Uniform title: Lakewood Theatre (Lakewood, Calif.) - UCLA Library Digital Collections Search Results

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

Description:: This later rendering was far more streamlined than the earlier version, with curving walls, porthole openings and prow-like pylons. The airplane flying overhead reinforces the streamlined imagery.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Hoffman-Luckhaus
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: The typical proscenium arch has been dispensed with, although it is still indicated by the swags of the valance and the curtain before the screen. Decoration is minimal, concentrated solely on the curved portion of the side walls flanking the screen.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Shulman, Julius
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: Abstract metal sculptures evoking a pineapple ornament the side walls. Their reflective surfaces and the wavy reflective stripes behind them give a touch of elegance of Regency Moderne to the otherwise utilitarian auditorium.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Shulman, Julius
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

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

Description:: As the theatre was a re-use of an earlier building, Lee had little opportunity for interior structural changes. For the foyer, Lee chose modern, rectangular lines. Paneled auditorium doors and the simplified Greek key design painted on the upper wall add interest..
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Shulman, Julius
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: Lakewood's shopping center in the foreground is surrounded by vacant fields. The houses of the new community are going up in the background. An older village, Quincy, at lower left, will soon be surrounded by the new town. Two blocks at left center are marked as designated for a "City College."
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: United States Aviation Corporation
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: At opening night ceremonies Lee, at left, holds a bouquet of roses together with a woman, probably the client's wife. Man at right is unidentified.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Harry Dallas Photography
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: This night photo of the marquee with its neon strips and interior illuminated sign was taken as a publicity photo for Bevelite, the manufacturer of the removable letters used to spell out the names of the show and the stars on the marquee.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Western Photo Co.
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

Description:: Lee's design was adapted to remodel the old Town Hall on the site. The pylon with its scalloped sides and the marquee are the only design elements on the exterior.
Date:: 1944-45
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Shulman, Julius
Collection:: S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962

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