Genre: Architectural photographs / Subject: Entertainment - UCLA Library Digital Collections Search Results

Description:: The clean lines, light-colored stucco finish and modern typography tie the theatre and retail spaces together.
Date:: 1937-38
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: The bright marquee and the tower sign attract attention to the theatre at night. Lee used a similar design for the tower sign on the Tower Theatre in Compton(62701-62707) of 1935-1936.
Date:: 1937-38
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Lee, S. Charles, 1899-1990
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: With plush upholstered seats, touches of gilt and glitter, formal pilasters, and the almost Japanese delicacy of a mural, Lee suggests an atmosphere of elegance to transport the audience from their daily lives
Date:: 1937-38
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Luckhaus Studio
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: At night the brightly illuminated lobby, the large neon sign and the prominent illuminated box office all drew attention to the theatre.
Date:: 1946-49
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

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

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

Description:: Lee developed a simplified design which relied on the porthole motif to evoke the streamlined character of the great ocean liners of the era. Note on reverse: "Exterior, surfaced form concrete. Modern in appearance, it is three tones in color. The ribbed portion was created by casting concrete against corrugated forms."
Date:: 1939-41
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: Distinctive grilles on side wall handle return air for ventilation. Shiny metallic painted designs on the ceiling and the walls, as well as the shiny surface of the elaborately draped curtain enhance the air of sleekness.
Date:: 1939-41
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: At night the entire front of the theatre, including the tower sign, was brightly illuminated.
Date:: 1939-41
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: Two strips of neon, one blue and one white, in the ceiling cove, illuminate the auditorium. Neon is on a dimmer, which creates a theatrical atmosphere as well as controlling the light during picture operation. Pairs of buxom nudes painted in shiny metallic paint fly along the wall toward the screen.
Date:: 1939-41
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

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