The John Golden Theatre was originally built in 1927 as the Theatre Masque by real-estate magnates, the Chanin Brothers, as part of a three-theater complex that also included the Royale (a mid-sized house) and the Majestic (a large house). The Theatre Masque, the most intimate of the three, was designed for serious dramas. In 1930, the Chanins transferred ownership of all three venues to the Shuberts. In 1937, when John Golden assumed its management, he renamed it after himself, the third playhouse to bear his name. The Shuberts took back control of the theater in 1946, turning it into a film house for two years before restoring it to legitimacy in the late 1940s.