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Today marks the anniversary of Anaheim’s Century 21 theatre closing. This long forgotten cinema was profiled in an earlier post, but I thought a “then & now” look might be in order. Below is an early architectural rendering of the theatre and a recent picture of the site.       Somewhat of a unique indoor […]

  Amid the decades old family legacies and corporate conglomerates, that dominate the Southern California cinema landscape, there exists a somewhat quirky chain that has managed to operate outside theatre industry norms for twenty five years.   Founded in 1984, Krikorian Theatres were inspired in to existence via a father’s movie going frustrations. George Krikorian, a successful real estate developer and thoroughbred racehorse owner, […]

Just as this February marks the fortieth anniversary of Edwards Big Newport, the month is also notable for a less celebratory anniversary, the closing of Orange’s Cinedome Theatres.   Opened in the Spring of 1969, as a twin-plex, Syufy’s (later to be known as Century Theatres) Cinedome was a highly popular county movie going hub for the better […]

  With surprisingly little fanfare, Edwards Big Newport turned forty this month. Opened on 2/11/69, as Edwards Newport Cinema, the theatre has withstood the multiplex era, megaplex era, millennium industry collapse, Edwards’ bankruptcy, and some four decades of economic fluctuation. While the complex has gone through three separate expansions and a host of upgrades/remodels, the original, “Big Newport” auditorium, has survived […]

This past year, Corona Del Mar’s long dormant Port Theatre was saved from the wrecking ball and plans were announced for an extensive remodel; promising to re launch the theatre as an upscale, lounge style, cinema. While work on the theatre began almost immediately, it soon became apparent that the building was in need of a […]

While movie theatres have existed in Orange County for slightly over one hundred years, the first public screening of a motion picture in the county dates back to June 25, 1897. Held in the upstairs “opera house”, of Santa Ana’s 2nd Spurgeon Building, the film presented was the, March 1897, James J. Corbett vs. Bob Fitzsimmons heavyweight title fight. […]

Opened in the Fall of 1972, at a cost of $30 million, the Laguna Hills Mall has served southern Orange County for the better part of four decades. While originally built without a cinema, deferring business to the near bye Saddleback 1-2-3, a theatre was later added, as part of an early 80’s remodel. This theatre, which is about as non […]

This past week, a rumor surfaced that Seal Beach’s historic Bay Theatre is up for sale. Built in 1947, this former Fox West Coast Theatre has managed to survive, virtually unchanged, for some sixty-two years. Having focused on art and classic bookings, since the late 1970’s, the Bay has carved out a stable niche in the Orange […]

  Be it the result of a theatre’s lackluster later years tainting memories or an “out with the old, in with the new” mentality, many, formerly popular, cinemas fade from the public’s collective consciousness soon after closing. Then, one finds a theatre, like Anaheim’s Century 21, which never managed to enter this public awareness in the first place. Opened in June […]

  Pictured below is a close up of an Automaticket machine. Evolving from being gear and lever driven, to powered by electric motors, these ticketing machines served as somewhat of an industry standard for over eighty years (if you have ever received a carnival/raffle style ticket, at a theatre, it was likely distributed via an Automaticket machine). […]