It’s too bad so many wonderful theaters have stopped showing movies. I saw Dr. Zhivago back in early 1967, while I was in combat medic training at Fort Sam. It was a memorable Sunday afternoon I still recall to this day.
The Encore theater was a great repertory house for old 30s-60s movies and foreign films. Two friends and I saw “Swing Time” there on a long smoke-filled Hollywood weekend in 1969. The lobby held a bizarre 5-foot image of the owner, and the theater part faced sideways behind the deep-red velour drapes that covered all the walls. A unique theater, like all the other disappeared theaters in L.A. irreplaceable.
I remember the El Portal from the 50’s and 60’s. It was my Mom’s favorite theatre. Among many others, we kids saw a rerelease of Disney’s Fantasia and we all went to a rerelease of Bambi on my birthday. North Hollywood was a favorite place to go. There was an old wood-floor Woolworth’s right across the street where I’d always order a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate malt.
That’s exactly where it was, also very near to the football field at San Fernando High. In fact, on nights when there was a game, the lights and crowd noise quite interrupted the atmosphere of whatever movie was being shown. A friend of mine worked at the Laurel and could therefore go in free on other nights. I saw several movies for free by riding with him.
I went back to Redondo, about eight months ago, after not having seen it for about 45 years. The things that have changed outnumer the things that are the same, but my Grandma’s house, up the hill on Lucia Avenue, is still there, a different color now, but otherwise the same as I remembered. I missed the last days of the Fox, and of the Strand Theater too. It really is good to share some of the memories everyone has left here. Thanks to the people who run this website and to all you folks who remember the Fox as fondly as I do.
Hi Lost Memory. Did you post the release date of “Blood Feast” as a point of information? Or to dispute ken mc’s post that it was playing at the San Val in April 1964?
It was often the case that drive-ins didn’t show first-run movies. In ken’s ad, the movies Hud, Lilies of The Field and Cleopatra are all advertised as Oscar winners. They were all released in 1963, and the ceremony for those awards was held and televised on Monday, April 13, 1964. [Tom Jones won Best Picture.] Therefore, ken’s post is correct.
Wow, it’s wonderful to see so much posted about this wonderful theater! My granmother lived ¼ mile above there, on Lucia Ave. My cousin, my brother & I took turns staying with her during the summers, and a trip to the Strand was always included. I saw the original run of “Forbidden Planet” and Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” among many others, usually at the Saturday morning matinee. The pictures people have posted bring back many memories. I guess there are lots of us who loved the old place.
I go by there every day on my way to work. The arrow in front of the PJ’s sign is at the end of a curving transition lane from Crescent Heights Southbound to Santa Monica Blvd Westbound, which is the aspect of the photo. By the time I was there the trains no longer ran down the street. Not sure whether the tracks had been pulled out yet or not. I second the thanks; it brings back memories.
I was last in the Gaiety in 2004, with my friend who lives back in NJ. The place was about half full. Silence reigned supreme while the boys were stripping, but my friend and I made noise and stuffed bills in the strippers boots—all they had on!—and had a lot of fun. Some of the strippers were just ordinary guys getting a few easy bucks, but a couple of them were really hot and seemed to enjoy showing off. By then there was no j/o, just flaunting of erections, and no touching of the strippers, by order of the “bored” voice over the speakers. I was only ever inside twice, but I’ll remember it as a part of gay history in NYC.
Nothing personal, friend. This is a website celebrating old theaters and where they are or used to be. Don’t you think it should be as accurate as all of us, working together, can make it? If I get something wrong, I’d like it to be corrected. It’s about the information, right?
It wasn’t the corner, even the address shows that. The number on that corner is 5501. It was the middle of the block. For awhile after it burned there was an empty lot there, between the other buildings.
The Century was a fun theatre, nicely kept, with a teensy men’s room where extracurricular activities did happen, legal or not. I remember going to a strip show once and sitting next to Dave Kopay, who was just past the first fame of having come out in print. He said he was a very visual person, and we both enjoyed the show a lot. I also appeared once on its little stage, as a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of L.A., when we opened a gay beauty contest held there. After the theatre burned down there was an empty lot there for years.
I attended the Carmel theatre once after it became the Paris. I saw “Song of the Loon,” my very first gay porn flick. It would be rather quaint now, almost soft-core, and probably un-PC. The theatre had wood floors, and I seem to remember the audience was on a raised platform. The place was packed that day; that’s pretty much all I can call to mind.
My memory of the San-Val goes back to the first-run of “Shane,” some time around 1951. I was in the back seat, watching between my Mom & Dad, wearing my pj’s. We lived in Pacoima at the time, and would take a long drive east on San Fernando Road to get to the drive-in. I saw many movies there, and my little brother and I played on the swings and the little merry-go-round spinner many happy times. Going from the car into the low snack-bar was always exciting. It’s too bad; there’s only one operating drive-in left in all of L.A. County now, and it’s a multi-screen.
There used to be an old neighborhood theatre on Hollywood Blvd a half-mile east of Western Ave that went to gay porn. They had live shows and used to sell out quite regularly. It was finally sold when the owner died, and destroyed. Anyone out there remember its name?
My grandmother lived just up the hill from the Strand, on Lucia Avenue. During summers in the early- to mid-50’s I’d stay with her for a week or two, either with my little brother or my younger cousin. We often went to the Strand for Saturday matinees. Saw the original runs of “Forbidden Planet,” Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “Return of The Fly.” Grandma would always walk down with us, take us to the front of the line and ask whoever was there to buy our tickets for us. Then she’d walk back home while we had a ball with all those other screaming kids.
It’s too bad so many wonderful theaters have stopped showing movies. I saw Dr. Zhivago back in early 1967, while I was in combat medic training at Fort Sam. It was a memorable Sunday afternoon I still recall to this day.
