Added to the National Register of Historic Places February 16, 1996

Back in the spring of 2000, the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale hosted an event that would change Los Angeles forever: my high school graduation ceremony. I wore a form-fitting silver disco ball outfit and played Chick Corea’s “Armando’s Rhumba” on piano accompanied by two of my classmates. It was a defining event in the annals of LA history. Everyone in the audience is still talking about it to this day. I’m still waiting for an invitation for an encore.

I trust it’s obvious that my tongue is firmly implanted in my cheek here. While most of the above actually happened (including the outfit), a theater as long-tenured as the Alex has certainly hosted more significant events than the Oakwood High School Commencement. So let’s dive into its history from before that epoch-making performance. 

When the Alex Theatre opened on September 4, 1925, Glendale was in the midst of a huge economic upswing. The decade saw the population more than quadruple. Streets were getting paved, the first mid-rise buildings started appearing on major thoroughfares, and Brand Boulevard was on its way to becoming a major commercial epicenter. And as LA’s film industry grew to prominence, the street became an entertainment epicenter, too. Glendale’s first movie theater (Glendale Theater) opened in 1910, and by 1926 the Alex was one of seven theaters in Glendale, including four on Brand.

The Alex was developed by theatre impresario C. L. Langley, owner of the West Coast Langley Theatres company, a mini-chain of 21 theatres. Langley was the same guy behind the Rialto in South Pasadena, and a number of other landmark vaudeville/movie palaces. The Alex was a personal one for Langley. He named it after his son, Claude Alexander (in fact its original name was the Alexander Theatre), and some accounts suggest that his passion for ancient art history made its way into the Greek, Roman and Egyptian-style designs in the forecourt and interior. It also marked a turning point in Langley’s career. About a week after the Alex opened, he sold his stake in the West Coast Langley Theatres; within a few years the chain would be bought by William Fox, of 20th Century Fox fame.

The architects behind the Alex were local boy Arthur G. Lindley and his partner Charles R. Selkirk, the same crew behind the Hotel Glendale (see Etan Does LA visit #81), the Glendale Masonic Temple and an annex to Glendale City Hall. They crafted a theater meant for experiences, from the monumental Greek-style facade that greets you in the forecourt, to the fresco-style murals festooning in the lobby, to the “atmospheric” ceiling in the impressive auditorium, designed and painted to give the impression of sitting outside. 

In its early years, the Alex hosted live vaudeville and silent films accompanied by an organist. From 1925-28, the man literally pulling out all the stops on the in-house Wurlitzer was Frank Lanterman, scion of one of La Cañada’s first families (their historic home is well worth a visit) who would go on to an influential career in local politics. Before the main attraction, you might be treated to a “prologue,” with costumed hotties called the “Sunkist Beauties,” performing elaborate dance routines choreographed by the famed brother/sister duo Fanchon & Marco. 

For its first 15 years the Alex advertised its nightly offerings on a simple letterboard above the box office, with a rather plain vertical neon sign proclaiming “Alexander.” It wasn’t until 1940 that the Alex was enhanced with the iconic art deco marquee that you see today, instantly recognizable by its illuminated phallic/floral art deco tower, and the shortened name “Alex” blazing on Brand. The plans for the update were drawn by S. Charles Lee, an architect credited with defining the movie theatre as a genre of building in the ‘20s through the ‘40s. Among Lee’s hundreds of theatres are the historic Los Angeles and Tower theatres downtown, the Fox Wilshire Theatre (now the Saban Theatre) in Beverly Hills and the now-closed Fox Theater in Inglewood. Lee also designed the synagogue where I spent much of my youth, Temple Israel of Hollywood. 

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C. L. Langley once described his intentions for the Alex Theatre like this: “(to) provide a good place of entertainment to keep Glendalians from going to Los Angeles and Hollywood.” He may have wanted to keep the locals from heading to Hollywood, but he couldn’t keep Hollywood from coming to the Alex. Located in an LA suburb not too far from the movie studios, the Alex became a popular place for moviemakers to preview their upcoming films, evaluate how audiences responded and edit or reshoot scenes where necessary. Animation historian Jim Korkis reports that Walt Disney tried out his animated shorts here in the ‘30s. In a piece of unpublished research, Glendale historian Andrea Humberger writes that Flying Down to Rio (1933), Pennies From Heaven (1936), A Star Is Born (1937), A Day at the Races (1937), Heidi (1937) and Going My Way (1944) all previewed at the Alex before going into wide release. A 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and her mom once arrived late to a preview of National Velvet at the Alex, and had to stand in the aisle until somebody left. 

By the mid-20th century, the Alex had become a first-run movie theater, and stayed that way for the next few decades, despite multiple changes in ownership from Fox West Coast to National Theatres, then National General to Mann. In the early ‘90s, the Mann Theatres empire had shifted its focus to multiplexes, and Mann stopped operating at the Alex in September 1991, ending its run with a screening of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. 

But in the immortal words of the Terminator, “I’ll be back.” After a major investment from the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, and a renovation that peeled back some of the “improvements” made to the original Lindley/Selkirk/Lee designs over the years, the Alex reopened in 1993 for its next phase as a performing arts center and hub for cultural events. 

While it’s no longer the place to go for new movies in Glendale, you can find concerts, live theater, dance, comedy, awards shows and fundraisers here. The Alex counts hosts five performing arts companies – the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Ballet, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, Musical Theatre Guild, Glendale Youth Orchestra – and as a lovely nod to its past, the Alex Film Society regularly screens classic films at the Alex. And of course it’s also rented out for private events, including my aforementioned high school graduation.

Right now the Alex is in yet another transition. After nearly three decades of stewardship by the nonprofit Glendale Arts, in late 2021 the City of Glendale appointed SAS Entertainment Partners to oversee it, the same firm that runs Theatre at the Ace Hotel and the LA Orpheum. 

Who knows what’ll happen? But it’s not for nothing that the Alex has outlasted every one of the grand movie palaces of Glendale. For a venue like this to hold on for nearly a century, it has to involve adapting to new business models, welcoming new kinds of clientele, accepting that with longevity comes change. The fact that the Alex has transitioned from a vaudeville house to a first-run movie palace to a multi-purpose venue that hosts all manner of performing arts and community events says a lot about the changing economics of the entertainment industry. But it also says a lot about how much Los Angeles cares about this theater. 

Sources / Recommended Reading

+Alex Theatre’s NRHP nomination form

+Alex Theatre @ historictheatrephotos.com

+Alex Theatre @ Los Angeles Theatres blog

+Alex Theatre @ LA Conservancy website

+Disney’s Preview Palace: The Alex Theater (CartoonResearch.com, 2015)

+Alex Film Society website

+Historic Alex Theatre flashes a glimmer of restored tower lighting (Glendale News Press, 2015)