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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

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

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

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

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

Hopkins Theatre, Oakland, auditorium

Description:
The simple interior design illustrates the Streamline theme with the use of painted curves on the walls and semicircular ceiling panels that conceal lights, creating indirect lighting of the ceiling. Instead of a balcony, the rear of the auditorium is raked and separated from the main floor by a low partition and steps.
Date:
1938-41
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Hopkins Theatre, Oakland, auditorium

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

Grand Theatre, Arizona, collage of interior and exterior views

Description:
Probably Lee's simplest design and smallest commission was this 250 seat theatre for the United Verde Copper company in Clarkdale, Arizona. The crowd of people in front of the theatre, the handwritten note on the reverse of the picture, and the letter from the theatre manager all attest to the appreciation of this small theatre in a remote town in northern Arizona
Date:
1936
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Grand Theatre, Arizona, collage of interior and exterior views

Fox Wilshire, Beverly Hills, auditorium, proscenium

Description:
The stage opening is set back deeply into a much larger proscenium arch. The sloping walls and ceiling surrounding the stage are heavily ornamented in gilt or silver plaster relief; the forms are the abstracted designs from nature and geometry typical of Art Deco design. The stage curtain was designed in separate panels that could be raised individually, adjusting the space to stage productions or motion picture screenings and at the same time introducing a dramatic design element.
Date:
1928-30
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Mott Studios (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Wilshire, Beverly Hills, auditorium, proscenium

Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, mezzanine

Description:
The foyer ceiling is decorated with large-scale Art Deco designs abstracted from leaf, flower, sun and wave forms. The arched ceiling is squared off and accentuated by wooden moldings forming broad ribs. Furniture, mirror and lights are all squared off with cut corners, contrasting with the curving forms painted on the ceiling. Even the carpet design exhibits angular diagonals.
Date:
1930-31
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Woodcock, W.P.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, mezzanine

Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, lounge

Description:
In the commodious upstairs lounge, Lee repeated the sunburst motif in the doors to the menýs and ladiesý rooms. A drinking fountain set into a marble niche was framed by an abstract fountain design painted on the wall. Sculptures of rearing horses set on the tables introduce a Western theme. The large-scale furnishings with their angular forms are similar to those in the foyer.
Date:
1930-31
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Woodcock, W.P.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, lounge

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

Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, auditorium, proscenium

Description:
The walls and ceiling are decorated with swirling Art Deco and Zig-Zag motifs, accented by a pair of leaping mythical gazelles above the proscenium. Above them a gilded sunburst spreads out over the ceiling, an ornament incorporating the air intake grille of the ventilation system. The fire curtain displays an abstracted version of the Arizona desert landscape. Gilded grilles echoing the design of the box office and topped by sunbursts flank the proscenium above the front exits. The theatre organ to accompany silent motion pictures is at the front of the auditorium.
Date:
1930-31
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Woodcock, W.P.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, auditorium, proscenium

Fox Theatre, Long Beach, facade

Description:
Lee designed an elegant Beaux Arts style theatre to be used both for legitimate stage shows and motion pictures for the Southern California beach city, Long Beach. The massive poured-concrete building with its monumental cornice centered by a giant cartouche dominated the urban landscape of downtown Long Beach. The retail shop fronts at street level give a sense of the scale of the building.
Date:
1931
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Haight, George D.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Long Beach, facade

Fox Theatre, Long Beach, auditorium, proscenium

Description:
The Beaux Arts style interior features a proscenium arch framed by pseudo quoins and flanked by giant compositions of paired columns centered by oversize sculptures and cartouches. There is clearly a stage behind the curtain and the organ used to accompany silent motion pictures is seen at the lower left. The perforated panel in the center of the ceiling is a ventilation vent.
Date:
1931
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Haight, George D.
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Fox Theatre, Long Beach, auditorium, proscenium

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

Follies Theatre, lobby entrance

Description:
The Lee collection contains a number of photographs of theatres that Lee was charged with remodeling. This series of photos of a turn-of-the-century vaudeville theatre illustrates by contrast the innovations developed by architects for motion picture theatres. The entry to these older theatres was often off the street, through a long hallway. Advertising displays were merely cardboard signs.
Date:
[between 1930-1940]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Follies Theatre, lobby entrance