Laughlin Theatre

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

Opened: November 8, 1915 for operator Homer Laughlin, Jr. (1876 -1932). It's in the 1917-18 through 1926 city directories as the Laughlin Theatre. The site was the southwest corner of Pine and 4th. In this Winstead photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection they were running "The Dangerous Moment," an April 1921 release with Carmel Myers. 

Architect: It was designed by the noted modernist architect Irving Gill. Murals in the theatre were by Hanson David Puthuff. Gill had designed a home for Laughlin in the West Adams area of L.A. in 1912. See a Wikipedia article about Gill. 

Seating: 800 

 

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

 

 

"Right Underneath the Tower." A February 26, 1922 ad for the theatre that appeared in the Long Beach Daily Telegram. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for the ad. 

 

 

 
"It's Always Cool." This 1922 ad was located by Ken McIntyre for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. "Her Night of Nights" was a June release.  

 

 

 

A 1925 ad. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for posting it on Cinema Treasures. 

 

Eugene Tracy took over the theatre around 1932, presumably upon the death of Homer Laughlin. Thanks to Mike Rivest for finding this November 12, 1932 ad. A marquee photo in 1933 also called it Tracy's Laughlin. 

In the 1933 city directory it's listed as the Tracy Theatre. In 1934 Tracy took over the former Ritz/Capitol on Seaside, renaming it the Tracy Theatre. He later operated the Victor Theatre as well.

Closing: It sustained major damage in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and was not used as a theatre again. The building was repaired and used as a drug store and for storage. 

Status: Demolition of the structure was in 1956. It was replaced by a Woolworth store. 

 

 

In the booth:

 

 

Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for spotting this c.1932 view on eBay. It was on a scrapbook page that also included two views of the ticket lobby. It's reproduced down lower on this page.

 

 

More exterior views: 

 

 

1918 - The theatre decorated for the engagement of "For the Freedom of the World." Note the tile work on the sidewalk, on the ticket lobby floor, and around the display cases. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.

 

c.1920 - A view north from 1st St. with the tower of the Laughlin in the distance. It's a card from the site Card Cow. On the far left is part of the First National Bank of Long Beach Building at 115 Pine, now called the L'Opera Building. It's a 1906 design by Train and Williams, who also have a few theatres to their credit.

 

 

 

1921 - Another Winstead photo taken during the run of "The Dangerous Moment," a companion to the one at the top of the page. This version from the California Historical Society appears on the USC Digital Library website. It's also on the the Cal State Long Beach Laughlin page from the Historical Society of Long Beach. The California State Library has a fine version, their item #001377830. 

 

 

 

1921 - A detail from the California State Library's version of the Winstead photo. Note the "HL" initials on the front of the marquee.

1925 - Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this view down Pine St. That's 4th St. running along the side of the building. The steel frame in the distance near that high-rise on the far left is for the West Coast Theatre on Ocean Ave. It opened in June. 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.   

 

 

 

1925 - A look north from 3rd St. The photo from the Historical Society of Long Beach that makes an appearance on the Cal State Long Beach page "Early Long Beach Theatres and Cinemas: Burgeoning 'Hollywood,' The Pike and Theatre by the Sea." The page is part of a research project centering on Long Beach's early film producer Balboa Studios. 

 

1925 - A fine display for "The White Outlaw." Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the trade magazine photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.

 

 

1927 - A Winstead photo of the entrance from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. It appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Laughlin. There's also a version in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

1927 - A less crowded view of the ticket lobby. It's another Winstead photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.  

 

 

 

c.1932 - A view out to the street. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for spotting this on eBay. 

 

Note the same tile work on the floor that we see in earlier views. It appears that when Eugene Tracy took over the house he installed a new boxoffice and redid the marquee in a boxier shape to allow the addition of readerboards. Note we still have the original soffit dome over the sidewalk and have added some deco light fixtures.

 

 

 

c.1932 - The scrapbook page that included the previous photo. Thanks, Michelle! 

 

 

1933 - People wandering Pine Ave. after the March 10 earthquake. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this photo from his collection. It's on Flickr. The Wise Building at Pine and Broadway was a 1929 design by Horace Austin.

 

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 - The Laughlin's tower is in the center of this detail taken from Eric's photo. The cross street is Broadway.

 

 

 

1933 - A post-earthquake view from the Historical Society of Long Beach that appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Laughlin 

 

 

1933 - Another angle on the project of dismantling the tower. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this photo on Flickr that's from his collection.

 

1933 - Demolition of the tower farther along. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The tower wasn't replaced. It's didn't reopen as a theatre. The building was repurposed as retail space.

 

 

 

c.1960 - A new building for Woolworth's on the theatre site. We're looking north across 4th St. in this card from the site Card Cow. 

 

 

 

2019 - The 50s building on the southwest corner of Pine and 4th with Gold's Gym as a tenant. Photo: Google Maps

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page for some interesting comments by Ken McIntyre, Joe Vogel and other researchers. 

The Cal State Long Beach page about the Laughlin asserts that it opened earlier as a legit house, suffered damage in a 1913 earthquake, and then reopened as a movie house in 1915.

See Dishing with HLCCA for a blog post about Gill and Laughlin. Homer's father had owned a large Ohio manufacturer of China. The Arcadia Publishing book "Long Beach Art Deco" discusses the Laughlin Theatre on page 93. The page is included in the book's preview on Google Books. .

The blog "A Look Back at Vintage Los Angeles" has a post about Homer Laughlin, Sr. (1843 - 1913). He built the Homer Laughlin Building in downtown L.A. in 1897. The building, at 315 S. Broadway, was expanded in 1905 with an addition that went all the way through to Hill St. Since 1917 the ground floor tenant has been the Grand Central Market.

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