went on the building around 1937.
"Headline Vaudeville." In the late 1930s the New Strand was being operated by Vinnicof Theatres. It's unknown what happened to Mr. Lazarus. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for this 1939 ad listing the circuit's locations. It was a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
A 1945 ad. Thanks to Scott Pitzer for posting it on Photos of Los Angeles.
"Outstanding Vaudeville." The theatre was still regularly running vaudeville along with their films into the late 1940s. Thanks to Scott Pitzer for locating this 1948 ad.
By the 1950s the Strand was running B movie double bills as the Pike area was no longer conducive to first run film exhibition.
This detail from image 28 of the 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection shows the much larger footprint of this building compared to the earlier Columbia Theatre on the site.
Closing: Sometime in the mid-1960s. The Pike amusement area, which had opened in 1902, continued to operate until 1979.
Status: The Strand was demolished sometime in the 1970s. The Pike area is now a jungle of condos.
Interior views:
An early proscenium view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Note the painted detail on the walls near the proscenium. These areas were redone in 1921 with William Lee Woollett designing a new wall treatment to deal with an organ chamber house left.
A detail of one of the sidewall "totem poles." It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library.
A proscenium column detail. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.
A view from the balcony taken sometime before mid-1921. Note the Rotary International logo hung above the stage. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
House left near the proscenium showing the area with William Lee Woollett's 1921 organ grille design but certainly not his choice of colors. The 1960s pre-demolition photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
More exterior views:
c.1908 - A fine view from the water before construction of the Columbia Theatre. The building with the big arched roof is the Majestic Rink. The theatre would soon be built between the Rink and the curious building with the two little domes in the center of the image. It's a card from the site Card Cow where they note that their copy has a September 1909 postmark.
c. 1915 - Stormy weather at the Columbia Theatre, the first venue on the site. The photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection makes an appearance on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Columbia Theatre. This building was replaced in 1919.
c.1915 - Up on the roof of the Majestic Rink with a view onto the roof of the front of the Columbia Theatre in the lower center of the image. It's a card in the Card Cow collection.
c.1920
- The new Hoyt's Theatre in seen in the foreground. It's a photo from the Ronald W. Mahan collection where Ron has outlined
the Bentley Theatre at 319 on the Pike. At the time of the photo that one had been renamed the
Strand, as seen on the theatre's side wall. Just this side of the Strand
sign note the pylons of the Tarrytown Theatre facade, here seen as one very
dark, one brighter. At this time, if it were even in business still as a
theatre, it would have been called the Pastime. The photo
appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Bentley.
c.1920 - The ticket lobby and entrance doors of Hoyt's Theatre. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1922
- An April view looking west along The Pike. The Rialto Theatre entrance is at the
right. Hoyt's is down in the next block. On their readerboard it's "Tom Mix and
Pantages Attractions." You can also see a sliver of the Hoyt's
stagehouse, and the sign atop it, in the upper right. The photo is in the California State Library collection, their item #001377431. There's also a copy from the California Historical Society appearing on the USC Digital Library website.
1922 - A detail from the California State Library photo.
1925 - The entrance during the run of "Tracked in the Snow Country," starring Rin Tin Tin. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating the trade magazine photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1925 - A photo of Hoyt's from the Historical Society of Long Beach that appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about Hoyt's Pantages. The readerboard is advertising the play "The Time, the Place and the Girl." A film version came out in 1929.
c.1925 - Another view with the "Hoyt's Vaudeville" signage. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this card from her collection.
1925 - A view by the Aerograph Co. photo from the California Historical Society collection appearing on the USC Digital Library website. Hoyt's, or rather, half of it, is on the far left. The USC site also has a blow up of the left panel but the facade is partially obscured by (among other things) a kiosk with a "Crescent Ice Cream" sign and a Chinese themed building on the beach side of The Pike. Also see a similar c.1926 panorama in the USC collection.
