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Drive-In Snack Bar

September 1st, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s picture captures the Orange Drive-In’s snack bar and staff (circa late 1940′s?). As with most drive-ins, the Orange operated a cafeteria style snack bar, with patrons passing along a stationed service line, before checking out at the register; another, larger, stand was built when the venue added a second screen in the late 60′s. A big money maker in it’s day, your typical drive-in snack bar could pull in as much as 40% of a location’s gross receipts, despite the viewing format’s relatively loose outside food/drink policy.

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Stereo Sound

August 23rd, 2010 by ccrouch
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And you thought “big sound” was a modern innovation.
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Pictured above are two Bell Laboratories technicians, showing off one of the sixteen horned speakers that was utilized during a series stereophonic sound demonstrations held in the late 1930′s. Initially used to showcase musical performances, the technology was adapted to motion pictures for the 1937 Universal film “One Hundred Men and A Girl” and commercially introduced with Disney’s “Fantasia” (via Fantasound) in 1940. While stereo sound was quickly adopted by studios, especially for big budget musicals, theatres were somewhat slower to pick up on the technology as a standard amenity, with many chains and locations holding out until the mid 1970′s; the arrival of blockbuster films finally forcing the issue. Interestingly enough, multiplexes, despite being billed as the “modernization” of film exhibition, were often the last to convert.    

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Ultrastar Takes On The Gardenwalk 14

August 20th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Anaheim’s Gardenwalk theatre is scheduled to reopen under the management of San Diego based Ultrastar Cinemas today (8/20).

The former Sanborn/Movie Experience Cinemafusion had been tied up in rather contentious bankruptcy proceedings, after investors lost an estimate $5 million on the theatre, with much of the venue closed and partially stripped of fixtures for the past month. While the theatre’s IMAX and 21+ offerings remain in limbo, Ultrastar has stated that they are confident the site can be turned around, via aggressive marketing; a tall order, under the most optimistic of outlooks, as the entire Gardenwalk complex has failed to carve out even a subsistence business level thus far.

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Golden Era Cinema At Sea

August 18th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s photo is of the RMS Queen Mary’s cinema (circa 1936). At the time of the ship’s launch, the movie theatre was promoted as being “talkie” equipped and featuring a “giant screen”, for the “leisurely pleasure” of first class passengers. While the theatre’s sound quality remains a matter of conjecture, the “giant screen” claim looks to have been a bit of marketing creativity (even by standards of the day).

One can still visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach, but the original cinema area was converted to kitchen space shortly after the ship’s 1967 decommissioning.

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Forgotten Americana: A Familiar Story

August 12th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Today’s photos are a departure from our usual Orange County centric content, but retain a personal link for this writer. The pictures, from the Library of Congress collection, depict Pittsfield, Massachusetts’s Capital Theatre (circa 1997), shortly before the venue’s demolition.
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The Capital’s history is typical of countless grand single screens of the “golden era”. Opened in the 1920′s, when every downtown of note featured at least one impressive cinema (usually several), the Capital was one of five major theatres that once lined Pittsfield’s “main drag”, North Street. A former MGM house, the theatre remained a highly popular and successful movie going destination for nearly fifty years. However, by the close of the 1970′s, a struggling local economy and declining main street saw the Capital fall from it’s once prestigious perch; a problematic scenario made all the worse with the arrival of a multiplex.
 
By the time I crossed paths with the Capital, in the early 80′s, the venue was nearing it’s final years and existed as more of a symbol of what once was in the city. No longer a top draw, the theatre had been reduced to showing near second run faire, to consistently sparse audiences. However, even in heavy decline, the theatre retained a certain charm which was sorely lacking at the bustling multiplex.
 
While I surely spent most of my movie going youth at the multiplex, utilizing the Capital’s marquee as a rain cover far more than entryway to entertainment, this was the theatre which spurred my earliest interest in cinemas. Be it the cavernous 1,338 seat auditorium, heavy velvet drapery, or bi gone luxury, there was something about the place that fascinated me. Even the wear and disrepair, which turned away your average movie goer, seemed to draw my attention. Unfortunately, my burgeoning interest was never explored to any great extent and I never truly appreciated this dimming bit of Americana; taking for granted that the Capital would always be there.
 
