Santa Monica, CA 90401

Opened:  In the mid 40s by ABC Theatres, one of 5 theatres eventually opened under the Hitching Post name.  Their other theatres were in Hollywood (later the Paris), Pasadena, Long Beach and Beverly Hills (later the Beverly Canon).

ABC was a local circuit owned by Buddy Adler, Horace Boos and Gregory Carter.  There is no connection between this circuit and the later ABC / Plitt Theatres circuit.

The Hitching Post venues typically offered double features of westerns. "Check your Guns at the Box Office."

Architect: Unknown

History: The building was evidently retail space prior to conversion to the hitching post. In the 1940 city directory 1450 4th is listed as the location of a toy store and 1446 as a restaurant.

It's advertised as the Hitching Post in the L.A. Times in 1946. The city directory for 1947 and 1948 just lists it as the Western Theatre.

The ABC circuit later abandoned the westerns and in the early 50s turned the venue into an art house, the Riviera Theatre. We assume the westerns continued for the weekend matinees, as they did at the Beverly Hills Hitching Post.

Status:  Date of closing unknown. It's listed in the Film Daily Yearbook at this address in 1950 and 1952.  The 1952-53 city directory lists the address as vacant. By 1954 it had become the home of the Santa Monica Colonial Furniture Co.

The building has been demolished. There's now a parking garage on the site.

More Information:

See the Cinema Treasures page on the Hitching Post.   But ignore the Pussycat Theatre comments. The Pussycat was at 1442 2nd. See our Pussycat Theatre page for more details on that one.