Towne Theatre
4425 Atlantic Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90807
4425 Atlantic Boulevard,
Long Beach,
CA
90807
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
hpThe Towne was opened by Cabart Theatres Circuit owned by C.A. Caballero and Milt Arthur (Cabart) (and Fanchon & Marco).
Pacific Theatres closed the Towne due to a roof collapse on January 24, 1977. The final showings were “Never a Dull Moment,” Walt Disney’s “The Three Caballeros” and “The Man Who Skied Down Everest.” Though Pacific was going to make repairs promising a temporary closure, it made the closure permanent that fall offering the property for sale “as is.”
The Towne and The Crest were my two favorite theaters in the early 1960s. Saw many a movie in both of these great old theaters so sad they are gone.
September 28th, 1946 grand opening ad in photo section
BETWEEN THE TOWNE AND CREST – THEY WERE THE BEST – MEMORY’S OF THE WAY LONG BEACH CA WAS IN 1951, WITH THE BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANT WELCH’S IN BETWEEN – ITS ALL GONE WITH THE WIND – NEVIN
ken mc – i cant bring up your pictures of the towne theater long beach ca please resubmit them thanks
The Crest Theatre had a step down lounge. The Loyola Theatre in Los Angeles, The Fox Theatre in Inglewood and the Crest Theatre in Sacramento all had the step down lounge areas.
Can anybody tell me if it was the Crest or the Towne that had the step down lounge? I believe that it was the Crest, but, I honestly can’t remember. I do remember that the last movie that I saw at the Towne was “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, back in 1963. I have such great memories of Long Beach at that time. Remember swimming in the little pond in Houghton Park? Lest, not forget the one & only POP (Pacific Ocean Park); of course that was Santa Monica, not Long Beach. Love those memories & Oh, if only life were that simple again… If anyone happens to have any pictures “PLEASE POST”.
Here are some photos of the Towne from Boxoffice in November 1947:
http://tinyurl.com/ybvhl3n
Back on January 18, 2005, I said that the name of the architect of the Towne was Hugh Biggs. The article from which I took the information got his name wrong. I’ve lately found several references to the Towne Theatre giving his correct name, Hugh Gibbs. Gibbs was later one of the architects of the Long Beach convention Center.
A two-page illustrated article about the recently opened Towne was published in the December 7, 1946, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The house was originally operated by Cabart Theatres.
As a L.B. kid in the early-mid sixties, my friends and I would visit the Crest and the Towne. One question we debated was, which theater was best? We all liked the florid Crest, but I imagined the Towne as the more sophisticated alternative. Alas, I have practically no visual memories of either place anymore. And now both torn down, lo these thirty years. It cannot be!
I lived in North L.B. and went to the Towne from around 1954 to 1965 or so. I remember it being huge, modern and clean. Didn’t they have “all cartoon” Saturday matinees? What a blast.
Here is an early forties ad:
http://tinyurl.com/32o7cu
Here is a 1959 ad from the Press-Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/2kf7y9
I’m not sure if I am remembering this story correctly, but I believe that cracks were discovered in the ceiling of the Towne during the time it was showing a Sensurround film – probably “Earthquake” or “Midway.” I believe that a repairman was crushed when the ceiling fell on him.
I think my first film there was “Babes In Toyland” – the Disney version. I also ate five FudgeCicles during “Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.” A personal record.
No trace of the theater today. There is an office building at that address.
There was a fire at the Towne in November 1961:
250 Flee From Fire in Theater
Fire starting in a popcorn storage room routed 250 patrons Sunday night at the Towne Theater, 4425 Atlantic Ave. One policeman was overcome by smoke and an usher suffered a cut hand combating the blaze. The audience filed quietly out rear exits and most of the patrons were unaware that a fire was blazing in the lobby as theater personnel directed them quickly to rear exits.
USHERS Christian Lewis and Bill Stahl, who discovered the fire, isolated the flames from the audience and manned a theater fire hose until the first contingent of 20 firemen under command of Battalion Chief Harold Maas arrived. Police Officer James Allen Welch, 33, was overcome when he relieved the ushers at a fire hose. The fire started amid paper containers of soft drink flavoring and spread quickly to stacks of pre-popped popcorn.
Chief Maas said the theater lobby suffered extensive fire, smoke and water damage. However, theater manager Paul Cayler said he could see no reason why the theater vill not open at 6 p.m. today as usual.
This thread is great. I was the house manager of the Towne Theatre in the very early 70’s (it was demolished soon after) and we had a lot of fun working there. The staff was great, we had an 80 year old doorman who had great stories from the Capone years in Chicago (he was also a former minor league catcher) and the theatre has nothing but great memories. Our biggest hit was the Godfather in the summer of 1972, but it was all down hill after that since we couldn’t compete with the multiplexes, especially our sister theater in Lakewood. But growing up in North Long Beach, the Towne and the Crest were the places to go on the weekends.
see my comments about growing up in Bixby Knolls and memories at the Towne and the Crest at the Crest Theater page!
/theaters/2035/
tim moran
The Town Hall Theater in Quincy, CA would immediately follow this entry. I’m not sure where Quincy is, but it doesn’t look too warm. The photos are from the UC Davis collection:
View link
View link
Does anyone think that today’s kids will fondly remember when their parents took them to the Megaplex 24 to see Weekend at Bernies VI? Sometimes it’s better to be old.
One unique aspect of the Towne Theatre that I enjoyed was its gigantic outside “now showing” posters that seemed as large as billboards. I too enjoyed Sword in the Stone and Bond films at the Towne as well as Matt Helm with Dean Martin. My two best school chums and I spent our last night together at the movies seeing “You Only Live Twice”.
Nowadays I can never drive down Atlantic Blvd knowing the Towne and Crest are both gone. I’d rather remember them as they were. When will we ever learn to appreciate the future value of what we treasure now?
I remember seeing “Woodstock” at the Towne Theater in Bixby Knolls(North long beach starts at Del Amo Guys) As my girl friend and I pulled up to the theater we notice there were policeman lined up on the sidewalk,I guess they anticipated a riot might break out from all us “long Hairs” gathering in one spot. Well there was no riot but the theater did oversell the event and many of us sat in the aisles. A few years later my friend “demo” the building and offered me some “artifacts” from the theater but I turned them down (big mistake) I really hate those mutiplex theaters…..
Hugh Biggs was the architect of the Towne Theater. It was originally intended to be named the Vogue, which is the name which appears in Biggs' early renderings of the design. The walls of the Towne were built of reinforced granite.
I saw lots of movies there including Woodstock! Does anybody remember Welches restaurant on the corner . I lived in the neighborhood… I worked at the Crest !.. the Competetion . THey were both missed when they were removed for an office building .. sad..