Reel Joy Theatre
217-219 Broadway,
King City,
CA
93930
217-219 Broadway,
King City,
CA
93930
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Chester H. Miller, Carl I. Warnecke
Firms: Miller & Warnecke
Functions: Retail
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Located on the main drag in King City, the Reel Joy Theatre was opened by 1921. It was renovated in an Art Deco style in 1938 to the plans of architectural firm Miller & Warnecke. It was closed on April 2, 1957.
The theatre’s royal blue marquee, poster cases and tower remain. A neighborhood grocery store has taken up most of the space inside. False ceilings belie a very tall neighborhood cinema, and back in the storage area one can see the stage - which is being converted to shelving space with a false wall under construction in front of it - and the slope of the floor to the stage.
Roughly as large as the Mayfair Theatre in Ventura, it looks like about 800 seats - all removed by now. Across the street, the King City Cinemas multiplex holds the line.
Contributed by
MagicLantern
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I was just in King City yesterday to tune a pipe organ in a local church. The facade of the Reel Joy and its marquee are intact and doing well. The building is still used as an ethnic grocery store.
An usherette remembers:
http://tinyurl.com/yr2vja
When old buildings across the street from the Reel Joy were being demolished to make way for the complex which houses the modern cinema, one wall was uncovered which had a painted sign which advertised “Reel Joy Theatre Photoplays”, with an arrow pointing at the theatre across the street. I didn’t have a camera with me, and next trip through, the building (and sign) were of course gone. It was then that I concluded (correctly) that the Reel Joy had to date earlier than its moderne signage would indicate. Photos in several books on Monterey County history include photos which show the Reel Joy’s original facade. It was fairly plain, with a rectangular marquee canopy.
I wonder if it had a photo-player like the original Soledad Theatre did, two towns north in the Salinas Valley?
Boxoffice magazine reported a complete renovation of the theater in January 1938, under the direction of owner Alvin “Ike” Hables.
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/djkwz7
Here is a 1984 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yavsgtv
There was a Reel Joy Theatre operating in King City at least as early as 1922, when the December 9 issue of The Music Trades said that a Fotoplayer had been placed in the house by the San Jose branch of dealers Sherman, Clay & Company
Boxoffice, March 23, 1957: “The Reel Joy Theatre will close April 2, according to Alvin "Ike” Hables, owner. The theatre has been showing films to King City residents 31 years. It was started by Les Hables, Ike’s father. Ike took over the business in 1922 and has operated it since. He stated that pictures will be shown until April 2, the final date of current scheduling."
A capsule movie review by Leslie Hables of the Reel Joy Theatre in King City was published in the November 5, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World. A 1914 newspaper article noted Leslie Hables as the owner of a bowling alley in King City.