This concept drawing, probably executed before World War II, uses simple curved forms of Streamline Moderne in the building. A huge sign with a spiral or helix-shaped tower dominates the façade
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.
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.
Lee's concept rendering for a storefront theatre in the popular Egyptian theme betrays little attention on the façade to Egyptian-derived elements. The tall pylon sign, the illuminated marque extended out over the sidewalk, and the dramatically curved forms all serve to advertise the product to the audience on the street.
Lee's design for the candy counter incorporated the Streamline Moderne curves initially planned for the exterior. Glass, shiny stainless steel fixtures, curved blond wood veneers and downlights in the ceiling all contribute to the effect.
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
A narrow aisle between the glass wall and the poster wall allows access to change the posters. This photograph reveals that the glass wall is not curved, but instead is composed of a series of flat glass panes butt-jointed together to form a curved shape.
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.