Brayton Theatre

2157 Atlantic Ave. Long Beach, CA 90806 | map | 

Opened: July 30, 1925. It was on the west side of the street between E. 21st St. and E. Hill St. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for the 1925 photo. It can be seen on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Brayton Theatre. The Long Beach Public Library also has a version of the photo. The theatre was running "The Parasite," a January release with Owen Moore and Madge Bellamy.

They had intended to open earlier. The May 17 issue of the Long Beach Press Telegram advised "New theater opening set for June 15th."

Architects: Schilling & Schilling designed the theatre for owners William H. and George F. Brayton. The February 6, 1925 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor reported:

"Brick theater -- Schilling and Schilling, 313 Marine Bank Building, Long Beach, are preparing plans for 2-story theater with stores and offices, for William H. Brayton, on Atlantic Ave. near Hill St., Long Beach. 4-stores, 4 offices, 80 x 150 feet, brick walls...$100,000."

 

The February 20, 1925 issue reported that Charles H. Bigelow got a $35,000 contract to put the building up. 

 

 

A 1925 rendering from Schilling & Schilling. Thanks to Dallas Movie Movie Theaters for locating this for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

Seating: 956 is the number from the Film Daily Yearbooks of 1950 and 1952, according to research by Ken Roe.  

 

 

An ad that appeared on July 29, 1925 -- the day before the opening day. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

 

A 1927 flyer from the collection of the Historical Society of Long Beach. It appears on the Cal State Long Beach page on the Brayton Theatre.

The same architects, Schilling & Schilling, also designed the rebuild following the 1933 earthquake damage. The April 28, 1933 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor had the news: 

"Theater repairs -- Architect and Engineer Schilling & Schilling...have completed plans for repairing theater building at 2157 Atlantic Ave. for George F. Brayton...New reinforced concrete and brick front wall, stucco exterior, new composition roofing, roof trusses, concrete lintels, side walls of brick, steel sash, neon lights...metal marquise...balcony seats...painting and decorating...The estimated cost is $8000."  

 

A model of the rebuilt facade done by Brazilian "3D Artist" Gabriel Kotolo in 2020 using CADRender software. Thanks to Ronald W. Mahan for locating information about the project. See Gabriel's Brayton Theatre page for four additional images. 

An October 1933 program Matt Spero found while exploring the ruins during the theatre's demolition.

 

 

 

The reverse side of the October 1933 program. Thanks, Matt! 

 

 

A November 1948 ad for an appearance of mentalist Jay Clarke including an "Intimate Matinee." Thanks to Scott Pitzer for locating this.

The house had a closing in the early 50s and later that decade was in use as a venue for Youth For Christ rallies. In 1966 and into early 1968 it was a War on Poverty teen center. In a post about the theatre on his Facebook page Forgotten Los Angeles (and also on Instagram) Scott Collette comments:

"In 1966, as a result of LBJ's War on Poverty legislation and the founding of the Economic Youth Opportunities Agency, the Brayton was turned into a fine arts workshop and theatre for teens, who renamed it the 'New Theatre' and used the space to stage a number of shows by black playwrights. 

"The programming seemed to upset the Agency as funding was cut in half the following year, but community support kept them open. When the venue then hosted a Kwame Ture (then Stokely Carmichael) rally in 1967, the city started making active moves to shut them down or control their programming, so the group moved their performances to improvised stages around Long Beach, performing in the Brayton for the last time on January 6, 1968."

 

A February 15, 1967 Long Beach Press-Telegram article about Stokely Carmichael's visit to Long Beach and appearance at the New Theatre. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating this. 

 

A photo by Ed Broussard taken at LAX that appeared in the Press-Telegram after his February 17 visit to Long Beach. Scott Collette did the research. 

 

 

The Long Beach Fire Department was unhappy about the safety of the theatre. Of course, not related to recent events held there. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating this story that appeared in the May 2, 1967 issue of the Long Beach Independent.   

 

End of the line for "Racial Plays" at the Brayton. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating this December 24, 1967 article that appeared in the Independent-Press-Telegram. It was part of the research for his Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post about the theatre. 

Later it reopened as a bargain movie house. William Miller notes he found ads in the summer of 1969 for the "newly opened" theatre charging adults 99 cents and kids 49 cents. The summer began with family double features and by fall 1969 the fare was adult double features. It was running again from November 1970 through February 1971 with 49 admissions for family friendly double features with kid shows on Saturdays that included ten cartoons. 

Closing: The last day of operation was evidently Tuesday February 16, 1971 with a double feature of "Sand Pebbles" and "The Undefeated." Thanks to William Miller for the research.

Status: It was demolished in 1973. The theatre address is now a parking lot for the church at 2155 Atlantic.

 

An interior view: 

 Thanks to Lou Rugani for locating this trade magazine photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.  

More exterior views:

1933 - A post-quake view from the collection of the Historical Society of Long Beach. It appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Brayton Theatre.

 

 

 

1933 - Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this photo of the rebuilt theatre's new streamline look. "Baby Face" with Barbara Stanwyck and "Midnight Club" with Clive Brook and George Raft were both July releases. There's a cropped version of the photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

1933 - A Mott Studios view with the theatre running William Wyler's "Her First Mate," an August release, along with with "Sunset Pass," a Randolph Scott western. You can join the Signal Tarzan Club! The photo is in the California State Library collection. 

 

1933 - An entrance detail taken from the Mott Studios photo. 

1936 - The Brayton running the June release "Private Number" with Robert Taylor and Loretta Young. The co-feature was "The Princess Comes Across," a May release with Carole Lombard. This color photo is in the collection of the Historical Society of Long Beach. Thanks to Ronald W. Mahan for scanning and cleaning up the image. Kodak had introduced Kodachrome in 1935. 

 

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.   

 

1973 - A photo taken by Matt Spero during demolition. He notes at the time they had already knocked down the side walls. Thanks, Matt! 

 

 

2015 - The parking lot next to the church was once the site of the Brayton. Photo: Google Maps

More information: See the Brayton Theatre page on Cinema Treasures. Cinema Tour also has a page on the theatre but there's nothing much on it. Cal State Long Beach also has a page on the Brayton.

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