The Capital Theatre went dark in the mid 80′s and sat, silently decaying, for another ten years. By the time anyone even thought of saving one of the city’s crown jewels, neglect and too many New England winters had taken far too great a toll.  In 1997, the auditorium was razed and much of the street side structure was gutted; making way for a new community senior center. Today, the marquee and facade remain intact, but lead to little more than office space and a parking lot.
 
The Capital Theatre may have existed on the other side of the country, within a vastly differing community, but it’s story is somewhat universal. Be it Orange County, California or Pittsfield, Massachusetts, we rarely appreciate our living history until it has passed.

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Back From The Dead: The Brea Plaza 5

August 7th, 2010 by ccrouch
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After five years of vacancy and sporadic use as a horror theme attraction, the Brea Plaza 5 has reopened as a cinema.
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I stopped bye the Brea 5 this past week and was pleased to see that the new operators, Tristone Cinemas, have placed a great deal of work in to refurbishing the thirty three year old venue. The black color scheme and haphazard work from the Captain’s Family Theatres era is long gone, as are the few dated Mann/Edwards flourishes which survived the Captain’s millennium “remodel”. Aside from utilizing older seating fixtures, just about everything has been replaced, creating a fresh and modern look. The cinema just completed a week of free movies and begins running as a $3.00/$3.75 discount priced house today (8/6).
 
Having written about the theatre’s impending doom for the past two years, I’m relieved to report that the Brea 5 looks to have found a new life.   

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Laguna’s Many Lynn Theatres

August 3rd, 2010 by ccrouch
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The young man pictured below is Lyndon “Lynn” Aufdenkamp (circa 1916). In addition to having been a prominent figure in Laguna Beach’s early twentieth century development, Mr. Aufdenkamp was also the  city’s first cinema operator and the namesake for all of the movie theatres which have operated in Laguna Beach over the past ninety five years.
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Laguna’s rather confusing theatre history started shortly before 1915, when the Aufdenkamp family began showing silent films in downtown Laguna Beach, on a bed sheet that was strung up across a set of eucalyptus trees; the projectionist for these early screenings being none other than Lynn Aufdenkamp, the individual pictured above. After finding success with the outdoor venue, family patriarch, Fred Aufdenkamp, created the city’s first formal cinema at 255 Forest Avenue; naming the venue after his son, Lynn. In 1922, the family opened a second Lynn Theatre, at 162 South Coast Highway; re branding the original Lynn as the “Old Lynn”, to differentiate between the two venues. The “Old Lynn” would only last for a few more years, eventually transitioning in to non theatre use and, temporarily, leaving Laguna with only one Lynn cinema.
 
Literally located at Laguna Beach’s lowest elevation point, the Pacific Coast Highway Lynn suffered through a series of floods, as both canyon runoff and ocean storms regularly ravaged the building. After particularly heavy storms hit in 1933, damage to the theatre was severe enough to force the theatre’s closure and warrant new construction. Attempting to stay in business while a new theatre was built, the Aufdenkamp’s opened yet another Lynn, via the “Ocean Avenue Lynn“, at 250 Ocean Avenue. In June of 1935, the rebuilt Pacific Coast Highway site was completed, creating what was billed as “The New Lynn”, to accompany the Ocean Avenue Lynn.
 
The tradition of the Lynn moniker came to an end by the late 1930′s, as the Aufdenkamps sold off their theatre interests to the Vincent family; who soon renamed the Ocean Avenue Lynn, as the “Laguna Theatre”, and the Pacific Coast Highway site, “South Coast Cinema”. By the late 1950′s, only the South Coast Cinema remained, as all of the other former Lynn’s had given way to redevelopment. Today, the original Forest Avenue site is a retail clothing outlet and the Ocean Avenue Lynn, a bank parking lot. 
 
Laguna’s theatre namesake, Lynn Aufdenkamp, passed away in 1992, but his legacy lives on with the city’s lone remaining movie theatre, Regency’s South Coast Cinemas (the one time “New Lynn” was twinned in 1976).   

