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La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, exterior, day

Description:
In the late 1940s and 1950s architects combined the fluid forms of the Streamline Moderne style with the square modules favored by International Style architects. In California a new form of modernism was developing that favored the use of natural materials, especially stone and wood, in architecture, foremost in residential building. These influences, however, were also felt in commercial buildings, especially in the suburbs. Hence La Tijera Theatre, on Sepulveda Boulevard in a growing suburban area near the airport. A streamlined automobile is entering the porte-cochere on the left.
Date:
1948-49
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Blakeslee, Alpheus A.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, exterior, day

La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, auditorium

Description:
The auditorium walls curve towards the screen, interrupted in each side by a scalloped wall edge where the screen curtain, lit by indirect lighting begins. The effect is further enhanced by the continuation of a vine pattern on the walls in cut-out form over the front exit openings. Globes of light at the center of grilles concealing the ceiling fans neatly combine two functions. The ceiling is further decorated by a scalloped design painted around the light and ventilation fixtures.
Date:
1948-49
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Todd, L. A.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, auditorium

La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, exterior, night

Description:
Lee designed his theatres to be most effective at night. The tall neon sign seems to hang in the air above the building. A grid of round lights underneath the canopy forms a high marquee and illuminates the entrance. Translucent panels on the lobby walls glow invitingly and the aluminum frames reflect the light. The poster cases are illuminated internally and outlined by neon strips.
Date:
1948-49
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
La Tijera Theatre, Los Angeles, exterior, night

Helix Theatre, La Mesa, entry doors and marquee

Description:
The design evolved into a storefront remodel using every device to capture attention from the passerby. The strong diamond pattern applied to the upper story, the series of vertical posts applied at street and the paneled entry doors draw attention to the centerpiece, the curving neon-outlined marquee. A curved box office at the sidewalk and poster cases framed in wavey edged box frames are overwhelmed by the other design elements. Here the chief purpose of the design is to draw attention to the storefront, using a variety of cheap applied elements without regard for design integration.
Date:
1947-48
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Lee, S. Charles, 1899-1990
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Helix Theatre, La Mesa, entry doors and marquee

Visalia Theatre, Visalia, auditorium

Description:
The auditorium interior reveals Lee's use of the inexpensive Quonset hut truss system, also used in the Puente Theatre (51101-51110) and the Garmar Theatre ((30301-30305) from the same period. In the immediate post-war period the system was used to build housing, commercial and factory buildings to satisfy the pent-up demand for new construction.
Date:
1946-49
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Visalia Theatre, Visalia, auditorium

Visalia Theatre, Visalia, exterior

Description:
The finished theatre conforms closely to the design of the night-time rendering. The box office and sign focus attention on the corner. The use of artificial brick cladding was fashionable for both commercial and residential building of the period. (See also the Garmar Theatre in Montebello 30301-30305 for similar treatment of the exterior.
Date:
1946-49
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Visalia Theatre, Visalia, exterior

Miami Theatre, Miami, poster case

Description:
Set right on the sidewalk, the poster cases are large and sleek. They provide a glimpse of the show within to every passerby. Titles in both English and Spanish reflect Miamiýs Latin American population, which is also depicted in the mural in the foyer. (40812,40813).
Date:
1946-1947
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, poster case

Miami Theatre, Miami, façade

Description:
The Miami Theatre in downtown Miami, Florida, was Leeýs last major motion picture theatre in the grand tradition of the movie palaces of the 1920s and 1930s. After 1950, smaller neighborhood theatres and drive-ins became more popular with the development of the suburbs. The Miami, however, was one of Leeýs largest and most all-encompassing designs executed in the United States. The complex included not only a motion picture theatre, which included a legitimate stage but also a restaurant and a candy store, all in a downtown urban setting. In the design, which was largely executed as shown in the renderings, Lee married Baroque and Rococo elements with Streamline Moderne features, producing an unusually eclectic design. The renderings show murals with sea-life motifs, suggesting that Lee drew inspiration from seashell and wave forms for many aspects of the design, which may account for the Baroque and Rococo-appearing design elements. Although demolished, the theatre is one of the most extensively documented in the S. Charles Lee Collection at UCLA.The design of the façade, with its diamond-patterned panels and ornate cartouche is echoed in the interior. On the left is Huylerýs, a candy shop and restaurant that was part of the theatre complex. The narrow site and the height of the building to the rear reflect the two-tier balcony and the long narrow plan of the auditorium, a scheme that Lee had used in his first major theatre, the Tower Theatre in Los Angeles.
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, façade

