Los Angeles Theatres: Fox Belmont

4918 2nd St. Belmont Shore (Long Beach), CA 90803 | map |

Opened: June 29, 1929 with "The Rainbow Man," a talkie starring Eddie Dowling. Also on the program were vaudeville acts and the Len Yost Orchestra. The location is on the south side of the street four blocks east of Livingston Dr. The photo by Mott Studios is in the California State Library collection. They have a total of 31 Mott images in their collection from 1929, with a number of duplicates and alternate takes. They're cataloged as three sets: set # 001443795 - 5 views | set # 001386576 - 18 views | set # 001386417 - 8 views |

Architect: Reginald F. Inwood of Long Beach. The exterior of the art deco building takes some of its influence from Aztec pyramids. The deco interior had a tropical theme with murals of panthers, an elephant and exotic birds. Cinema Treasures contributor Ljsspot notes that the contractor was George T. Gayton and the building was owned by H. A. and W. C. Woodworth.

Seating: 1,000 was the capacity originally announced, all on one level. 800 is a later number, presumably the count after the 1949 renovation.

Stage: The theatre had fly capability but, judging by exterior photos, only the downstage half of the stage had a full height grid. The Belmont's orchestra pit was accessible through the basement. It appears that some dressing rooms were on the second floor and others in the basement. The top of the stagehouse was later removed and new mechanical equipment placed on that part of the roof.

"The New Belmont Is the First Theatre in Long Beach Scientifically Constructed for Perfect Sound Reproduction." It's an ad that appeared in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on June 28, 1929, the day before opening. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. The lead story on the same page, mostly about the opening film, was headed "New Second Street Playhouse Is Last Word in Construction."

A February 1931 program. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page. It was on the site Worthpoint. "Holiday" was a July 1930 release.

Two inside pages from the February 1931 program.

The Belmont was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres, at least from the early 40s onward. In 1949 they gave it a Skouras-style remodel, which included a new marquee and interior redecoration. The grand reopening was May 19.

An article and ad appearing in the May 19, 1949 issue of the Long Beach Independent for the reopening after the renovation. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this. The theatre was later operated by the Fox circuit's successor companies National General and Mann Theatres.

Closing: The theatre closed September 6, 1977 with Mann Theatres citing a lack of business. The final film was "New York, New York." Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theatres notes that there was a story about the theatre (without noting the date it had closed) in the September 20, 1977 issue of a Long Beach paper.

Ken McIntyre noted: "An article in the LA Times on 8/17/78 discussed the future of the Belmont, which was then in serious disrepair. One potential buyer wanted to fix up the theater and show classic films. Another potential owner wanted to put racquetball courts in the building. Take a guess who won.

Status: The interior was gutted and the building is now used for retail along the front and the Belmont Athletic Club in the lobby and auditorium spaces. A second story has been added to the building but the once exotic corner tower is no more. It's been a gym since 1980.

The Belmont in the Movies:

The independently produced Craig Denney film "The Astrologer" (1976) features the Belmont marquee presenting the premiere of the film-within-the-film, also called "The Astrologer." Thanks to Mark E. Hueck for spotting the theatre in the film and to Eric Schaefer for getting the screenshot.

Interior views:

An outer lobby view. Note a bit of the entrance doors on the right. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

The other side of the outer lobby with the inner lobby through the curtains. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

The inner lobby. Restrooms to the left, the auditorium is off to the right. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

An inner lobby wall and furniture detail. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A view in from house right. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

The top of the proscenium. It's a detail from the previous photo.

A house right wall detail. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A closer look at the side wall lighting. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

The house left side of the proscenium. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A view to the rear. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A house left wall detail. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A look along the back wall. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1929

A 1942 photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Gary Parks comments about the look after the 1949 Skouras renovation: "I remember the big sculpted golden swirls around the screen, and blue-toned murals of an almost Boticellian Venus—but with a long, flowing dress—in circular medallions on the sidewalls. Even as a kid I thought of the famous Boticelli painting, and thought maybe in the days when the Belmont was built (not then knowing it was a redecoration) people were too prudish to accept a 'true' (nude) version."

