Tujunga Theatre

The Tujunga Theatre appears to have opened in October 1938, as the Los Angeles Times began showing showtimes to the Tujunga Theatre beginning on its October 31, 1938 edition, screening “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (unknown if extras added).

As Knatcal noted above, the entire facade was removed. A few bones show through, like the position of the doors and the frame of the marquee. But yes, they’ve remodeled the heck out of this place.

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dmcjnk

Thank you, LM. My friends and I guessed nightclub because of the sheer size of the place. There are some subtle details that seem to point at this building’s theatrical origins, like a shape out front that looks remarkably like a marquee. Also, the building looks like it heads underground at the far end (to slope the floor for seating?), and there are escape exits at the ends with ramps that come back up to ground level.

Otherwise, you’d never guess that this had been a theater.

Here is a January 1980 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3cq2or

That preservationist website made my head hurt.

The Tujunga Theatre was built in 1937/38, opening in 1938.

It was later also known as the Hilltop Theatre, Rainbow Theatre and finally the Canyon Theatre.

An incredibly impassioned site devoted to the doomed preservation of this theatre can be found here: http://www.positiveenergy.com/YOUsave.html

The Tujunga is a familiar story: a once nice local single screen theatre in the 1930’s and 1940’s, it deteriorated over the years, showing X rated fare in the early ‘70’s, then made a comeback as a second run bargain house. It finally closed up for good in the 1990’s and was replaced by an apartment building. There is no sign that a theatre was EVER in this location.