Arrowhead Theatre

The Arrowhead Springs Hotel reopened December 15, 1939, after being reconstructed from a fire on November 22, 1938.

The Los Angeles Times reported the new hotel contained a motion picture theatre, 150 suites, spa and shops. On the grounds were a swimming pool, golf course, tennis courts, ski run, skating rink and bridal paths. The Georgian-style hotel was designed by Paul R. Williams and Gordon B. Kaufmann with Dorothy Draper’s Art Deco interior design.

With notables of Hollywood attending the opening and Al Jolson as emcee, it was covered with photographs in the San Bernardino Sun. The board of governors of the hotel were leading figures in the motion picture and radio industry. The names included Joseph Schenck, Darryl Zanuck, William Goetz, Eddie Mannix, Claudette Colbert and Jay Paley.

The Arrowhead Theatre was listed in Film Daily Year Book 1941-1946 with 300 seats under Arrowhead, not San Bernardino. There are previous references to a 300-seat Arrowhead theater in Arrowhead from FDYB 1937-1938. FDYB contained a separate listing for the village of Lake Arrowhead.

The Arrowhead Springs Hotel was shown on Sanborn Maps 1939 in San Bernardino as Arrowhead Springs Corporation, “Located 6 miles NE of town in the mountains”. A wing on the southeast side of the hotel was marked theatre.

On May 24, 1944, the Los Angeles Times reported the hotel was being commissioned as a Navy Hospital. The Navy decommissioned the Hotel April 15, 1946, and returned the hotel to Hull hotels. Later owners include Hilton Hotels, Campus Crusade for Christ and since May 2016 the San Manuel Mission Indians.

The building still exists and from current Google aerials it appears the current footprint of the theater wing matches the 1939 Sanborn Maps.

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