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You searched for: Subject motion picture theaters ✖Remove constraint Subject: motion picture theaters Genre Black-and-white photographs ✖Remove constraint Genre: Black-and-white photographs Genre Architectural photographs ✖Remove constraint Genre: Architectural photographs Resource Type still image ✖Remove constraint Resource Type: still image Collection S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962 ✖Remove constraint Collection: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
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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

Fox Theatre, Bakersfield, auditorium

Description:
The auditorium is a so-called atmosphere theatre, a popular design type which created a stage set surrounding the audience. In this example, the auditorium simulates a Spanish Colonial Revival village into which the audience enters to see the show. Simulated buildings project from the walls, ivy hangs from their balconies and windows, trees painted on the wall behind provide a natural setting, and the whole is illuminated to create a realistic effect. Above is the dark sky, painted with clouds and featuring twinkling lights simulating the stars.
Date:
1929-1930
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Luckhaus Studio
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Bakersfield, auditorium

Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Construction, Eighth Avenue elevation 8/3/27

Description:
Construction photos show the odd open steel frame along the top of the building to give it increased strength (70104), the scaffolding along the Broadway elevation (70105), a view down into the interior showing the steel framing (70106), and the process of applying the finish decoration on the balcony interior (70107).
Date:
1926-27
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Dwyer Studio
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Construction, Eighth Avenue elevation 8/3/27

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, crying room

Description:
The crying room, a feature of many theatres of the period, was a soundproof glass-walled viewing room for mothers with small children. Here the model demonstrates the audio device that transmitted sound to individual viewers. The acoustic tile on the walls began to be widely used in the 1940s and soon became ubiquitous.
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, crying room

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

Tower Theatre, Compton, façade, day

Description:
Designed for a working class community in Los Angeles, the Tower Theater is a modest design which presents a stylish black and white Deco exterior (62701). The night view shows the effective use of neon and spotlighting to illuminate the fluted Moderne tower (62702). The box office is surrounded by circles of light bulbs on the lobby ceiling and a sunburst design on the lobbyýs terrazzo floor (62703). Poster cases are framed by scrolled pediments and simulated columns. The interior uses exaggerated columns, mirrors, white traditional-style furniture, and gilt to suggest a palatial elegance that is distant from the lives of the theatreýs clientele (62704-62705). Hanging lanterns and striped upholstery in the auditorium impart a subdued elegance (62706-62707).
Date:
1935-36
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Compton, façade, day

Tower Theatre, Compton, ticket booth

Description:
Designed for a working class community in Los Angeles, the Tower Theater is a modest design which presents a stylish black and white Deco exterior (62701). The night view shows the effective use of neon and spotlighting to illuminate the fluted Moderne tower (62702). The box office is surrounded by circles of light bulbs on the lobby ceiling and a sunburst design on the lobbyýs terrazzo floor (62703). Poster cases are framed by scrolled pediments and simulated columns. The interior uses exaggerated columns, mirrors, white traditional-style furniture, and gilt to suggest a palatial elegance that is distant from the lives of the theatreýs clientele (62704-62705). Hanging lanterns and striped upholstery in the auditorium impart a subdued elegance (62706-62707).
Date:
1935-36
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Compton, ticket booth

Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Construction, view from above 5/9/27

Description:
Construction photos show the odd open steel frame along the top of the building to give it increased strength (70104), the scaffolding along the Broadway elevation (70105), a view down into the interior showing the steel framing (70106), and the process of applying the finish decoration on the balcony interior (70107).
Date:
1926-27
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Dwyer Studio
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Construction, view from above 5/9/27

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

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

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

Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, façade

Description:
The Fox Phoenix Theatre of 1930-1931 was one of Lee's largest and most elaborate creations. Designed in the sharp-edged, abstract Zig-Zag Moderne style, the building covered half of one of Phoenixýs giant city blocks and had retail shop fronts at the sidewalk. Colored translucent glass in an Art Deco design decorated the transoms above the display windows. Behind the symmetrical façade the auditorium is offset to the left. The foyer is in the interior of the building. A vertical neon sign mounted on the central pylon above the marquee advertises the theatre, while a temporary sign on the marquee advertises a cool interior, an important advantage in Phoenix's desert climate.
Date:
1930-31
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, façade

Tower Theatre, Fresno, auditorium entrance

Description:
The etched glass panel depicts a hunter with bow and arrow, a wounded stag and a hunting dog. Lee used this motif in other theatres, such as the Miami Theatre, although the motif seems to bear no relationship to any particular wider theme. The depiction itself, however, suggests a moving picture, with several exposures or frames overlaid on each other.
Date:
1935-36
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Fresno, auditorium entrance

Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Exterior

Description:
Lee uses elements of religious architecture, such as the tower, central niche with a statue, the large arched opening and the rows of window along the side of the building, as though to bring as much light into the building as possible, although exactly the opposite was true.
Date:
1926-27
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Los Angeles, Exterior

Vern Theatre, Los Angeles, candy counter

Description:
Lee designed an unusual self-serve candy counter, which had a slot for customers to deposit 5c. Fluorescent lamps illuminate the plaster hood above the candy counter. The hood directs cool air from the air conditioning system over the candy, preventing chocolates from turning color.
Date:
1939-41
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Vern Theatre, Los Angeles, candy counter

Tower Theatre, Compton, lounge, entry

Description:
Designed for a working class community in Los Angeles, the Tower Theater is a modest design which presents a stylish black and white Deco exterior (62701). The night view shows the effective use of neon and spotlighting to illuminate the fluted Moderne tower (62702). The box office is surrounded by circles of light bulbs on the lobby ceiling and a sunburst design on the lobbyýs terrazzo floor (62703). Poster cases are framed by scrolled pediments and simulated columns. The interior uses exaggerated columns, mirrors, white traditional-style furniture, and gilt to suggest a palatial elegance that is distant from the lives of the theatreýs clientele (62704-62705). Hanging lanterns and striped upholstery in the auditorium impart a subdued elegance (62706-62707).
Date:
1935-36
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Compton, lounge, entry

Tower Theatre, Compton, façade, night

Description:
Designed for a working class community in Los Angeles, the Tower Theater is a modest design which presents a stylish black and white Deco exterior (62701). The night view shows the effective use of neon and spotlighting to illuminate the fluted Moderne tower (62702). The box office is surrounded by circles of light bulbs on the lobby ceiling and a sunburst design on the lobbyýs terrazzo floor (62703). Poster cases are framed by scrolled pediments and simulated columns. The interior uses exaggerated columns, mirrors, white traditional-style furniture, and gilt to suggest a palatial elegance that is distant from the lives of the theatreýs clientele (62704-62705). Hanging lanterns and striped upholstery in the auditorium impart a subdued elegance (62706-62707).
Date:
1935-36
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Tower Theatre, Compton, façade, night

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

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