More exterior views:

1929 - A view from the screen end of the building. On the marquee: "Monte Blue and May McAvoy in 'No Defense' Talk & Sound 'RCA.'" The film was an April release. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1929 - A closer look at the tower end of the building. Note the stagehouse and one of the smoke vents. The posters in the vacant storefront are for "No Defense." Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1929 - "Here Now First Run Feature." The theatre was running "Kitty," the "First Imported Talking Picture." Actually it was only half talking. The first half was silent and then the cast and crew came to the U.S. from England to film the sound sequences. It got a U.S. release in June. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1929 - A boxoffice detail from the previous photo.

1929 - Behind the boxoffice. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1929 - A closer look at the entrance doors. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library

1929 - The Belmont running "Gold Diggers on Broadway," an August release. It's a photo from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives that appears on page 126 of the terrific 2008 Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Mr. Wanamaker. There's a preview of the book on Google Books. The authors comment that the theatre "could only be described as Deco-meets-Mayan. The interior even had murals of jungle animals."

1929 - A wider version of the "Gold Diggers" shot. This one is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1929 - A view from the Long Beach Public Library collection. Part of the program at the time the photo was taken was "The Ben and Sally Revue."

c.1930 - Looking east on 2nd with the theatre in the distance. Thanks to Kevin Fleming for locating the photo for a post on the Southern California Nostalgia Facebook page.

1939 - The Belmont running Josef von Sternberg's "Sergeant Madden" with Wallace Beery. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1942 - "Air Force" and "Cat People" playing in July. It's a photo from the Historical Society of Long Beach that had appeared in the newspaper City Beat in 2011. Thanks to Kevin Fleming for locating the image for a post on the private Facebook group Southern California Nostalgia.

c.1945 - "Your BELMONT Theatre has contracts with EVERY MAJOR STUDIO. That's why Two, not one, Top-notch pictures on every program." It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1951 - Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this photo from his collection. The theatre was running "Double Crossbones" with Donald O'Connor.

1961 - A big crowd for "Doctor In Love" and "Big Deal on Madonna Street." Thanks to the All Movie Theatres Facebook page for sharing the photo.

1961 - A lovely shot included in the Angel City Press book "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965" by Tom Zimmerman with J. Eric Lynxwiler.

The photo appears with "Tour Los Angeles during its 'Golden Age of Neon,'" Bianca Barragan's August 2016 article about the book for Curbed L.A. Chris Nichols discussed the book and included Hollywood photos from it with his August 2016 Los Angeles magazine article "These Photos Will Transport You to a Neon-Soaked 1930s Hollywood."

Laura Bliss had a different selection of photos from the book in "Photographing the Gorgeous Neon Lights of Old Los Angeles," her August 2016 article for Bloomberg CityLab. Avishay Artsy had a story about the book's authors in October 2016 with "When Los Angeles was the Neon City." The article "New Photo Book Tells L.A.'s History Through Its Glowing Signs" is an August 2016 story from LAist, although now appearing without its photos.

1971 - A photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1971 - A closer look at the entrance from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Also see a slightly wider shot taken at the same time.

c.1979 - A fine view appearing on the Articles page of the Belmont Athletic Club website. Thanks to Long Beach historian Michelle Gerdes for locating the photo. The theatre had closed in 1977.

1990s - A sidewalk terrazzo view taken by Gary Parks. He notes that this was preserved when the athletic club conversion was done.

2011 - Looking across 2nd St. toward the former theatre. Photo: Google Maps

2018 - A view of what had been the screen end of the building. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for his photo, one appearing on a Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page post with other views of the theatre.

2018 - The former entrance to the theatre with a bit of the booth end of the auditorium visible off to the left. Photo: Google Maps.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Fox Belmont for fine research by Ken McIntyre and others.

The other Fox Belmont: Check out the page here on this site for the Belmont Theatre on Vermont Ave. a few blocks north of Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Theatres

Fox Belmont

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