If you enter the address in this site, you will see aerial photos from 1948 to the present. In the first shot Culver City is farmland, and the theater is under construction. Over the years you see the area developing. In the contemporary photos there is no trace of the drive-in. View link
I found this photo circa 1945 in the LAPL database. For some reason it doesn’t show up when you enter Rialto as a search term. I think this is the Rialto in South Pasadena. http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078486.jpg
If you enter the address on this site, you can see the theater in the 1952 and 1972 aerials. It was long gone by the time the 1980 photo was taken. View link
Since we have no photos, these are my recollections from 30 years ago:
Large metal marquee with square letters spelling out Beach
Cashier booth on the south side of the entrance
Ticket taker sitting on a stool just inside the entrance
Old candy counter with nothing being sold
Good-sized interior, maybe 400-500 seats
Seats were old and not that comfortable
No curtain
If you enter 421 E. Absecon Avenue, city of Absecon, on this site and pan down a bit, you can see some nice aerials from the sixties and seventies. View link
Right, but we’re talking about north/south numbers that get bigger as you go downtown, or south. Since the theater was in the middle of the block, more or less, you wouldn’t be concerned with any east or west numbers starting in the beach block and going westward.
My school was a couple of blocks south on Pacific and North Carolina and had a 1216 address. I think the Beach would have been between 1200 and 1300, on the east or even side of the street. The Googlemobile skipped AC, it looks like.
This photo is supposed to be at a theater in downtown Los Angeles. I thought the marquee most closely matched that of the State: http://electricearl.com/dws/movie.html
If you enter the address in this site, you will see aerial photos from 1948 to the present. In the first shot Culver City is farmland, and the theater is under construction. Over the years you see the area developing. In the contemporary photos there is no trace of the drive-in.
View link
An ad for the Imperial is on the left in this December 1947 issue of the Long Beach Press Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/dnml69
Here is a December 1947 ad from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/czqhqr
I found this photo circa 1945 in the LAPL database. For some reason it doesn’t show up when you enter Rialto as a search term. I think this is the Rialto in South Pasadena.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078486.jpg
The last film to play at the Olympic was “Gordon’s War” with Paul Winfield, according to the LA Times ads of October 1973.
If you enter the address on this site, you can see the theater in the 1952 and 1972 aerials. It was long gone by the time the 1980 photo was taken.
View link
Since we have no photos, these are my recollections from 30 years ago:
Large metal marquee with square letters spelling out Beach
Cashier booth on the south side of the entrance
Ticket taker sitting on a stool just inside the entrance
Old candy counter with nothing being sold
Good-sized interior, maybe 400-500 seats
Seats were old and not that comfortable
No curtain
If you enter 421 E. Absecon Avenue, city of Absecon, on this site and pan down a bit, you can see some nice aerials from the sixties and seventies.
View link
The name sounds like an attempt to please both campuses.
Right, but we’re talking about north/south numbers that get bigger as you go downtown, or south. Since the theater was in the middle of the block, more or less, you wouldn’t be concerned with any east or west numbers starting in the beach block and going westward.
I never saw the V on the marquee as my first recollection of the Virginia is in the early 1970s.
My school was a couple of blocks south on Pacific and North Carolina and had a 1216 address. I think the Beach would have been between 1200 and 1300, on the east or even side of the street. The Googlemobile skipped AC, it looks like.
Here are some photos taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/d9ou3f
http://tinyurl.com/d74ojr
http://tinyurl.com/cx68fl
Photo taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/cn8gs7
Here is the Vogue and the tree, taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/cw8esx
Here are some photos taken yesterday. The old ads are gone from the back wall.
http://tinyurl.com/ce5pnf
http://tinyurl.com/d5zwyp
http://tinyurl.com/c87obw
Here is a photo circa 1940s:
http://tinyurl.com/c58hfl
This 1914 photo shows an unidentified theater in Pittsburg:
http://tinyurl.com/cdxj3v
Here is a postcard, perhaps late twenties or early thirties:
http://tinyurl.com/cvna7r
Here is a 1944 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/clh2z8
Here is a 1942 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/c2njac
The theater is visible on the right in this undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/djmw9f
The site mentioned on 5/13/08 has added some new photos to its collection:
http://tinyurl.com/ca7ovq
This photo is supposed to be at a theater in downtown Los Angeles. I thought the marquee most closely matched that of the State:
http://electricearl.com/dws/movie.html
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cl4k5g