1925 - An interesting look behind the stagehouse of Hoyt's. Beyond we get the State Theatre building and, to the right, the 1905 Municipal Auditorium. Down Ocean Blvd. in the distance the West Coast Theatre is being constructed. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1926 - A view perhaps a year later. It's a California Historical Society photo appearing on the USC Digital Library website.
c.1926 - Warships visiting the harbor and a view of Hoyt's in the lower center. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1928 - All we get of the marquee copy in this lovely view is "...and Company 'The Old Salt,'" presumably a legit musical or drama. Thanks to Nathan Marsak for sharing the photo on his Noirish Los Angeles Post # 2308.
It's difficult to see what's going on but right above the "Dancing" sign for the Majestic Rink it appears that the "Hoyt's Vaudeville" sign on the theatre has been covered with a bag. It's definitely a pre-1929 photo as there's a view of the State Theatre building in the distance, something that would be obscured when the Ocean Center Building was completed in 1929.
c.1930 - A view west showing off the theatre's new roof sign. It's a card from the site Card Cow.
c.1930 - A card from the Michelle Gerdes collection. The card also appears on the "Pike Main Street"
page of "The Pike," the fine site curated by Paul Prosise. He gives it a
1938 date but the Virginia Hotel is still in the distance. It began construction in 1906, opened in 1908 as the Bixby Hotel, closed in 1932 and was demolished following damage in the 1933 earthquake.
c.1930
- A lovely view west along The Pike with the Strand's rooftop sign very
much in evidence. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for finding this one on
eBay.
c.1930
- A bit of the Rialto in the lower right. Beyond the
Bathhouse note the roof sign for the Strand.
It's a photo in the Long Beach Public Library collection. Many more historic images await you in the Library's photo collection.
c.1930 - A view from Ocean Ave. out toward the pier. A
bit of the Strand's stagehouse can be seen on the right. The photo from
the Ronald W. Mahan Collection appears on the Cal State page "Early Long Beach Theatres and Cinemas."
At the lower center in the photo is the building used by film producer
Balboa Amusement from 1918 to 1922 and later by other producers. Also of
interest on the Cal State site is "Early Long Beach Theatres - A Beach Resort and Entertainment Mecca," a page with a map, theatre list and links to other pages.
1931 - A terrific look at the revamped marquee of the "New Strand." Note that neon price sign sticking out in the center, with multiple prices that could be displayed. We're looking east with the Bathhouse beyond and, in the distance, the Ocean Center Bldg., completed in 1929. Thanks to Ron Heberlee for sharing the photo from his collection.
"Secrets of a Secretary" was a September 1931 release starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall. "A Holy Terror" (not "The," as seen on the marquee) was a July release with George O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart. A copy of the photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection also appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about Hoyt's Pantages.
1932 - This week the "New Strand" was offering "This Reckless Age," a January release with Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and Richard Bennett along with "Fanny Foley Herself," an October 1931 feature in Technicolor starring Edna May Oliver and Hobart Bosworth. This version of the photo appeared on the Island of Long Beach Facebook page. It's also in the collections of the Long Beach Public Library and the Los Angeles Public Library. And there's a cropped version of the shot in the USC Digital Library collection.
1932 - Another view taken during the same shoot as the previous photo. It's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1933 - A Frasher Foto card. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for locating it on eBay. There's also a copy in the Frasher collection at the Pomona Public Library. They give it a 1940 date but going by the style of the marquee, it has to be earlier. The Frasher Foto Postcard Collection at the Library has hundreds of photos from all over Southern California.
1936 - A great look at the "New Strand Theatre" signage. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
c.1936 - A Frasher's Foto Card with the Strand's roof sign in the middle right. Beyond, look at that fine vacant lot where the Virginia Hotel had been. The card appears on the site Synthetrix- Photos of the Forgotten. It's still up, but the site's Pike section now rolls over to a site of auction ads.
