Valley Village Theatre

Laurel Canyon Blvd. between Magnolia and Weddington Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607 

The Valley Village real estate broker Bob Symonds put together two different packages to get a theatre built on property he owned. They were nearly a decade apart, with different people involved. Neither came to fruition. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the articles.  

More unbuilt projects: Majestic - 600 block of Broadway 1904 - see data on the page for the one that DID get built in the 900 block | New Hollywood Theatre c.1917 | Morosco - 7th St.  1920 | Music Box - Cahuenga Blvd. 1923 | Pasadena projects: Pantages - Warner - Mission 1920s | Roosevelt - Hawthorne 1926 | Wyatt Park Square Theatre  1929 | Laemmle/UA - Hollywood & Vine  1931 | Beverly Theatre - Beverly at La Brea  1934 | Trocadero - 8800 block of Sunset 1936 |  Bee Bee - Santa Monica Blvd. 1939 | Artesia Theatre 1948 | Life Theatre - Vermont at Imperial 1948 | New Opera House - Lafayette Park 1948 |  

 

Project #1 -  1941: 

5201 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607 | map |  

This would have been on the northwest corner of Laurel Canyon and Magnolia. The operators were to have been Samuel Decker and Bernard Leavitt. The Hollywood Citizen-News noted that they had theatres in Santa Monica, Culver City, Laguna Beach and Eagle Rock. 

Seating capacity: 900

Architect: Unknown 

 This illustration and article appeared in the April 15, 1941 issue of the Hollywood Citizen-News: 

 Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story. 

Opening: It never happened. The project wasn't pursued. 

Status: There's now a Bank of America branch on the corner.  

 

Project #2 - 1950:

North end of the 5200 block of Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607 | map |  

The L.A. Times noted that this one was proposed for Laurel Canyon and Weddington, at the north end of the same block proposed by Symonds for the 1941 project. They reported that it was to be built by Alex Schreiber and Associates of Detroit as the second in a proposed chain. Their first one was the Paradise Theatre in Westchester, a house that opened in August 1950. The company was called Associated Theatres of Michigan. 

Seating capacity: A Boxoffice article noted that it would be 1,000 seats.

Architect: Not known. Perhaps it was to be by the team used for the Paradise: Arthur Froelich of Los Angeles and Theodore Rogvoy, based in Detroit. 

The project was announced in this January 25, 1950 article in the L.A. Times: 

 Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story.   

The Valley Village was noted in this August 26, 1950 Boxoffice article about the opening of the Paradise:

 

They mangled the Detroit architect Theodore Rogvoy's name a bit. The company also was planning a second theatre in the Valley, the 1,800 seat Valley Plaza. 

Opening: Well, this second attempt at putting together a deal somehow didn't happen. And that proposed Valley Plaza house wasn't built either. 

Status: It's unknown specifically which lot on Laurel Canyon Blvd. was intended for the 1950 theatre but the area is now built up with low-rise buildings of various vintages. 

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