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News of Failure & Success On The County Cinema Scene

July 22nd, 2010 by ccrouch
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Orange County’s newest movie theatre, Cinema Fusion (aka Gardenwalk 14, The Movie Experience 14, and a few other monikers), is preparing to close after a two year run. Opened in July of 2008, the self promoted “future of movie going”, never managed to capture a sizeable share of the movie going market and struggled to even pay for operational expenses; more the result of a poor location and weak marketing, than any true fault with the venue itself. According to published reports, Ultra Star Cinemas will take over operations of the struggling theatre, aiming for a late Summer re launch and new attempt at luring in business.
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On the opposite end of the cinema spectrum, one of the county’s oldest operating movie theatres, Irvine’s Woodbridge 5, is set to begin offering digital 3D projection this Friday. The thirty year old, discount priced, Woodbridge completed a $70,000 digital install, in the site’s largest auditorium, this week, with plans to be fully digital by year’s end. While not the nation’s first discount theatre to initiate a digital conversion, the move remains somewhat bold and pioneering, in the world of sub $5 ticketing.

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The West End Theatre at 95

July 20th, 2010 by ccrouch
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This week marks the 95th anniversary of Santa Ana’s West End Theatre. In addition to being Orange County’s second oldest remaining theatre structure (the Yost being the oldest), the West End was the first county venue built expressly for use as a cinema. Prior to the West End’s construction, Orange County cinema venues were comprised of live theaters, which double as movie houses (such as the Yost), and converted retail establishments.

Over it’s long and diverse history, the West End Theatre passed through a “who’s who” of early Orange County cinema operators, was renamed four times, and remodeled three times. Originally one of the county’s top draws for first run Hollywood fair, the theatre transitioned in to art house booking for a time, before finishing out it’s final years as a highly controversial adult cinema. Caught in the middle of Santa Ana’s high profile 1970′s pornography crackdown and urban renewal efforts, the West End (then known as the Guild) was closed in 1978.

While standing beside an area that was ravaged by civic redevelopment over the ensuing decades, the West End managed to survive the wrecking ball. Today, the theatre is outwardly restored to it’s look of 1915, serving as home to a couple of small retail stores and maintaining some interest for potential use as a cinema once again.

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UA Santa Ana: From Pride to Scorn

July 15th, 2010 by ccrouch
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Forty five years ago, this evening, a sell out audience welcomed Santa Ana’s “ultra modern and luxurious” United Artists Theatre on to the Orange County cinema scene. The VIP grand opening festivities included a pre release screening of the John Wayne picture “In Harms Way” and a star studded reception, which featured the likes of Maureen O’Hara in attendance. Amid this red carpet and scanning searchlight Hollywood glamour, one city dignitary commented, “Santa Ana is thankful to United Artists for bringing this wonderful showpiece to our city…It will be a source of community pride for years to come.” Within a decade, the city would have a very different outlook on the theatre.
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The cavernous United Artists Santa Ana had a relatively short run as a community friendly movie going destination. Built towards the tale end of the single screen era and at a time when the city was experiencing a dramatic public image downslide, business trailed off within a few years of the theatre’s opening. By the 1970′s the theatre, not to mention Santa Ana as a whole, had fallen victim to shifting demographics and a greater focus towards south Orange County. No longer able to stay competitive, the United Artists Santa Ana closed on September 1, 1975.
 
Two days after closing out, with the family friendly “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and “Swiss Family Robinson”, the theatre reopened as the latest venue in the Mitchell Brothers’ adult entertainment empire. Operated as a “porno theatre”, the newly re christened Mitchell Brothers Santa Ana, experienced an immediate change of fortune, pulling in an estimated $1,000,000 per year in ticket revenue. However, a highly successful porno theatre was hardly the sort of business the city desired to be associated with.
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Over the ensuing eleven years, the City of Santa Ana filed 47 lawsuits and paid out in excess of $700,000, all in an attempt to close down the theatre. Yet, despite the well publicized efforts, the Mitchell Brothers repeatedly prevailed in court and continued to operate in Santa Ana until June 30, 1990. Finishing out with a triple bill of “The First Time”, “Hot Lips”, and “The Devil in Miss Jones IV”, the theatre was closed, not as the result of any legal proceedings, but due to United Artists (still the master lease holder at the time) electing not to renew the Mitchell Brothers’ lease. Two years later, the vacant theatre was demolished, as part of a Horner Plaza redevelopment project.
 
In contrast to the civic pride Santa Ana dignitaries voiced at the July 14, 1965 grand opening, twenty five years later, a city councilman  remarked “I would just have to say good riddance to an ugly cancer in our community ”, on hearing of the theatre’s closure.

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