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The Garden Theatre & A Wage Row

October 9th, 2010 by ccrouch
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On October 1, 1919, the Garden Theatre opened in La Habra, originally operating as both a vaudeville and motion picture venue. The theatre was later renamed the “La Habra” and managed to last until the mid 1950’s, when Lippert Theatres announced that they would be opening their own “La Habra Theatre” in town. The former Garden then sat vacant for nearly a decade, before being razed during a city revitalization project. 
 
Unfortunately, little documentation remains of the Garden Theatre, with even the venue’s prime years recorded via little more than a city listing in the newspaper’s independent theatre section (an all too common situation for early twentieth century suburban cinemas). However, there appears to have been one noteworthy event in the Garden’s history which did manage to garner some attention, all be it of the negative variety.
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Back in the winter of 1931, the theatre’s then owner, Darius Morehead, was involved in a dispute with a former employee, which escalated to Mr. Morehead pulling out a handgun and shooting the Garden’s former manager. According to newspaper accounts of the incident, the former theatre manager, Kenneth Renaud, had been shorted his $50 a week salary and taken the matter to the labor commission. After the commission ruled in Mr. Renaud’s favor, awarding him $175, Morehead sought out the complainant and shot him twice, during a heated argument. Mr. Renaud survived the attack and Morehouse was arrested for the crime. Yet, strangely, the paper trail fell silent after the arrest; so, we are left to speculate whether the “rich theatre owner” faced justice for the “wage row” or not.  

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A Wasted Patch of Green

October 3rd, 2010 by ccrouch
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Walking past Costa Mesa’s bustling Orange County Performing Arts Center this evening, I took a shortcut which unintentionally brought me to a site of cinema loss and waste.

 

This grass covered clearing was once a movie going Mecca for Orange County, the South Coast Plaza Theatre. Some two decades removed from the “Westwood of Orange County” glory days and over a year since the complex was razed, the, now empty, lot’s past is a forgotten footnote for most. The former place of countless cinematic memories and shared experiences relegated to little more than convenient shortcut and office break area.

I imagine the lot’s vacancy is temporary; merely awaiting a rebound in the real estate market, so yet another glass and steel office tower can be erected. However, I can’t help but reflect on what a waste the demolition was. As healthy business flocks to the neighboring performing arts center, for a live version of “Peter Pan”, or travels a few miles to the sub par Metro Pointe 12, for a screening of “The Social Network”, there just as easily could have been a grand cinema here, offering up it’s own unique experience.

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New Name For A Familiar Problem

September 5th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Anaheim’s identity challenged Garden Walk theatre has been re branded the “Garden Walk 14” by  new operator, Ultra Star Cinemas. However, holding true to the venue’s somewhat confusing branding past, the location is also being labeled as an “UltraLuxe” theatre. While the extra name is likely nothing more than an acknowledgement of the higher end amenities available at the theatre (as opposed to standard theatres in the chain), such duel monikers hi-light an issue which has plagued the Garden Walk theatre throughout it’s two years of operation.
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Since opening in the summer of 2008, the site has officially been listed as The Movie Experience 14, The Movie Experience at Anaheim Garden Walk, The Movie Experience Cinema Fusion, Cinema Fusion Anaheim, Cinema Fusion at Anaheim Garden Walk, Cinema Fusion Stadium Theatres, and now, UltraLuxe/Garden Walk 14 (see the theatre’s OC Cinema profile for three print adds with varying names). All subtle spins on the operator, location, and additional offerings, but the constant name alterations have ultimately resulted in a less than recognizable brand identity for the site. Fortunately, Ultra Star appears to have avoided the duel web sites and cryptic show time listings, that were a hallmark of Sanborn Theatres/SoCal Cinemas/The Movie Experience (you know there is a problem when an operator can’t even settle on a name for itself).

