Covina Past: September 2020

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Covina Theatre Opens, 1921

Ad announcing the Grand Opening of the Covina Theatre, which appeared in the Covina Argus newspaper on December 16, 1921.

Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

Transcription of the accompanying news article:

NEW COVINA THEATER ANNOUNCES OPENING PERFORMANCE MONDAY Film Playhouse of Most Modern Type Will Seat Over Five Hundred — Candy Box Ready — Stores to Keep Open Evenings, Presenting Marshall Neilan's most successful drama, Bits of Life, as the main feature of the program, the Covina theater, known for years as the Star theater, will open to the public its new home on this coming Monday, December 19. Special music, and a distinctive Christmas atmosphere will be a part of the program for the entire week, and matinees will be announced for the latter part of next week in conjunction with the holiday shopping. The Covina stores will all keep open in the evening all during the week to accommodate the Christmas shoppers, and the theater will cooperate with the merchants in furnishing a first-class attraction. The Covina theater occupies the remodeled building of Dr. J. D. Reed, next to the Covina National bank. It has taken the space formerly occupied by the Covina Furniture Company, and also the upper floor that was formerly the Masonic hall. The theater is made possible through the cooperation of Dr. Reed with the theater owners, Messrs. Sink and Leonardy. Dr. Reed has invested several thousand dollars in the remodeling, and an equal amount has been put in by the theater owners. The theater has more than 500 seats, or nearly twice the capacity of the old Star theater. Exceptionally good seats are to be had in the balcony, and there are loge seats on each side of the main floor. The floor is pitched at such an angle that every person in the house will be able to get a full view of the screen, according to Frank Cox, the architect who supervised the building. Managers Sink and Leonardy announced that there will be no change of prices for the opening night. Bits of Life is a film that features Wesley Barry, the child actor, as well as an all-star cast consisting of Lon Chaney, John Bowers, Teddy Sampson, Frederick Burton, James Neil, Noah Beery, Harriet Hammond, Anna May Wong, James Bradbury, Rockliffe Fellows and Tammany Young. There are four separate stories in the film, but all related in a most sensational drama. THE CANDY BOX OPENS Simultaneous with the opening of the Covina theater will be the opening of Hervey A. Werden's The Candy Box, his new sweet shop that occupies a part of the space with the Covina theater frontage. The Palace of Sweets owner has evolved a very attractive place of business from a room twenty-five feet square. The shape of the store gave Mr. Werden the idea for the new name. The Candy Box is being given the last decorative touches this week. Its pink and white interior and mahogany colorings in furniture make it one of the most attractive shops in Southern California. A new soda fountain is also fitted with paraphernalia for the making of hot chocolate and the serving of light lunches. This place will undoubtedly be a popular rendezvous for theater patrons. In conjunction with the opening of his new shop Mr. Werden has arranged for a special dinner on Monday evening at the Palace of Sweets, where he will service a regular course dinner with all the fixings. All Covina stores will keep open until 10:30 in the evening during the coming week. Local newspapermen say that the Covina stores were never before stocked as heavily with Christmas articles as this year. All merchants say that the trade so far has been very satisfactory. From: The Covina Argus, December 16, 1921, p.1 Courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Ad for "The Candy Box" concession stand at the front of the new theater.
Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

Out with the old and in with the new! Looks like the old Star Theatre had its last showing on Thursday, December 15th, and the new Covina Theatre opened unofficially the next day. Also, it appears "[A] Midnight Bell" was actually the very first feature shown in the brand new venue; "Bits of Life" being the Grand Opening bill-topper.

Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

I've never been able to find a good photo of the Covina Theatre in the 1920s, so I guess, like so many other things these days, all you get to see is ads. :-)

The Covina Theatre was demolished completely in 2004. Nothing of it remains today. The performing arts center there now is an entirely new building from the ground up.