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Drive-in theatre, Arcadia, photograph of bird's eye rendering

Description:
The drive-in theatre concept was first tried in the mid-1930s but only after World War II did the idea gain widespread acceptance. Lee designed several drive-in theaters, a type especially suited to the mild climate and car-dependent economy of Southern California. The drive-in allowed the whole family to go to the movies in the family car, with no need for a baby-sitter. It also proved especially popular with dating teen-agers, who found drive-ins the ideal refuge from watchful adult eyes. The drive-in was also cheap to build. A large piece of land, a structure to display the screen and smaller buildings for tickets, refreshments and the projector were all that was needed. The parking lot was usually graded to provide the parked cars with a good angle for viewing the screen, and each space was equipped with a speaker that could be hooked to the dashboard to bring the sound into the car.
Date:
1948
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Drive-in theatre, Arcadia, photograph of bird's eye rendering

Puente Theatre, Puente, rendering

Description:
Lee's sketch offers a prototype for a theatre that could be built cheaply and quickly. The simplest means of quickly constructing a theatre-sized space was to build a Quonset hut, a method devised in the late 1930s using small wood members to create an arched truss frame, which was then often clad in metal for warehouse purposes. A number of motion picture theatres were built in this way. They offered inexpensive rapid construction of theatre spaces in small towns such as Puente, an agricultural community east of Los Angeles.
Date:
1947-48
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Puente Theatre, Puente, rendering

Helix Theatre, La Mesa, photograph of rendering

Description:
A later concept drawing shows a scaled-down design which is more conventional in massing. Streamline forms can still be seen in the sign area and in the porthole window on the right wall. However, the chief design elements have evolved from the smooth to the angular, with walls, marquee and canopies project out and up at angles.
Date:
1947-48
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Helix Theatre, La Mesa, photograph of rendering

Visalia Theatre, Visalia, photograph of rendering, night

Description:
This night view is a simplified design for a one-story building, retaining the downlighting in the lobby area, but eliminating the curved Streamline effects of the daytime view. Here the sign at the corner becomes the principal element of the design. Lee uses a series of recessed frames highlighted by indirect lighting, around the entire entrance, the poster cases, the false windows on the façade, and above the box office as a unifying motif.
Date:
1946-49
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Visalia Theatre, Visalia, photograph of rendering, night

Miami Theatre, Miami, rendering, foyer stair

Description:
See 40816,40817. The curving lines and delicate tracery of the stair railing contrast with the heavily embellished stairway arch. Porthole windows, typical of the Streamline Moderne style, open up the staircase walls. A mural with sea-life motifs decorates the curved wall to the right of the staircase. The recessed lighting panels in the ceiling and the diamond-patterned mirrored walls echo similar features in the foyer.
Date:
1946-47
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Miami Theatre, Miami, rendering, foyer stair

Picwood Theatre, Los Angeles, rendering

Description:
The Picwood was designed as a neighborhood theatre on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles. The design epitomized the modern post-war aesthetic, which required simple lines, inexpensive building materials and quick construction to satisfy the post-war boom. The simple curved pylon was a landmark in the flat landscape of one- and two-story buildings.
Date:
1946
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Picwood Theatre, Los Angeles, rendering

Visalia Theatre, Visalia, photograph of rendering, waltercolor

Description:
Lee's rendering of this small-town theatre on a corner site in Visalia shows a simple Streamline Moderne two-story building with glass block, tile, curved glass windows and butt-jointed glass box office windows. The flat marquee shows recessed downlights, almost the only feature retained in the final design.
Date:
1946-49
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Visalia Theatre, Visalia, photograph of rendering, waltercolor

Mexico Theatre 1945, photograph of rendering, foyer

Description:
Lee did a number of renderings for theatres to be built in Mexico City in the 1940s. At least two, perhaps three, were actually built. Because they included restaurants and other entertainment areas besides the motion picture theatre they were grander than most of his designs in the United States. This rendering depicts a grand foyer with a mezzanine and gigantic pylons anchoring the staircases at both sides
Date:
1945
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Mexico Theatre 1945, photograph of rendering, foyer

Lakewood Theatre, Lakewood, photograph of rendering

Description:
Probably hoping to get a larger commission than just a theatre, Lee produced this perspective sketch of his concept for a theatre integrated with a bank and a retail store. The Los Angeles suburb of Lakewood was a post-war phenomenon, when thousands of houses were built in record time, creating an entirely new community. Lakewood needed everything for its shopping center, banks, stores and of course a motion picture theatre.
Date:
1944-45
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Lakewood Theatre, Lakewood, photograph of rendering

Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, photograph of rendering

Description:
Lee's concept for a large theatre in Mexico City uses circular domed forms borrowed from the Arabic tradition in Spain and applies elaborate encrustations of Churrigueresque ornament typical of the Spanish Baroque around the monumental central entry, at the cornice line and to frame the windows. Elaborate finials top the parapets and the suggestion of a minaret can be seen on the right.
Date:
1942
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962
Linda Vista Theatre, Mexico City, photograph of rendering