http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2421/

Also known as Mission Theatre
 Add to favoritesMonterey Theatre
Monterey Park, CA
619 N. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park, CA (map)
Status: Closed/Demolished 
Screens: Single Screen 
Style: Unknown 
 Function: Movies 
Seats: Unknown 
Chain: Unknown 
 Architect: Unknown 
Firm: Unknown 
 
Vintage exterior view of the Mission Theatre, the Monterey's original name (circa 1927)

Photo courtesy of William Gabel

The Monterey was originally called the Mission Theatre. The theater appears in the Ed Wood film "Jail Bait", and though the marquee is not visible, its interior is. In the early 50s was operated by the Edwards circuit which ran it until around 1980.
In its last years, it was showing Chinese language movies. The Monterey has since been demolished. 
Contributed by Joe Vogel, William Gabel 

YOUR COMMENTS
 
The Mission was at 619 N. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park. It was later known as The Monterey, and by the early 1950's was being operated by the Edwards circuit, which continued to run the theater until c1980. In its last few years, the Monterey was one of several theaters in the area which showed Chinese language movies. 
posted by Joe Vogel on Nov 1, 2004 at 8:32am

Some time before 1950, the facade of this theater was remodeled. The faux-stone plasterwork and other detailing were replaced with a plain plaster wall, and the cornice stripped off. The single-line marquee (which extended the width of the building) was trimmed with horizontal strips of neon, and was augmented with a tall, angled, two-sided marquee above it, between the former locations of the two decorative engaged columns shown in this old photograph. 

The Monterey was one of the rare early theaters in the Los Angeles area which had a section of stadium seating at the rear of the auditorium, and the compact lobby was "U" shaped, with the entrance from the ticket booth foyer at the bottom, and the two sides leading to passageways that sloped up to the cross aisle at the front of the stadium section. The passageways were closed off from the lobby only by drapes. The concession stand was tucked into an alcove on the left arm of the "U" and the low-ceilinged restrooms were at the center, under the stadium section.

The theater had a slightly taller section at the rear of the building, which may have been a stage house, though if so, it was not a very deep one. The building itself was very deep, though, and because the stadium section extended almost to the front wall of the structure, the last row of seats was probably about 140 feet from the screen. This depth gave the theater a fairly large seating capacity, (probably over 1000), despite its narrowness. The interior of the auditorium may have sported some decorative detail in its early days, but by the time I first attended it, about 1952, it was quite plain, and the length, narrowness, and height made the room seem tunnel-like. 

The Edwards company always operated the Monterey as a second or third run, popular price house, and it was a successful operation through the 1960's, and only stopped showing English language movies when it was replaced by new Edwards triplex theater in a mall on Atlantic Boulevard in the 1970's. 
posted by Joe Vogel on Nov 9, 2004 at 12:53am

The architect of this theater was Leonard L. Jones. It was built in 1924. 
posted by Joe Vogel on Nov 20, 2004 at 9:03am