Criterion Theatre
1315 3rd Street,
Santa Monica,
CA
90401
1315 3rd Street,
Santa Monica,
CA
90401
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments
I remember going there as a kid in the 60’s, before and after the construction of the 3rd Street pedestrian mall. My mom would drop us off on Saturday afternoons for the matinee. As I recall, at the time it was 25¢ for the kids' Saturday matinee, and 50¢ if it was a double features. (This was for first-run pictures, and included all of the usual pre-feature cartoons, etc.)
I’m sorry to hear that the old theater was razed. We moved away in 1971, and I’ve never been back, though I have great memories of the place. It was huge and beautiful, and the Saturday matinees were the only time our parents would let us go to the Criterion – since it was an all-kid audience and it didn’t matter how much noise we made.
It’s fun for me now, years later, to point out the Criterion marquee to my own son, when we watch “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” together…
There was a time during the 80s when they were showing the double bill for 49 cents and on Tuesdays Free Popcorn. I wondered how the hell they could do that. I went.
Oh it was the biggest and most well appointed theater in Santa Monica! I remember it from the early 50’s & 60’s. The stage was so large that when other theaters had to renovate in order to install the new cinemascope screens, the Criterion installed theirs easily and it looked as though it had always been there. The Criterion had plush red seats and ushers to open doors, it had a real “powder room” for ladies to sit down on sofas, or at large mirrors for “repair” work. It played only first-run movies and special attractions like 3-D or a midnight show on Halloween. I remember the feeling of immense space entering the main auditorium, but not a lost feeling; the thick carpets, comfortable seats and 60 ft. screen (seen only when the film began and the curtains parted) gave one a sense of being a part of something important. E.L.
Many of the theatre organs that were in Fox West Coast Theatres were sold in the early to mid 60’s.
The marquee of this theatre can be seen in the early half of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”, with the program “Cartoon Cavalcade” showing.
Though I don’t know the present status of the organ from this theatre, it can be heard on the album, “Million Dollar Echoes,” by the late Gaylord Carter.
The Criterion Theatre was part of Fox West Coast Theatres chain for many years. It opened around 1925, it seated 1200 people in a very wide auditorium. When it opened the rear Loge seats were large leather seats. This theatre had an organ, which was later sold in the 50’s. When this theatre opened it had a Spanish revival decor. In the early 40’s, the theatre had it’s first remodel. In this remodel the theatre was reseated with American Bodiform seats, which will be in the theatre for the next 50 years. Also in this remodel the theatre would lose 4 large chandeliers and change the general lighting in the house. The next remodel would happen in around 1965 to go with the New Mall. In that remodel The Criterion would get a new two sided marquee and lose the vertical Criterion sign. During the 60’s the theatre was operated by National General Theatres, which was Fox West Coast Theatres later company. In the early 70’s NGT would sell the chain the Mann Theatres. Mann would drop the Criterion in the late 70’s. During the 80’s the Criterion would become an independent theatre. Also during this time as an independent it ran double features for the price of .49 cents. Shortly after that Metropolitan theatres leased the house and the El Miro theatre. For the next few years both houses ran spanish films. In the late 80’s the Criterion theatre was razed to make way for Mann Theatre’s New State of the Art 6 plex. The old Criterion theatre building, was made up of two buildings. The front building housed the marquee and the Criterion apartments, then the theatre was located on the back half of the lot. When Mann built the new theatre, they did the same thing. But in the Northridge earthquake the apartment part of the building was damaged. For the next 4 ½ years the apartments sat unused. During this time the apartment part of the building was gutted and rebuilt. The theatre enlarged the lobby and added a few retail stores on the mall level. Today the Criterion theatre, like the earlier Criterion presents the best Hollywood has to offer.