The Encore theater was a great repertory house for old 30s-60s movies and foreign films. Two friends and I saw “Swing Time” there on a long smoke-filled Hollywood weekend in 1969. The lobby held a bizarre 5-foot image of the owner, and the theater part faced sideways behind the deep-red velour drapes that covered all the walls. A unique theater, like all the other disappeared theaters in L.A. irreplaceable.
I remember the El Portal from the 50’s and 60’s. It was my Mom’s favorite theatre. Among many others, we kids saw a rerelease of Disney’s Fantasia and we all went to a rerelease of Bambi on my birthday. North Hollywood was a favorite place to go. There was an old wood-floor Woolworth’s right across the street where I’d always order a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate malt.
That’s exactly where it was, also very near to the football field at San Fernando High. In fact, on nights when there was a game, the lights and crowd noise quite interrupted the atmosphere of whatever movie was being shown. A friend of mine worked at the Laurel and could therefore go in free on other nights. I saw several movies for free by riding with him.
David, Other than responding to the “dying breed” description, what does your post have to do with this particular theater?
50sInglewood, the other theater was the Fox Redondo, which has its own page here on Cinema Treasures.
I went back to Redondo, about eight months ago, after not having seen it for about 45 years. The things that have changed outnumer the things that are the same, but my Grandma’s house, up the hill on Lucia Avenue, is still there, a different color now, but otherwise the same as I remembered. I missed the last days of the Fox, and of the Strand Theater too. It really is good to share some of the memories everyone has left here. Thanks to the people who run this website and to all you folks who remember the Fox as fondly as I do.
Hi Lost Memory. Did you post the release date of “Blood Feast” as a point of information? Or to dispute ken mc’s post that it was playing at the San Val in April 1964?
It was often the case that drive-ins didn’t show first-run movies. In ken’s ad, the movies Hud, Lilies of The Field and Cleopatra are all advertised as Oscar winners. They were all released in 1963, and the ceremony for those awards was held and televised on Monday, April 13, 1964. [Tom Jones won Best Picture.] Therefore, ken’s post is correct.
Cheers!
Wow, it’s wonderful to see so much posted about this wonderful theater! My granmother lived ¼ mile above there, on Lucia Ave. My cousin, my brother & I took turns staying with her during the summers, and a trip to the Strand was always included. I saw the original run of “Forbidden Planet” and Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” among many others, usually at the Saturday morning matinee. The pictures people have posted bring back many memories. I guess there are lots of us who loved the old place.
I go by there every day on my way to work. The arrow in front of the PJ’s sign is at the end of a curving transition lane from Crescent Heights Southbound to Santa Monica Blvd Westbound, which is the aspect of the photo. By the time I was there the trains no longer ran down the street. Not sure whether the tracks had been pulled out yet or not. I second the thanks; it brings back memories.
I was last in the Gaiety in 2004, with my friend who lives back in NJ. The place was about half full. Silence reigned supreme while the boys were stripping, but my friend and I made noise and stuffed bills in the strippers boots—all they had on!—and had a lot of fun. Some of the strippers were just ordinary guys getting a few easy bucks, but a couple of them were really hot and seemed to enjoy showing off. By then there was no j/o, just flaunting of erections, and no touching of the strippers, by order of the “bored” voice over the speakers. I was only ever inside twice, but I’ll remember it as a part of gay history in NYC.
The theater isn’t under LAPD vice jurisdiction. The Sherriff’s Dept is the law enforcement in West Hollywood.
Nothing personal, friend. This is a website celebrating old theaters and where they are or used to be. Don’t you think it should be as accurate as all of us, working together, can make it? If I get something wrong, I’d like it to be corrected. It’s about the information, right?
It wasn’t the corner, even the address shows that. The number on that corner is 5501. It was the middle of the block. For awhile after it burned there was an empty lot there, between the other buildings.
The Century was a fun theatre, nicely kept, with a teensy men’s room where extracurricular activities did happen, legal or not. I remember going to a strip show once and sitting next to Dave Kopay, who was just past the first fame of having come out in print. He said he was a very visual person, and we both enjoyed the show a lot. I also appeared once on its little stage, as a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of L.A., when we opened a gay beauty contest held there. After the theatre burned down there was an empty lot there for years.
I attended the Carmel theatre once after it became the Paris. I saw “Song of the Loon,” my very first gay porn flick. It would be rather quaint now, almost soft-core, and probably un-PC. The theatre had wood floors, and I seem to remember the audience was on a raised platform. The place was packed that day; that’s pretty much all I can call to mind.
My memory of the San-Val goes back to the first-run of “Shane,” some time around 1951. I was in the back seat, watching between my Mom & Dad, wearing my pj’s. We lived in Pacoima at the time, and would take a long drive east on San Fernando Road to get to the drive-in. I saw many movies there, and my little brother and I played on the swings and the little merry-go-round spinner many happy times. Going from the car into the low snack-bar was always exciting. It’s too bad; there’s only one operating drive-in left in all of L.A. County now, and it’s a multi-screen.
There used to be an old neighborhood theatre on Hollywood Blvd a half-mile east of Western Ave that went to gay porn. They had live shows and used to sell out quite regularly. It was finally sold when the owner died, and destroyed. Anyone out there remember its name?
My grandmother lived just up the hill from the Strand, on Lucia Avenue. During summers in the early- to mid-50’s I’d stay with her for a week or two, either with my little brother or my younger cousin. We often went to the Strand for Saturday matinees. Saw the original runs of “Forbidden Planet,” Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “Return of The Fly.” Grandma would always walk down with us, take us to the front of the line and ask whoever was there to buy our tickets for us. Then she’d walk back home while we had a ball with all those other screaming kids.