Lake Theatre

graymatters on April 18, 2021 at 10:02 am

My grandfather A.S. “Al” Johnson built the Lake Theatre in Walled Lake Michigan, but family records don’t include the year of the project. An undated newspaper advertisement for the “New Lake Theatre” lists a 1947 film “The Voice of the Turtle,” so it’s likely that the theater opened in 1947 or 1948.

The theater was located at 420 Pontiac Trail. After the theater closed, the building went on to house a variety of businesses before being demolished. In June 1948 Al shot a Kodachrome slide from outside the theatre (see Photos page). In this image, the entrance has a pair of red double doors with half-moon glass. These are the classic “Johnson doors,” for which my grandfather was said to have held a patent.

The theater is tan with red accents and the entire front appears to be covered by large porcelain enamel tiles that characterized so many of the Johnson-built theaters. The marquee/sign is cream and maroon colored. Humphrey Bogart’s classic 1948 film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” appears on the marquee.