Whittier Theatre

11612 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, CA 90601 | map |

Opened: July 31, 1929 as McNees Theatre. The opening attraction was "From Headquarters" with Monte Blue along with several vaudeville acts. The 1947 Barton's Studio postcard is on the Library of Congress website as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey materials.

The location was on the south side of the street where Whittier meets Hadley St. An old address for the building was 1410 W. Whittier Blvd. The street got renumbered. The complex was built on property that had been owned by Ralph McNees, once part of the McNees ranch. Wheatland Construction was the general contractor. Steven Otto comments: 

"An interesting tidbit here is that city boundaries at this juncture on Whittier Boulevard were manipulated in the 1920s. Whittier was a dry town with blue laws, and some interested parties wanted to make it possible at least to exhibit entertainment on Sundays."

Whittier Amusement Co. was the initial owner of the buildings. The principals were Henry J. Siler, J. Henry Gwin and R.H. Blair. Siler had a long history of theatre operation in Whittier with his venues including the Gale Theatre and the Scenic / Roxy Theatre.  

Seating: 1,016, almost all on one level. There were two small private boxes on either side of the booth but not a real balcony.

Stage: The building had a full stage with fly capability. The  rigging installation was by J.D. Martin Studios. Another of the company's jobs was the Mayan Theatre (1927).

Architect: David S. Bushnell of Whittier designed the Spanish revival themed complex of shops around a patio that led back to the atmospheric theatre. The original construction budget was $160,000. Several years later Bushnell designed the Wardman Theatre, now known as the Whittier Village Cinemas. 

 

A plot plan of the complex. It's one of 17 pages of drawings and 35 photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey data about the theatre. HABS has a Whittier Theatre overview page on the Library of Congress website with links to the data pages and images. All the photos, except for the postcard at the top of the page and a 40s aerial view, are shots taken after the 1987 earthquake.

Bushnell's elevation of the tower and buildings in front of the theatre. Click on any of these for larger views.

 

 

 

Floorplans and a section view of the tower.  

 

 

An elevation of the west side of the theatre. 

 

 

 

 A section through the theatre. 

 

 

The main floor plan. 

 

 

The plan at booth level.

 

A drawing of the house left auditorium wall. HABS notes on page 7 of their data sheets that "the interior of the theatre was meant to evoke the courtyard of a Spanish hacienda, with stuccoed walls, ornamental tile and ironwork, balconies, and tile roof projections from the auditorium's side walls." 

 

The rear of the auditorium.  

 

 

 

An elevation of the proscenium area. 

 

 

The stage floorplan. The dimmerboard and rigging are stage right, on the left side of the image. 

 

 

The stage basement plan. The mechanical room was stage right, with dressing rooms filling the rest of the space. In the lower center note the steps up to the orchestra pit.   

 

 

The plan for the grid steelwork. This one is taken from a set of drawings in the Ronald W. Mahan collection. Along the top note the buttresses to strengthen the back wall of the stagehouse.

A grid steelwork detail taken from the plan in Ron's collection. 

The HABS writer comments that the Whittier Daily News reported in a November 19, 1987 article that "the cloud machine apparatus that projected the atmospheric effects on the auditorium ceiling had not been working for several years, and many of the ceiling stars had disappeared."

The Historic American Buildings Survey had this to say about the theatre:

"The Whittier Theatre was the largest and most elaborate movie theater complex in Whittier. It was significant as an example of a local architect's interpretation both of the prevailing trend toward grand-scale movie palace construction and of the enormous popularity of the Spanish colonial architectural style in Southern California in the early 20th century. It was one of few motion picture theaters to have incorporated 'atmospheric' effects in the auditorium lighting to simulate sunset, moving clouds, and a starlit sky. 

 

"Its tower was a local landmark, visible even from the Interstate 605 freeway, more than a mile to the west. For decades, the theater and its adjacent shops were part of the cultural life not only of Whittier but of the adjoining local communities as well. Throughout its history, the theater reflected national trends in family entertainment. Built during the era of the transition from vaudeville and silent films to 'talkies,' the theater experienced its golden years in the decades of the 1930s and 1940s, declining with the growing popularity of television and video rentals."