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Drive-In Snack Bar

September 1st, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s picture captures the Orange Drive-In’s snack bar and staff (circa late 1940’s?). As with most drive-ins, the Orange operated a cafeteria style snack bar, with patrons passing along a stationed service line, before checking out at the register; another, larger, stand was built when the venue added a second screen in the late 60’s. A big money maker in it’s day, your typical drive-in snack bar could pull in as much as 40% of a location’s gross receipts, despite the viewing format’s relatively loose outside food/drink policy.

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Stereo Sound

August 23rd, 2010 by ccrouch
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And you thought “big sound” was a modern innovation.
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Pictured above are two Bell Laboratories technicians, showing off one of the sixteen horned speakers that was utilized during a series stereophonic sound demonstrations held in the late 1930’s. Initially used to showcase musical performances, the technology was adapted to motion pictures for the 1937 Universal film “One Hundred Men and A Girl” and commercially introduced with Disney’s “Fantasia” (via Fantasound) in 1940. While stereo sound was quickly adopted by studios, especially for big budget musicals, theatres were somewhat slower to pick up on the technology as a standard amenity, with many chains and locations holding out until the mid 1970’s; the arrival of blockbuster films finally forcing the issue. Interestingly enough, multiplexes, despite being billed as the “modernization” of film exhibition, were often the last to convert.    

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Ultrastar Takes On The Gardenwalk 14

August 20th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Anaheim’s Gardenwalk theatre is scheduled to reopen under the management of San Diego based Ultrastar Cinemas today (8/20).

The former Sanborn/Movie Experience Cinemafusion had been tied up in rather contentious bankruptcy proceedings, after investors lost an estimate $5 million on the theatre, with much of the venue closed and partially stripped of fixtures for the past month. While the theatre’s IMAX and 21+ offerings remain in limbo, Ultrastar has stated that they are confident the site can be turned around, via aggressive marketing; a tall order, under the most optimistic of outlooks, as the entire Gardenwalk complex has failed to carve out even a subsistence business level thus far.

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Golden Era Cinema At Sea

August 18th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s photo is of the RMS Queen Mary’s cinema (circa 1936). At the time of the ship’s launch, the movie theatre was promoted as being “talkie” equipped and featuring a “giant screen”, for the “leisurely pleasure” of first class passengers. While the theatre’s sound quality remains a matter of conjecture, the “giant screen” claim looks to have been a bit of marketing creativity (even by standards of the day).

One can still visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach, but the original cinema area was converted to kitchen space shortly after the ship’s 1967 decommissioning.

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Forgotten Americana: A Familiar Story

August 12th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s photos are a departure from our usual Orange County centric content, but retain a personal link for this writer. The pictures, from the Library of Congress collection, depict Pittsfield, Massachusetts’s Capital Theatre (circa 1997), shortly before the venue’s demolition.
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The Capital’s history is typical of countless grand single screens of the “golden era”. Opened in the 1920’s, when every downtown of note featured at least one impressive cinema (usually several), the Capital was one of five major theatres that once lined Pittsfield’s “main drag”, North Street. A former MGM house, the theatre remained a highly popular and successful movie going destination for nearly fifty years. However, by the close of the 1970’s, a struggling local economy and declining main street saw the Capital fall from it’s once prestigious perch; a problematic scenario made all the worse with the arrival of a multiplex.
 
By the time I crossed paths with the Capital, in the early 80’s, the venue was nearing it’s final years and existed as more of a symbol of what once was in the city. No longer a top draw, the theatre had been reduced to showing near second run faire, to consistently sparse audiences. However, even in heavy decline, the theatre retained a certain charm which was sorely lacking at the bustling multiplex.
 
While I surely spent most of my movie going youth at the multiplex, utilizing the Capital’s marquee as a rain cover far more than entryway to entertainment, this was the theatre which spurred my earliest interest in cinemas. Be it the cavernous 1,338 seat auditorium, heavy velvet drapery, or bi gone luxury, there was something about the place that fascinated me. Even the wear and disrepair, which turned away your average movie goer, seemed to draw my attention. Unfortunately, my burgeoning interest was never explored to any great extent and I never truly appreciated this dimming bit of Americana; taking for granted that the Capital would always be there.
 
