Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Imagine my surprise to find that The Times reviewed Mexican movies, usually in critiques signed “G.K.,” who praised this classic of Mexican cinema starring Pedro Infante, Virginia Serret and Blanca Estela Pavon, who won the Best Actress Ariel for this film.

The movie was shown at the California Theatre, 810 S. Main; the Mason Theater, 127 S. Broadway; and the Roosevelt Theatre, 212 N. Main.

According to the Cinema Treasures website, the California opened in 1918 and closed as a Pussycat Theater in 1988. The ticket office was decorated in Batchelder tiles depicting two parrots on either side, and mysteriously vanished while several parties—including the L.A. Conservancy—were trying to obtain it.

California Theatre:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2150/

The Mason Theatre, originally the Mason Opera House, opened June 18, 1903, and was torn down in March 1955 to make way for the state office building, now closed because of damage from the 1994 Northridge quake. It was the first playhouse built in Los Angeles in the 20th century and the first constructed on Broadway.

The Roosevelt Theater apparently vanished without a word being written in The Times.