This theatre building, on Hermosa Avenue in downtown Hermosa Beach, is one of the few "old buildings" still standing in Hermosa. It was built in 1923 and first named the "Metropolitan." It was considered a "first run house."
This is an early photo, as the movie "Rosita", starring Mary Pickford, was released in 1923, according to Carl Fleming, cinema historian. There has been no history uncovered on "Life of the Bee."
The building above has had several reincarnations. Opening first as a theatre, "The Metropolitan", then later as "The Strand", and finally as an art movie house, "The Bijou". It is no longer used as a theatre, but the building has been seismically retrofitted and the exterior saved as an historic building. It is to be used as shops and a studio.