When Kathleen Schaaf would walk from her house to The Art Theatre on Fourth Street in the ’70s, she would always bring a pillow to sit on.
“There were those bad seats with the springs sticking up your butt,” Schaaf said. “But constantly the place was full.”
At the time, it was a revival house, showing films that weren’t mainstream or always first-run. Despite its dusty floors and weathered seating, the theater always seemed to draw a crowd.
“You can totally immerse yourself on a journey,” Schaaf said. “You can learn something, you can laugh, you can cry, you just never know. It’s the whole experience.”
The theater debuted 62 years before Schaaf would open Meow, the first vintage shop on what is now known as Retro Row.
Over the past four decades, the corridor has undergone an evolution. What was once an ordinary urban stretch of Fourth Street is now home to an artsy and bustling strip of vintage stores, novelty shops, trendy restaurants, bars and more hipster hangouts.
Through it all, Long Beach’s only independent movie theater, The Art Theatre, has managed to keep its doors open. This year, the movie house, which now operates as a nonprofit, will mark 100 years.
The theater opened in 1924, but for reasons lost to history, the venue did not begin showing any movies until January 1925 — the perfect justification for a yearlong celebration, according to co-owner Kerstin Kansteiner.
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Celebrations will kick off with an Oscar Gala on Sunday, March 10. The fundraiser will include a red carpet, photo booth, food and drinks, giveaways, a silent auction and a live telecast of the Academy Awards on the big screen.
Red carpet arrivals begin at 2:30 p.m. and the event is open to the public. Members of The Art Theatre can purchase tickets for $75; non-member tickets are priced at $100.
Now that the theater operates as a nonprofit, the celebrations like the gala play a vital role in ensuring its continued existence.
Today, The Art’s status as an independent theater allows moviegoers to see not only new releases but scores of indie, art house, foreign and other non-mainstream films that are difficult to catch on the big screen elsewhere.
But it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the storied building, which has survived an earthquake, a fire and a see-saw of industry changes that have hindered its profitability — from the advent of the VCR to today’s streaming services.
When the Art Theatre first opened, Long Beach boasted 50 independent cinemas. The steady decline of moviegoing, which has been accelerated by the convenience of streaming, made it clear that a for-profit model would not be sustainable, Kansteiner said.
Its survival depends almost entirely on donations, fundraising events and memberships, she said.
“It is a meeting point for people, getting together in person and having that experience together is so important,” Co-owner Kerstin Kasteiner said. “We’re not going to give up film just because there’s streaming. It’s still important to think about things and show arthouse films that aren’t being shown elsewhere.”
In 1924, then known as the Carter Theater, the building hosted 636 seats and had a pit orchestra and a pipe organ to accompany the silent films shown there.
Its original facade, designed by local Robert C. Aldrich, had a central, short tower flanked by two storefronts, reminiscent of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood but on a smaller scale.
The venue was renamed Lee Theater in 1935, after the building’s owner at the time, E.H. Lee. It was remodeled into the Art Deco style after a major earthquake in March 1933 damaged the building. It underwent another remodel in 1947, then in 1969, it survived a fire.
In 2007 when Kerstin Kansteiner and her husband, Jan Robert van Dijs, and two partners purchased the theater, they restored the building to its 1930s glory.
“When we bought the theater, the theater was still showing film,” Kansteiner said. “It was overall in disrepair and dirty and outdated.”
Renovations using the original blueprints from the Lee era included a replica of the 1934 marquee, the Art Deco trademark symmetrical storefronts and a new interior. But before they could reopen the theater in 2008, they realized they’d have to switch from projecting film to projecting a digital format.
“All of a sudden we had to buy a digital projector that we just paid off a year or two ago,” Kasteiner said. “It was an expense we had not factored in.”
The centennial celebrations will run all the way through January 2025, culminating with the showing of a film from 1925. Kansteiner hunted for tape of the first movie the theater played, “The Siren of Seville,” but could only locate a partial copy of the film in the Netherlands. Instead, the theater will show a different movie that debuted at the theater that same year.
“This is an exciting time for The Art Theatre as we begin celebrating its 100 year anniversary by continuing the tradition to host our annual fundraiser that coincides with the Academy Awards,” Richard Lewis, the theater’s board president said in a statement.
“Since construction began the theater has made many memories and enjoys a rich history with guests, community and cinema aficionados. We’re grateful for everyone’s support.”
The Art Theatre is at 2025 E. Fourth Street.