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Carleton M. Winslow, Sr., (1876-1946) prepared early plans for Joseph Toplitzky and Associates for the Carthay Circle Theatre c. 06/1924, but the final design was credited to Archibald Dwight Gibbs (1892-1983), who also designed theatres in Costa Mesa, CA, Sacramento, CA, and Long Beach, CA. Ground was broken for the Carthay Circle Theatre 05/09/1925, and work was finished in by 05/1926; Fox-West Coast Theatres took over operation of the theatre in 02/1929.

The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most important Los Angeles venues for hosting film premieres in the 1920s and 1930s; it seated 1,500; theatre historian David Naylor noted the importance of the Carthay Circle Theatre: "Dwight Gibbs's Carthay Circle (1926, razed) in Los Angeles showed the earliest traces of art deco in its streamlined exterior. The theater's tall mission-style tower was like a beacon in the night sky, drawing customers from all around the city to the Carthay Circle. The theater was best known as the site of some of the first major movie premieres. Warner Brothers went as far as to stage a big premiere in front of the Carthay Circle as a backdrop for the pivotal scene in 'Boy Meets Girl' (1938)." (See David Naylor, American Picture Palaces, [NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981], p. 141.)

Demolished; the Carthay Circle Theatre closed down during 06/1969, and was demolished in the early 1970s.

PCAD id: 1240