American Theatre

 24527 Spruce St. Newhall, CA 91321  | map | 

Opened: May 23, 1941. The original address was 1031 Spruce St. The American was the first theatre in the Santa Clarita Valley. The 1947 photo from the Arthur B. Perkins Collection appears on the Santa Clarita Valley History website.

The theatre opened with "Earl of Puddlestone" featuring James Gleason along with "Here Comes Happiness" starring Mildred Coles. Both Gleason and William S. Hart were at the opening. Thanks to Mike Rivest for the research. In 1954 Gleason would appear in "Suddenly," a film shot in the Newhall area that has views of the theatre. 

Seating: 374 is a number appearing on Cinema Treasures.

Architect: S. Charles Lee

The building was constructed with a donation by William S. Hart. Upon completion, Hart gave the building to the American Legion and they leased it as a movie house in accordance with his wishes. One stipulation was that a western be shown once a week. A May 1941 item appearing in Boxoffice that was located by Ken McIntyre:

"E. Harold Hall, new manager and operator of the American Theater in Newhall, staged a grand opening May 23. He leased the house from the Newhall American Legion. House was built through donations by William S. Hart, who has been living there since 1927."

Earlier Hart had installed a booth at the Newhall Elementary School and they had occasional film showings. That auditorium burned in 1939. 

 

 

 

May 23, 1941. Opening day ads appearing in the Newhall Signal. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating the page. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org 

A May 30, 1941 article from the Newhall Signal. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.

Closing: 1965 was the end as a film house. The closing coincided with the opening of the Plaza Theatre on Lyons Ave. The American Legion Post 507 then took it over as their meeting hall.

Status: It's still in use as a Legion hall. There's now a flat hardwood floor in the auditorium. 

Website: post507.org | on Facebook

 

Interior views: 

 

 

The Brian Hogan band onstage for a January 2023 show. That's Steve Whalen on the far left. Thanks to Cat Lukaszewski for sharing eight views of the event on a Facebook post.

 

 

A wider view toward the stage. Photo: Cat Lukaszewski - 2023

 

More exterior views:

1947 - A ticket lobby detail from the photo from the Arthur B. Perkins Collection that's at the top of the page. The display case on the left has a poster for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." 

 

2010 - A photo from Robby Cress that appears with "Suddenly (1954) Film Locations," a post on the blog Dear Old Hollywood. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the post. 

 

 

2018 - A view from Google Maps.  

 

2023 - Thanks to Cat Lukaszewski for this shot, one of eight photos in a Facebook post about the January show with the Brian Hogan band that she attended.

 The American in the Movies: 

Kim Charney walks by the theatre in the opening credit sequence of Lewis Allen's film "Suddenly" (United Artists, 1954). He'll soon be joined by the sheriff, played by Sterling Hayden. Frank Sinatra stars as the leader of a group of mobsters planning to assassinate the President when he visits the small town of Suddenly, California. Also featured are James Gleason and Nancy Gates. The cinematography was by Charles G. Clarke. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for two more shots of the American. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the theatre in the film. 

 

 

We get this nice view of the theatre in "Invasion of the Bee Girls" (Sequoia / Centaur, 1973). It looks like they're doing a sewer improvement project. But the big problem in town is that men are dropping dead all over the place during extremely vigorous sex. Too bad we don't get a death in the projection booth. Yes, the Bee Girls are responsible. Denis Sanders directed from a script by Nicholas Meyer. The cinematography was by Gary Graver. The cast includes William Smith, Anitra Ford and Victoria Vetri. They have a meeting in the former theatre to decide what to do. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for two very unexciting interior views.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the American. There's also a page about the theatre on the Santa Clarita Valley History website. Yelp has a page about the venue.

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