Building History

As noted on the site, "Historic Los Angeles Theatres--Downtown," Platt's Popcorn Palace previously occupied the northwest corner of 5th Street and Main Street on which film producer and exhibitor William H. "Billy" Clune (1862-1927) would open his short-lived Clune's Theatre. This nickelodeon operated at 453 South Main Street from 1909 until either late 1913 or sometime in 1914, when it was demolished to make room for the rebuilding of the Hotel Rosslyn.

The Historic Los Angeles Theatres--Downtown, site indicated that Clune sought to elevate the quality of movie pictures that his new nickelodeon was showing. It stated that "[Clune's Theatre} was an attempt at a 'high class' operation, eschewing the more sensationalistic product that was rampant at the time featuring violence, endless chases, and mayhem. Clune's first manager was Robert A. Brackett, a film culture reformer who had earlier exhibited his refined programs (including Gaumont sound films and educational lectures) at the Royal Theatre on Broadway and the Chronophone Theatre on Spring St., a venue later known as Horne's Big Show." (See Historic Los Angeles Theatres--Downtown.com, "Clune's Theatre," accessed 01/04/2019.)

Prior to opening Clune's Theatre in 1909, Clune had been involved since 1907 as a partner in the Southwest Amusement Company, a firm that operated at least five nickelodeons in and around Los Angeles until it ceased in 1908. The Southwest Amusement Company's 1908 dissolution may have been hastened by a new Los Angeles ordinance that required nickelodeon operators to provide clear aisles and exits for better access and egress. According to an article in the Los Angeles Herald, 08/22/1908, sixteen moving picture theatres were in violation of this new ordinance, probably passed to avoid panics within crowded theatres during fires. The article noted: "The chief offense against the building ordinance as applied to theaters of this class is that the aisles are not wide enough, in some places being entirely filled with chairs. Those places have become very popular, and the removal of a few chairs means just that much loss to the theater in admissions, as members of the audience are not allowed to stand in the aisles. In some cases provisions for exits are not according to law, and because of peculiarities of construction cannot be made ot conform to it. If some of these places desire to continue in business they will have to get other locations. It is probable that some of the large picture theaters will comply with the ordinance during the last few days of the month. Many of them are in shape to follow its provisions by taking out a few chairs, so as to increase the width of their aisles. Some of them will be able to do this, but others cannot, without great expense, comply with the provision for exits." (See "Picture Shows May Be Forced to Quit," Los Angeles Herald, 08/22/1908, p. 3.) Clune's new theatre would have been designed to comply with these new nickelodeon ordinances.

Building Notes

Clune's Theatre was noted for its elaborate electric signage. The very thorough Historic Los Angeles Theatres--Downtown web site quoted a 1916 article in Moving Picture World about Clune's Theatre at 453 South Main Street: "Clune's electrical display on this theatre was a real achievement. The theater had entrances on both streets and over both entrances were built gorgeous electric signs that cost many thousand dollars. The interior of this theater, I have been told, would be hard to improve upon even today. It was most beautifully appointed and unusually comfortable, with wide, luxurious seats. This theater made W.H. Clune famous from coast to coast and was a a continued success and a veritable gold mine for four years, when the lease expired and the building was razed to make room for the present twelve-story Rosslyn Hotel." (See Historic Los Angeles Theatres--Downtown.com, "Clune's Theatre," accessed 01/04/2019.)

PCAD id: 22622