Granada Theatre
1044 Temple Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
1044 Temple Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
1 person
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Go here for a 1963 image of the Granada—
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7391/27511409016_ebbdf3b2db_o.png
This is an image from this movie http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15799coll88/id/1429/rec/1 recently digitized by USC from the City Archives.
The Granada shows up briefly in the 1924 Harold Lloyd film “Girl Shy.”
My step grandfathers rental company owned the building for some time. My father was a care taker for the building. The roof collapsed some time in 1968/69. In the middle of the night.
The theater at 1044 Temple Street was included in the Motion Picture Theatres section of the 1915 and 1917 city directories, but was listed only under the name Mansdorfer W. H. in 1915. By 1917 it was listed as the Owl Theatre.
Although the building has been demolished so it can’t be checked in the records of the County Assessor’s office, I think that the Granada was probably this proposed theater that was mentioned in the October 12, 1912, issue of Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer:
The west is the best. Get here, and we’ll do the rest.
That’s what’s especially useful about the ZIMAS reports from the city’s zoning department. They have the latest information from the County Assessor, plus they include the years of construction for any buildings on the property.
I’ve come across several Cinema Treasures pages which erroneously listed theatres as closed/demolished when they were only closed. Now I always check the latest aerial photos from Google maps or TerraServer, and see if I can generate a report on the address from ZIMAS (if it’s in the City of Los Angeles) just to make sure.
The Granada’s building has been gone for quite a while. The site is now part of a parking lot for a blocky office building which I think was put up in the 1970s.
I have my doubts as to whether the building is still there. There’s not much left on that part of Temple Street, west of downtow. I will swing by and take a look the next time I’m down there.
Here is a 1942 photo of the Granada:
http://tinyurl.com/2cdl5q
Are there any pictures of the Granada, either with that name or with the Owl name?
Is this the same Owl that had a Geneva theatre organ at one time? Where is the organ now?
Listed in the city directory as the Owl in 1925:
http://tinyurl.com/3xgjwx
I just added the Owl Theater at Temple and Beaudry. I recall that Beaudry would probably be about ten blocks east of Main Street, so it looks like I goofed. I will admit as such on the Owl page so they can take it off.
Listed as the Granada in the 1939 LA city directory.
The Granada Theatre was also known as the Owl Theatre back in 1929.
The Granada was leased for a time by Harold Wenzler, who also operated the Lux Theatre until it was razed, and later operated the Oaks Theatre in Pasadena.
I worked as a relief projectionist at the Granada in the late 1950s. The booth was far from modern, but Mr. Wenzler had Altec Sound Service on contract for maintenance, and the presentation was always first rate.