Bard opened his first theater, Bard's Hill Street on
Hill Street in
downtown Los Angeles, in 1920. Bard's second theater, College Theater, was located across the street and was leased shortly after Bard's Hill Street's opening. Bard opened Bard's Hollywood, also known as Lou Bard Playhouse, at the intersection of
Hollywood Boulevard and
Sunset Boulevard in 1923. Today it is known as
The Vista and owned by
Quentin Tarantino. Bard opened three
Egyptian-themed theaters in 1924 and 1925: Bard's Garfield Egyptian on
Valley Boulevard in
Alhambra, California,
Bard's Glendale on
Colorado Boulevard in
Glendale, California, and
Bard's Pasadena on Colorado Boulevard in
Pasadena, California. Bard's Pasadena sat nearly two thousand and shortly after opening became one of the most popular theaters in the
Los Angeles area. Bard's final theater,
Bard's Eighth Street, opened on
Eighth Street in downtown Los Angeles in 1927. In 1927, Bard sold the theaters owned through his company Far West Theatres Inc to
West Coast Theaters after which, the West Coast Theaters attempted to ignore a provision in the contract that allowed Bard to continue operating
Bard's West Adams. The company forcibly ousted Bard from the theater and then obtained a
temporary restraining order, after which Bard brought the matter to the courts, who ruled on his behalf. Many of Bard's theaters were designed by
Lewis Arthur Smith None of Bard's theaters competed in the
first run market, however they did offer current films to the non-first nighter. ==List of theaters operated by Bard==