Whittier Theatre

And ken mc — don’t forget about Whittier’s own Roxy (RIP):

/theaters/2399/

The Wardman is listed here as Whittier Village Cinemas. It’s still open, and has been multiplexed.

From www.dictionary.com:

The underside of a structural component, such as a beam, arch, staircase, or cornice; the underside of a part of a building (such as an arch or overhang or beam etc.)

In our context, it’s the underside of the marquee. It seems like an often overlooked component of a theater building, but it’s interesting how soffits vary individually in their use of sometimes elaborate incandescent lights, neon, etc.

Two of the most elaborate soffits I’m aware of are those of the Warner Cinerama/Hollywood Pacific and the Pantages in Hollywood. They are gorgeous — coffered and detailed — either of wood or crafted to look like it. That of the Pantages was hidden for many years by a horrid dropped ceiling with spotlights. This was during the unfortunate remodeling that moved the ticket booth to a sidewall of the outer lobby. Comments on the page for the Pantages indicate that the original coffered soffit has been uncovered.

I would love to know what other cinema fans' favorite soffits are!

I just remembered something else. It was common to refer to this theater locally as the “Whittier Walk-In” to distinguish it from the Whittier Drive-In /theaters/3822/, just one town away and also on Whittier Boulevard.

Whoa!! When I first looked at those pictures, I wondered “What’s that thing in the middle of the courtyard?” (It looks like something that skateboarders would use as a prop.) Then I realized it’s the soffit of the marquee! Oh geez, how sad.

I probably went to the Whittier more than any other local theater when I was a kid. As another poster mentioned, I too was completely captivated by the ersatz Mexican village along the walls and the moving clouds on the ceiling. Of course, I had no idea what an “atmospheric” theater was back then; I actually thought that the decorative elements along the wall were real, and somehow physically connected to the outside of the theater (which of course had the same theme).

The retail stores in the plaza never seemed to be successful. I remember a drug store and a furniture store being there at various times. Perhaps that was a consequence of the rather odd location of the theater. Whittier Boulevard had been U.S. 101 before being bypassed by the Santa Ana Freeway in the 1950s, but this was a fairly non-descript stretch of road and certainly not a hub of local retail and commercial activity.

As the picture above shows, the Whittier was at one time part of a local chain called Bruen’s. They also operated the Wardman and the Roxy in Uptown Whittier, and the Sundown Drive-In. Only the Wardman survives, as the Whittier Village Cinemas multiplex.

I stumbled on the Whittier Theater back in 1968. I went there to see a movie, not knowing anything about the place. I had a hard time watching the movie because I was infatuated with the decor — the Mexican village along the walls and the moving clouds — it was really charming. I just moved back to L.A. after 35 years and the Theater was one of the first places I wanted to re-visit. Very sad it was torn down.

I saw the Whittier Theater only once, shortly before it was torn down. It did resemble the Carthay Circle Theater on San Vincente, probably the finest movie palace ever built. I only wish I would have had a camera with me that day—when I returned to Whittier with a camera about a month later the magnificent Whittier Theater had been torn down. Whittier lost a true gem.

I remember seeing “E.T.” here when it came out or shortly after it came out. This theatre was also my younger brother’s first job when he was still going to Whittier High. He loved movies and was getting into filmmaking so getting to see movies here while working and getting free passes/discounts was a big thing for a teenage boy interested in movies! He even made a short film back in the mid-Eighties there(using the rooms above the theatre…in lighthouse tower perhaps? I have to ask him) with the permission of the theatre while he was still working there. He still has the film and the opening sequence is a nighttime shot of the theatre and its marquee so it’s nice to have a little bit of the Whittier Theatre preserved on film.

The story of the Whittier Theatre is sad…true, the Spaghetti Factory was interested and I also agree that it was NOT because of the quake that the building was razed. Excuses, excuses. It is too bad the building could not be saved, whether for the Spaghetti Factory or some other establishment that could have preserved this building. I had read that the theatre was originally a vaudeville theatre and people like Al Jolson had performed there. A piece of history torn down, but it was very typical of Whittier to get rid of historic buildings. Guess perhaps the attitude has changed but too late to save the Whittier Theatre or the beautiful Carnegie Library. I have seen pics of this old library and I cannot BELIEVE it was torn down to build(in another location)the ugly looking current library. Ironically, some sample designs of what the new library(which is to be built on the old Hadley Alpha Beta site)will look like reminds one a little of the old Carnegie Library!

Save Our Historic Buildings, a community group, sued the city and developer. With the valuable help of Bill Delvac, an expert in historic preservation law, I was able, as a young attorney, to get an injunction for about three years preventing its further destruction by the city. Unfortunately, although many citizens rallied and the entire city council eventually changed to a pro-historic preservation mentality, it was not in time to save the theatre. If we had had that council in place then today we could be enjoying a Spaghetti Factory in our own city with our theatre intact. Instead we must travel to Duarte and on the theatre site we have yet another drug store. However the fight we fought resulted in a paradigm shift so that we now have citizens who are watchdogs and a city administration which values and protects our remaining historic buildings and quality of life. I was honored to play a part in this succesful battle. —David Dickerson

I’m away at college now, but I was down in Whittier about six weeks ago. Personally I think they should have remodelled or renovated the Whitwood Mall because if you have gone in there before it was demolished it was kind of gloomy and empty. They had to do something with it. I don’t think that they need a Target or a WalMart as they are both farely close in Santa Fe Springs, but I guess it’s all in the name of corporate greed. If they do put something in there I hope it’s a Target and not a WalMart. I know where the Walgreens on Whittier is, it’s surprising that that area used to be a movie theater because it’s nothing but warehouses and factories now. The Regal Cinema was put in after the Quake and has been vacant for sometime, they needed to do something with it.

Where exactly was the Whittier Theater? I’m from Whittier and had moved there just prior to the Whittier Narrows Quake, which was the first quake that I ever experienced. I just remember that there was a lot of damage especially to where the Quad is at right now. They had to demolish a lot of old buildings and put in new ones.

I remember the lights on the ceiling. In the 80s, the price for admission was $1 for students.

I especially liked to watch movies from the upper balcony inside the Whittier Theatre. It was a sad sight to see it fall. I am glad to have good memories of it.