Whittier Theatre
11612 Whittier Boulevard,
Whittier,
CA
90601
11612 Whittier Boulevard,
Whittier,
CA
90601
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The Whittier Theatre opened in 1928 and its architect was David S. Bushnell. A Spanish lighthouse tower looks down on the theatre and its connected retail shopping center. The patio to the north of the theatre provides a semi-enclosed public space upon which the small retail stores open. This building type (a theatre combined with a forecourt of retail stores) came into being in Califorina in the mid-1920s.
The Whittier Theatre was located at 1410 W. Whittier Blvd., It seated 1016 people and the last chain to run it before the earthquake was Pacific Theatres.
Actually Culver City never had a Carthay Circle theatre. There was one in Los Angeles on San Vicente that had many world premiere’s.
In 1975, I went to see a movie here with some friends who lived in Whittier. We all enjoyed the special ambience that only unique buildings like movie palaces really have, the distinctive tower, and the wraparound marquee, and the plush carpeting and a supremely elegant lobby.
Sadly, it all came crashing down in the Whittier earthquake of 1987, and had to be razed. Built of similar materials and design, and in a similar Mission Revival style as the much more grandiose celebrated Carthay Circle Theatre in Culver City, this is what would have happened to the Carthay Circle had it been hit by an earthquake.