Miami Theatre, Miami, rendering, candy counter

Description:
The design for the refreshment or candy counter includes and overhanging canopy with scalloped edges, a curved counter with a diamond-patterned base, and porthole windows in the wall above. A mural with ocean motifs was part of the original concept. The final design evolved into a cleaner Streamline Moderne design in both the foyer candy counter (40810) and the mezzanine drink bar (40815).
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, rendering, candy counter

Miami Theatre, Miami, auditorium, front

Description:
The simple lines of the long narrow auditorium, its shape dictated by the urban lot, all lead the eye toward the proscenium,, which is framed by bands of indirect lighting and flanked by large scale designs in relief. A sumptuous curtain hung in swags fills the upper portion of the proscenium, scaling the immense arch down to cinema size.
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, auditorium, front

Miami Theatre, Miami, foyer

Description:
The curved shapes, the treatment of the staircase, the poster cases, and the recessed lighting panels correspond closely to the rendering (40801). A focal point of the space is the mural of the Western hemisphere framed by the national flags and figures representing its peoples.(40813) Banquettes with mirrored walls above them, flank the auditorium entrance.
Date:
1946-1947
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, foyer

Miami Theatre, Miami, foyer: mural and seat

Description:
All the elements in the rendering (40802) were realized in the building, although the spaces are necessarily compressed and the elements appear crowded. The scale and drama of each feature, the lighting panels, the entrance arch, the mezzanine walls and railing, the mural, and the giant cartouche above. Mirrored walls above the banquettes to the left and the right, with the mirrors set in a diamond pattern, enhance the complexity of the space, while at the same time enlarging it.
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, foyer: mural and seat

Miami Theatre, Miami, ticket booth

Description:
The recessed lobby draws the moviegoer into the space with neon tube strips on the ceiling focussing on the entrance and with the walls of floor to ceiling glass. The glass walls allow a view of the interior which glows at night. The box office with its curvilinear shape, also illuminated, and its sleek walls, plays to the fantasy of the moviegoers.
Date:
1946-1947
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, ticket booth

Loma Theatre, San Diego, exterior

Description:
Leeýs design still puts the box office and sign with its canvas marquee at the sidewalk. They are connected to the entrance by a canvas canopy on poles. The porthole window and the pylon jutting up from the corner of the building are the only references to the Streamline Moderne style.
Date:
1944-46
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Singer, Nate
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Loma Theatre, San Diego, exterior

Lakewood Theatre, Lakewood, foyer

Description:
Sleek banquettes upholstered in a striped fabric are set into the walls of the foyer. An overhanging cornice creates the opportunity to conceal indirect lighting and reduces the space to a human scale. A narrow screen pierced by square, framed cut-outs is located at the end of the banquette, enhancing a sense of enclosure.
Date:
1944-45
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Shulman, Julius
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Lakewood Theatre, Lakewood, foyer

Loma Theatre, San Diego, exterior

Description:
Perhaps Lee's most utilitarian design, the Loma is essentially a large box set in a parking lot. This is a bare bones building constructed during wartime, probably to serve soldiers stationed in San Diego, one of the biggest military garrisons on the West Coast. Architectural details are virtually non-existent.
Date:
1944-46
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Loma Theatre, San Diego, exterior

Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, auditorium entrance

Description:
A grandiose Art Deco Baroque design frames the entrance to the auditorium. The center panel appears to be leather or fabric, with a design of three maidens flying through the air, bearing bouquets of flowers. The foyer walls are wood veneer, with the flitches laid on in a mirror pattern, making long vertical stripes on the walls.
Date:
1942
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, auditorium entrance

Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, exterior, ticket booth

Description:
The domed box office is at street level, but the entry itself is reached by a broad flight of stairs. Setting the building on a podium with an entrance set well back from the street differs from the usual motion picture theatre in the United States which is entered at street level. The theatre is made more imposing, reflecting the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Mexico City and the more formal Mexican custom of spending the whole evening out, eating and dancing in the restaurant.
Date:
1942
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Lee, S. Charles, 1899-1990
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, exterior, ticket booth

Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, construction

Description:
Construction photos reveal the immense effort involved in constructing this very large building. Unlike counterparts in the United States that were being built of poured concrete using derricks and heavy machinery, this building in Mexico City in the 1940s was painstakingly constructed of brick that was then surfaced with stucco
Date:
1942
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, construction