1937 - Our first look at the Strand's new angled marquee. They were running "Thunder in the City" with Edward G. Robinson and Constance Collier along with "Top of the Town" starring Doris Nolan and George Murphy. Both were April releases. It's a card that appeared on eBay.
1937 - On this bill you got "Vodvil" plus "This is My Affair" with Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck" along with "Charlie Chan at the Olympics," both released in May. It's a Frasher card in the Pomona Public Library collection.
1938 - A view from the Long Beach Public Library collection.
c.1940 - A card from the site Card Cow. The postmark on this copy was 1951 but it was an older image. The roof sign came down long before that.
c.1940 - A Frasher card that was located by Michelle Gerdes on eBay.
c.1940 - Thanks to Nathan Marsak for this lovely view east on Ocean Blvd. It's one of many night postcard views of the L.A. area appearing on a series of his posts on Noirish Los Angeles - page 59.
c.1940
- A look at the territory from above. The Rink is in the upper center.
The four buildings on the Tarrytown site are to the left of the Rink and
then there's the larger rebuilt Bentley Theatre building. To the right
of the rink is the Strand Theatre. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1946 - An Ocean Blvd. panorama by Pettit Studios that's in the Huntington Library Verner Collection of Panoramic Negatives. There's a tiny bit of the Roxy on the far left and the State Theatre about a quarter of the way in. The stagehouse of the Strand is over toward the right.
1946 - The stagehouse is in the center of this detail from the panorama by Pettit Studios.
1946 - A Frasher Foto Card by Burton Frasher looking east along the Pike from the Long Beach Heritage Museum
collection. "The Well Groomed Bride" was a May release with Olivia
de Havilland and Ray Milland. "Renegades" was a June release with Evelyn
Keyes and Willard Parker.
1947 - "Best Years of Our Lives" is playing at the Strand. Thanks to David Zornig for posting this shot on Cinema Treasures. He credits it to Charles Phoenix.
1947 - Thanks to Escott O. Norton for sharing this photo from his collection that was taken by his father. On the top of the bill: "Headline Vodvil." On the screen that week were "My Favorite Brunette" and "Stallion Road"
1947 - "3 Stage Shows Daily!" It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1950 - "On Stage 5 Big Acts." And it looks like one of the film titles ends in "Lightning." Thanks to Kevin Fleming for locating the photo for a post on the Southern California Nostalgia private Facebook group.
1953 - The Strand running "The Man Behind The Gun" along with "Torpedo Alley." Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this card from her collection.
1954 - "Take the High Ground!" with Richard Widmark and Karl Malden was an October 1953 release. "Executive Suite" was an April 1954 release with Barbara Stanwyck and William Holden. Thanks to the Santa Monica History Museum for sharing the image on the SMHM Facebook page. It's from their George Tate collection.
1955 - The Strand with "Three For the Show," a February release with Betty Grable and Marge and Gower Champion. The co-feature was "Footsteps in the Fog," a September release with Stewart Granger. Thanks to Kevin Fleming for posting the photo on the Vintage Neon Heaven private Facebook group. He noted that the photo appears courtesy of John Nelson. There's also an Archive Photos/Getty Images credit in the upper right.
1958 - Running the May release "High School Confidential" with Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore and Mamie Van Doren. The big co-hit was "Motorcycle Gang," a 1957 film with Anne Neyland and Steven Terrell. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing the photo. 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.
1959 - A lovely photo taken by Lou Mellencamp that appears on the "Pike Main Street " page of Paul Prosise's site "The Pike."
1959 - A terrific view of the Pike with the Strand two thirds of the way up on the right edge of the image. Thanks to Augie Castagnola for locating the photo. He notes that over on the left, up on Ocean Blvd., the Long Beach Superior Courthouse is under construction.