S. Charles Lee was involved in various late-1940s remodeling projects at the Whittier. Presumably the c.1946 marquee that was on the building until the the end was a design by Lee. It's unknown how much other work by him was proposed but perhaps not executed. Some of his involvement is discussed on page four of the HABS "data pages", a PDF from the Library of Congress collection:

One of the not-executed proposals by Lee and theatre equipment supplier B.F. Shearer was to increase the seating capacity by adding a balcony and more seats in front. The latter would have been achieved by removing the proscenium arch and pushing the seating area onto what had been the stage. 

History: The project was announced in "Work Started on Whittier Theater," a February 3, 1929 L.A. Times article located by Joe Vogel:

"Shops to Face Court Leading to Amusement Place -- Atmospheric Interior Supplied by Architect -- Work of excavating for the foundation of Whittier's $160,000 theater building began this week, and the building is to be complete and ready for occupancy early in June. The theater, located on Whittier Boulevard, the Los Angeles-San Diego State Highway, is at the intersection of Hadley street, one of the main traveled arteries leading from the boulevard to the business and residential districts of Whittier. The theater, which is being built by the Whittier Amusement Company, will be known as the McNees Theater Building, being located in the McNees tract, one of the latest subdivisions in the Whittier district.  

"The building is of Spanish architecture and David S. Bushnell is the architect. It will house the theater proper, cafe, market, drug store and a number of smaller shops and concessions. The floor space is 170 feet on Whittier Boulevard and runs back 260 feet. Red tile roofs and a handsome turret give an old-world appearance. Wrought-iron grill work and colorful tiles help to enhance the beauty of the building. 

"The auditorium is approached through an open court on which the shops are facing. The theater has a seating capacity of 1000 on the first floor. It is of the new 'atmospheric' type, and is claimed to be the first of its kind on the Coast. Illusion of the natural sky at evening is presented by the color of the ceiling, moving clouds across the sky and twinkling stars. Earl M. Wheatland is the contractor. 

"The Whittier Amusement Company is composed of business men of the district, and is capitalized for $2000,000. Henry Siler is president; Henry Gwin, secretary; Robert Blair, treasurer. These men, with Harry Orcutt and Roy Daniels, compose the board of directors."

The Whittier News devoted a whole page to the new theatre in their Monday July 29, 1929 issue. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the page. The rendering they used had earlier appeared with the February 3 Times story but, as Mike Hume notes, in that version there was no name on the roof. The coverage in the Whittier News:

Thanks Lisa!

A mention in the Los Angeles Public Library's California Index located by Joe Vogel noted a November 26, 1929 report in the Whittier News that the house would be reopening soon as the Warner Bros. Whittier. 

A February 1930 flyer for the theatre as the Warner Bros. Whittier. This was reproduced in the October 1991 issue of the Tom B'hend publication Greater L.A. Metro Newsreel. The issue is in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks to Ron for scanning this.

It's listed as the Warner Bros. Whittier in the 1930/31 and 1932 Whittier city directories. Warner Bros. didn't stay long. While their Vitaphone releases generated great business, as the depression deepened they ended up in receivership and backed out of leases where they could. In the 1934 directory it's just the Whittier Theatre. 

In the 1940s and 1950s the theatre was known as Bruen's Whittier. Hugh W. Bruen also ran the Wardman (now the Whittier Village Cinemas), the Roxy Theatre, and the Sundown Drive-In. The Roxy closed in 1968. By 1969 Pacific Theatres ended up with the rest including a mall house that had opened in 1968, the Whittwood. 

 

A 1972 flyer from the Steven Otto collection. He notes that Larry Vincent' as 'Seymour' hosted horror movie showings on the TV station KHJ.

In early 1974 Malcolm Hardy's firm Century Theatres, leased the three indoor houses from Pacific. He had started the company by taking over the Rivoli in Long Beach in 1973 and soon also had the Reseda Theatre, the Cameo in El Sereno and the Cove in Hermosa. Jim Lytel was his district manager. Century also operated the Rialto and the Highland Twins in San Bernardino, the Pismo Theatre in Pismo Beach, the San Luis Obispo Drive-In, the Town in Gilroy and the Mt. Burney Theatre in Burney. 

 

Century Theatres, Inc. shouldn't be confused with the mid-1970s Century Cinema Circuit headed by Fred and Robert Stein that was also operating in the LA area. Malcolm:

"I was 28 years old when I started. It was great fun and I ran a top-notch operation. A number of theatres had first run product, we spent money of Dolby Sound, redecoration, new seats, new projection and platters. Our offices were in the 9000 building on Sunset. I operated the company for 18 years. 

"Then came the building of the multiplex theatres! I just never had the money or the investors to get into the multiplex business. I then went to work for United Artists as manager of the Metro San Francisco, and later as district manager for Tom Moyer in Oregon, which was taken over by Act III Theatres."

In its final years, the Whittier was no longer getting first run bookings and was running as a bargain house.

 

A 1979 drawing by Joseph Musil for Dramio, Inc. that envisioned restoring the theatre, adding a restaurant, and turning the complex into something called the Trocadero. Thanks to Ronald W. Mahan for sharing this from his collection.  

 

Closing: It sustained some damage in the October 1, 1987 Whittier earthquake and didn't reopen following that. Malcolm Hardy says he gave it back to Pacific. The consensus was that the building was eminently repairable. 

 

Status: Old Spaghetti Factory was interested in moving in and the City of Whittier was going to buy the building. And then it fell apart. The Pacific Theatres parent company, Decurion Corporation, preferred to redevelop the property with new strip mall buildings. The demolition of the theatre didn't happen until four years after the earthquake.

Interior views:

A 1988 look down the lobby with the snackbar straight ahead and the auditorium off to the left.  Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

Looking toward the stage. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS - 1988

The house left wall. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS - 1988

A left wall detail. Photo: Elvin Porter - Whittier Public Library - November 1987 

A portion of the house right wall. Photo: Elvin Porter - Whittier Public Library - November 1987 

 

Another house right wall detail. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS - 1988

The rear of the auditorium. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS - 1988

More exterior views: 

 

1940s - A fine view of the complex from the Library of Congress collection. Note at this point the theatre hadn't yet installed the marquee across the entrance to the forecourt. See the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) overview page about the Whittier Theatre on the LOC website for 53 photos and drawings of the theatre. 

 

 1948 - A shot from a clip located by April Wright for a post on her Going Attractions - Entertainment, Amusements, Americana Facebook page. She notes that it's from the 2004 Passport Video DVD set "30 years of Academy Award Winners 1972-2002." It's available on Amazon. In the clip on April's post we also see the Boulevard, Golden Gate and Monterey theatres. Thanks, April!

 

 

1983 - The theatre running "An Officer and a Gentleman" along with "Urban Cowboy." It's a photo from the now-vanished American Classic Images website.

 

1983 - A wider view giving us a look at the stagehouse. It's another photo from American Classic Images. 

 

1983 - A "Tootsie" view that once appeared on the American Classic Images website.

1984 - Thanks to Matt Spero for sharing this photo he took during the theatre's bargain house era.

1987 - A Whittier City Archives forecourt view via the Whittier Public Library.  

c.1987 - Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this photo from his collection. The marquee copy is suggesting that we visit a nearby Pacific Theatres triplex.

c.1988 - Thanks to the Whittier Daily News for this photo that appeared with Mike Sprague's 2017 story "Decades after 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, here are the parts of Uptown Whittier still recovering."

1988 - A view after the marquee was taken down. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - The Gretna Ave. side of the complex. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - Looking into the forecourt. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - The boxoffice and entrance at the end of the forecourt. The stairs to the booth and private boxes can be seen through one of the arches on the left. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - A look up the tower, still with its vertical sign. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - Along the east side of the building. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

1988 - The back wall of the stage. Photo: Library of Congress / HABS

early 1990 -Thanks to Steven Otto for sharing his photo of the building awaiting salvation. The building wasn't saved despite having an interested tenant, Old Spaghetti Factory. It was demolished in 1991.

  

2019 - A lovely Walgreens on the site. That's Hadley St. on the right. Photo: Google Maps 

 

The Whittier in the Movies:

The marquee is seen in the opening credits of "Coming Attractions" (Cinema Finance Associates, 1978). Ira Miller directed the film, retitled "Loose Shoes" for a 1982 reissue. It's a comedy structured as a series of skits and trailers. 

Featured are Bill Murray, Buddy Hackett, Royce D. Applegate, Lewis Arquette, Tom Baker and Dorothy Van. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for marquee shots of the La Reina, Wiltern, Palace, Orpheum and Rivoli in Long Beach. The Gilmore Drive-In is seen at the film's end.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Whittier for many memories of moviegoing there. The theatre is discussed Nicholas Edmeier's 2023 article "History of Whittier Movie Theaters" on the Whittier Museum blog.

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