The Capital Theatre went dark in the mid 80’s and sat, silently decaying, for another ten years. By the time anyone even thought of saving one of the city’s crown jewels, neglect and too many New England winters had taken far too great a toll.  In 1997, the auditorium was razed and much of the street side structure was gutted; making way for a new community senior center. Today, the marquee and facade remain intact, but lead to little more than office space and a parking lot.
 
The Capital Theatre may have existed on the other side of the country, within a vastly differing community, but it’s story is somewhat universal. Be it Orange County, California or Pittsfield, Massachusetts, we rarely appreciate our living history until it has passed.

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Back From The Dead: The Brea Plaza 5

August 7th, 2010 by ccrouch
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After five years of vacancy and sporadic use as a horror theme attraction, the Brea Plaza 5 has reopened as a cinema.
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I stopped bye the Brea 5 this past week and was pleased to see that the new operators, Tristone Cinemas, have placed a great deal of work in to refurbishing the thirty three year old venue. The black color scheme and haphazard work from the Captain’s Family Theatres era is long gone, as are the few dated Mann/Edwards flourishes which survived the Captain’s millennium “remodel”. Aside from utilizing older seating fixtures, just about everything has been replaced, creating a fresh and modern look. The cinema just completed a week of free movies and begins running as a $3.00/$3.75 discount priced house today (8/6).
 
Having written about the theatre’s impending doom for the past two years, I’m relieved to report that the Brea 5 looks to have found a new life.   

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Laguna’s Many Lynn Theatres

August 3rd, 2010 by ccrouch
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The young man pictured below is Lyndon “Lynn” Aufdenkamp (circa 1916). In addition to having been a prominent figure in Laguna Beach’s early twentieth century development, Mr. Aufdenkamp was also the  city’s first cinema operator and the namesake for all of the movie theatres which have operated in Laguna Beach over the past ninety five years.
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Laguna’s rather confusing theatre history started shortly before 1915, when the Aufdenkamp family began showing silent films in downtown Laguna Beach, on a bed sheet that was strung up across a set of eucalyptus trees; the projectionist for these early screenings being none other than Lynn Aufdenkamp, the individual pictured above. After finding success with the outdoor venue, family patriarch, Fred Aufdenkamp, created the city’s first formal cinema at 255 Forest Avenue; naming the venue after his son, Lynn. In 1922, the family opened a second Lynn Theatre, at 162 South Coast Highway; re branding the original Lynn as the “Old Lynn”, to differentiate between the two venues. The “Old Lynn” would only last for a few more years, eventually transitioning in to non theatre use and, temporarily, leaving Laguna with only one Lynn cinema.
 
Literally located at Laguna Beach’s lowest elevation point, the Pacific Coast Highway Lynn suffered through a series of floods, as both canyon runoff and ocean storms regularly ravaged the building. After particularly heavy storms hit in 1933, damage to the theatre was severe enough to force the theatre’s closure and warrant new construction. Attempting to stay in business while a new theatre was built, the Aufdenkamp’s opened yet another Lynn, via the “Ocean Avenue Lynn“, at 250 Ocean Avenue. In June of 1935, the rebuilt Pacific Coast Highway site was completed, creating what was billed as “The New Lynn”, to accompany the Ocean Avenue Lynn.
 
The tradition of the Lynn moniker came to an end by the late 1930’s, as the Aufdenkamps sold off their theatre interests to the Vincent family; who soon renamed the Ocean Avenue Lynn, as the “Laguna Theatre”, and the Pacific Coast Highway site, “South Coast Cinema”. By the late 1950’s, only the South Coast Cinema remained, as all of the other former Lynn’s had given way to redevelopment. Today, the original Forest Avenue site is a retail clothing outlet and the Ocean Avenue Lynn, a bank parking lot. 
 
Laguna’s theatre namesake, Lynn Aufdenkamp, passed away in 1992, but his legacy lives on with the city’s lone remaining movie theatre, Regency’s South Coast Cinemas (the one time “New Lynn” was twinned in 1976).   

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