To the left of the Strand is the big arched roof of the Majestic Rink/Lido. Keep looking left across Cedar Walk and note the four long skinny buildings, a site once for the Tarrytown/Pastime theatres. The larger building to the left of those four is the repurposed building of the Bentley Theatre. It's right behind the steeple of the circular Looff's carousel building.
c.1961 - The stagehouse of the Strand is in the center of this view from the Long Beach Public Library collection. Beyond in the center are the Ocean Center Building, the State Theatre and the Breakers Hotel. In the distance toward the right are the Municipal Auditorium and, under construction, the Long Beach Arena.
1960s - A "Nu-Pike" shot once shared by Michael Hayashi on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. It's vanished from that platform.
1960s - The stagehouse, still with "Strand Theatre" lettering on the side, appears in the distance near the upper left of this Mike Roberts Kodachrome postcard. It appears on the site Synthetrix- Photos of the Forgotten. The card is still up but the site's Pike section now rolls over to a site of auction ads.
1965 - A photo from the Long Beach Public Library collection.
1966 - The Strand is closed. Note the blank readerboard right under the "Kiddieland" sign. It's a photo by William Reagh that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
late 1960s? - An amazing view of the declining amusement area. Look just above the inner end of the coaster and you can see the Majestic/Lido dance hall and, to the right, the very unique roofline of the Strand. And how about that oil well action beyond downtown? It's
a photo from an unknown source that once appeared as a post on
the Facebook group Vintage Los Angeles but has vanished from that
platform.
c.1979 - A view east. The site of the Majestic Rink is on the left with the Strand down a bit farther, opposite the Skooter sign. Thanks to Rick Warren for sharing his photo on Flickr. It's one of 26 views in his Pike Amusement Park set he took after the Pike closed and what was left was being dismantled. Also see his 144 photo Old Long Beach Buildings set.
early 1980s - The Strand had once been over on the left. Thanks to Howard Gribble for sharing his photo on Flickr.
2019 - A view west on The Pike, now called the Walk of 1000 Lights. The Strand once was over on the right. We're looking ahead to Cedar Walk. Behind us is Pacific Ave., a street that used to end at Ocean Blvd. Photo: Google Maps
The Strand Theatre in the Movies:
Harold
Lloyd's "Number, Please?" (Hal Roach/Pathe, 1920) features great shots
of the amusement areas of Venice, Ocean Park and The Pike. The first
marquee we see on the left is the Majestic dance hall (formerly a roller
rink, later renamed the Lido). The second, where we see something
advertised as a "Big Show" is the Strand. We're looking east and at the
end of the vista is the State Theatre building. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for more shots that include the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium as well as several showing the Rosemary in Ocean Park.
Murder on the midway! Looking west on The Pike with a bit of the marquee on the right. It's a shot from "Gorilla at Large" (20th Century Fox, May 1954), originally released in both 3-D and flat versions. They did lots of shooting on The Pike but with interiors at the studio. We get an aerial act, a mirror maze, games of chance and lots more. The film stars Anne Bancroft, Cameron Mitchell, Raymond Burr, Lee J. Cobb, Charlotte Austin, Peter Whitney, Lee Marvin and Warren Stevens. Harmon Jones directed. The cinematography was by Lloyd Ahern Sr.
We
get a view from the beach looking north across The Pike toward the
Strand's marquee in Steven Spielberg's "1941" (Universal, 1979). Oh.
Sorry. It's a fake Strand on a backlot, not the real one.
More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Strand Theatre for lots of interesting stories. See a 1926 map from the Long Beach Historical Society with the theatre shown as Hoyt's.
Check out the Cal State Long Beach pages about the Columbia Theatre and the Hoyt's Pantages.
See "Long Beach Movie Palaces and Theatres," a one hour long video on YouTube from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. It's based on the collection and work of theatre designer Joseph Musil. Thanks, Ron!
See the page here on this site about the Bentley Theatre, 319 on The Pike, a house that was briefly called the Strand around 1920.
| back to top | Long Beach theatres | Along the Coast | Along the Coast: theatre list by address | Downtown L.A. | Westside | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | the main alphabetical list | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | theatres in movies | LA Theatres on facebook | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment