Picfair Theatre
5879 W. Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90019
5879 W. Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90019
5 people
favorited this theater
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The Picfair closed September 5, 1983 with a double feature of “Tootsie” and “Private School.” In April of 1984, the Picfair became a live music venue closing in August that same year.
January 24th, 1941 grand opening ad in photo section.
The Joseph Moritz mentioned in the caption was the father of Milton Moritz, president of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) and the grandfather of Neil Moritz, producer of the “Fast and Furious” movies.
At one point it became a swap meet and the facade of the building was covered. After the riots burned the building, you could see the marquee and the P sign. Behind the P were lights that flashed on and off. I went to the children’s film matinees during the summer in the ‘70s. Remember Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Pippi Longstocking the most. It was already run down by then. We named our neighborhood association Picfair Village after it.
The comment by the projectionist is mostly correct. It was opened around 1940 or 1941.It was built by Joe De Bell. It was on north side of Pico just west of Fairfax. thus the name PICFAIR. There was a sound proof crying room upstairs where mothers could take their crying children and watch the movie. The first ushers were Jimmy Lang & Alan Mc Farlane and they wore uniforms. The customer who made the biggest stir at the theatre was the boxer Billy Conn shortly after he almost beat Joe Louis, He was brought there by Robert Taylor & Barbara Stanwyck, who were ignored by the customers who flocked around Billy Conn. There was a coin operated popcorn machine in the lobby,the price for a bag was 10 cents. There was a sweet shop next door that also sold sandwiches and was operated by Norman & Rose Stengel, she was the sister of Nina Mohi. The cashier was Nina Mohi was wife of Ben Mohi she was also my mother. The theatre when opened was owned and operated solely by Ben Mohi, an individual who was also the manager and it was sold to Arkoff & Nicholson in the mid forties.
I should know the above facts as Ben Mohi was my father and I spent a great deal of time in the theatre.
Gary Mohi
I was just watching a bad DVD transfer of a 1962 film “The Devil’s Hand”, and in one location shot near the end you can see the PICFAIR marquee in the background. I’d lived in L.A. during the ‘70s and '80s and remembered the name Picfair, but I didn’t recall whether I knew it as the name of a theater, a neighborhood, or whatever. If I had the means to grab a frame of that shot, I’d post it, but at the moment I don’t. If you’re watching the film, it’s just a minute or two before the end.
Picture says it all ken mc.thanks.
This appears to be the Picfair after the riots in 1992:
http://tinyurl.com/4tdf6x9
Here is a February 1971 ad for an Andy Warhol film at the Picfair:
http://tinyurl.com/ydd83jr
Here is a profile from the LA Times in October 1977:
PICFAIR-5879 W. Pico Blvd at Fairfax, Los Angeles 933-5609
The Picfair has been for years a popular neighborhood theater. In 1968, the Loews chain bought it and financed $100,000 worth of remodeling, including a modern marquee, new upholstery, air conditioning and other assorted accoutrements. Attendance, however, began to drop off and the theater went through a series of programming changes, from foreign films to X-rated. Recently it was taken over by Jamiel Cetin, with “great faith in its possibilities†said Cetin, “because of its location central to Century City, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and the Santa Monica Freeway.â€
The theater had developed a rowdy reputation, with occasional brawls breaking out inside. But now the customers and the fare are different. “We are moving towards a cultural policyâ€, said Cetin, “retrospectives of classic foreign and American films, festivals devoted to an era or a director as well as first-run foreign films.†Features have included Louis Malle’s “Black Moonâ€, Satyajit Ray’s “Distant Thunderâ€, “The African Queenâ€, “The Lion in Winterâ€, Nureyev and Fonteyn in the Bolshoi’s “Romeo and Julietâ€, and the Los Angeles premiere of Joel Seria’s “The Cookies of Pont-Avenâ€.
“I want to create a cultural film center for Los Angelesâ€, said Cetin, “bringing the best foreign films I can obtain, as well as musicals and ballet.â€
It was torched during the 1992 riots.
I recall driving around this area immediately following the riots, but I don’t remember seeing the theater. It looks like it was demolished shortly thereafter.
wow ken
that just put a smile on my face.in the late 80s the building was gray.thanks for posting.
Here are some 1982 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/d9c3so
http://tinyurl.com/dnbgdd
The India’s Oven restaurant was on the west end of the building and Albee’s Discount Appliances was located in the former theatre lobby and auditorium. The food was good at the India’s Oven, till a friend who lived nearby told me he would see them hosing down cook pots in the little service alley behind the restaurant.
Here is a May 1969 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3rzerg
they started contruction on that building around 01 or 02.the lot had been empty for at least 7 years.
By 1984 there are advertisements for India’s Oven restaurant there and then in 1985 it changes to Albee’s Discount Appliances.
The last movie listing I can find is from June 12, 1980 so far:
PICFAIR, 5879 W. Pico-939-5212
Super Classic Hit-“Mere Mehboob”
The building in that photo is misleading – and when did they put up that building??? If Fairfax is indeed the block we can’t see to the very east of the building, that’s where the Picfair was – just a few steps west of Fairfax on Pico, hence the name Picfair.
when exactly did they stop showing movies there(including indian)?
Ah right. Not the Picfair, I meant the Picwood!
Saw the orginal run of ET here, and also saw WOLFEN. Nice theater, great location.
Advertised as an Indian language theater in the LA Times on 3/15/81.
Like two-reeler above, I went to the Picfair almost every week from 1954 to 1964, seeing every Saturday matinee (I was probably at the same shows as he was). I remember running into the lobby when The Fly was unmasked, so horrifying was it. I saw Hard Day’s Night there, and Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three and hundreds upon hundreds of others. One thing no one has mentioned is that the Picfair could not show proper Cinemascope. They simply showed it on their 1:85 screen, cutting the sides of the image off – and having black bars top and bottom – in essence, the first letterbox cinema! For those who are nostalgia-minded, the Picfair (and the Lido and the Stadium) all play huge roles in three novels I wrote, a trilogy and thinly-veiled fiction of my childhood growing up in Los Angeles. For those who are interested, the books are Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time – you can read about them at amazon.com.