Another list of things long gone - Part II
More of the theaters where I saw movies, that are now no longer movie theaters.
The Lido Theater was in the 8600 block of West Pico. It survived until the late 1970s, and in the last years it was a "budget" theater.
The Bay Theater was in the Pacific Palisades and at some point during the 70s, they took the one auditorium and converted it to two. We went to movies here once in awhile when we were in that area.
There was once a Marina Theater that was the only theater in the area until UA opened its multiplex in the shopping center nearby. It was "second run" and that's where we'd go see stuff we'd missed in the first run.
The Beverly Center Cinema 13 is memorable for me because I went there on at least three blind dates in the early 1990s. It survived until a couple of years ago, in various incarnations.
The Beverly Connection 6 was right across the street from the Beverly Center. It did fine until the Grove opened a 14 screen multiplex not far away, with much better amenities around it.
The Tiffany Theater on Sunset was most notable for two things. One was its use as an office in the TV series "77 Sunset Strip". The other was the midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that began there in 1977 or so. Audience participation was a must and people might look at you strangely if you didn't shout "asshole" when "Brad" introduced himself, or "slut" when he introduced "Janet".
The triplex on Beverly near Fairfax was a great place to see a movie. If memory serves, the last film I saw there was a re-release of the great wuxia movie "Master of the Flying Guillotine".
The old Loyola Theater on Sepulveda, just to the South of Manchester still looks much the same as it did when it was a movie theater. But now it's a medical building and the marquee makes that very clear in "permanent" lettering.
The Centinela Drive-in was another of the great drive-ins that once were found all over the area. It was closed in the early 1990s and has since been demolished.
Same for the Studio Drive-in on Sepulveda, in Culver City. Where it once stood, a new street now exists and it makes traffic flow better. But I'd still prefer to have a drive-in nearby.
The Hawthorne Plaza Mall has been closed for almost 15 years, but it was pretty much dead years earlier. At one point only half of the stores and one of the three original anchor stores were open. It still sits empty to this date. The six screen multiplex on the site was torn down years ago.
I saw many wonderful movies at the Manhattan Village Six when I was living in El Segundo. It went from mainstream movie theater to art-house and then a mixture of the two under several different owners. I actually saw the first "Twilight" film there.
Until I started writing this, I didn't know the UA Marina Six had closed. I know I saw a movie there in late 2011 or early 2012. The only reason I went there was that I had a coupon for a free movie that was about to expire and what I wanted to see was playing there. I saw a lot of films there, most when I lived in the El Segundo area. There were two big auditoriums and the rest were kind of small.
The best things about going to movie at the Hermosa Beach Sixplex on PCH were the awesome parking and the fact that there was an outstanding video arcade on the lower level of the complex. They had Battlezone and other classic arcade games. I remember seeing "True Lies" and "The Postman" there, among other films. I believe I also saw "It Could Happen to You" there on a blind date.
The last theater for this round of long-gone movie palaces was the classic Bijou, also in Hermosa Beach. In 1992 and 1993 when I was dating a woman who lived not far from there, we saw many films there. It was a great place, ambience wise, although the sound wasn't great. It was also a pain to park there.
Next time, further into the South Bay for more movie theaters that are no longer around. There is a theater at the Del Amo Fashion Center, but there were two theaters before it on the same gigantic property. One inside the mall and one outside. Both are long-dead.
The Lido Theater was in the 8600 block of West Pico. It survived until the late 1970s, and in the last years it was a "budget" theater.
The Bay Theater was in the Pacific Palisades and at some point during the 70s, they took the one auditorium and converted it to two. We went to movies here once in awhile when we were in that area.
There was once a Marina Theater that was the only theater in the area until UA opened its multiplex in the shopping center nearby. It was "second run" and that's where we'd go see stuff we'd missed in the first run.
The Beverly Center Cinema 13 is memorable for me because I went there on at least three blind dates in the early 1990s. It survived until a couple of years ago, in various incarnations.
The Beverly Connection 6 was right across the street from the Beverly Center. It did fine until the Grove opened a 14 screen multiplex not far away, with much better amenities around it.
The Tiffany Theater on Sunset was most notable for two things. One was its use as an office in the TV series "77 Sunset Strip". The other was the midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that began there in 1977 or so. Audience participation was a must and people might look at you strangely if you didn't shout "asshole" when "Brad" introduced himself, or "slut" when he introduced "Janet".
The triplex on Beverly near Fairfax was a great place to see a movie. If memory serves, the last film I saw there was a re-release of the great wuxia movie "Master of the Flying Guillotine".
The old Loyola Theater on Sepulveda, just to the South of Manchester still looks much the same as it did when it was a movie theater. But now it's a medical building and the marquee makes that very clear in "permanent" lettering.
The Centinela Drive-in was another of the great drive-ins that once were found all over the area. It was closed in the early 1990s and has since been demolished.
Same for the Studio Drive-in on Sepulveda, in Culver City. Where it once stood, a new street now exists and it makes traffic flow better. But I'd still prefer to have a drive-in nearby.
The Hawthorne Plaza Mall has been closed for almost 15 years, but it was pretty much dead years earlier. At one point only half of the stores and one of the three original anchor stores were open. It still sits empty to this date. The six screen multiplex on the site was torn down years ago.
I saw many wonderful movies at the Manhattan Village Six when I was living in El Segundo. It went from mainstream movie theater to art-house and then a mixture of the two under several different owners. I actually saw the first "Twilight" film there.
Until I started writing this, I didn't know the UA Marina Six had closed. I know I saw a movie there in late 2011 or early 2012. The only reason I went there was that I had a coupon for a free movie that was about to expire and what I wanted to see was playing there. I saw a lot of films there, most when I lived in the El Segundo area. There were two big auditoriums and the rest were kind of small.
The best things about going to movie at the Hermosa Beach Sixplex on PCH were the awesome parking and the fact that there was an outstanding video arcade on the lower level of the complex. They had Battlezone and other classic arcade games. I remember seeing "True Lies" and "The Postman" there, among other films. I believe I also saw "It Could Happen to You" there on a blind date.
The last theater for this round of long-gone movie palaces was the classic Bijou, also in Hermosa Beach. In 1992 and 1993 when I was dating a woman who lived not far from there, we saw many films there. It was a great place, ambience wise, although the sound wasn't great. It was also a pain to park there.
Next time, further into the South Bay for more movie theaters that are no longer around. There is a theater at the Del Amo Fashion Center, but there were two theaters before it on the same gigantic property. One inside the mall and one outside. Both are long-dead.
posted by me at 8:53 PM
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