Burbank's Movie Theaters

     Long before the multiplex theaters, Burbank had five walk-in and two drive-in theaters. Clearly the classiest theater was the California. Opened in 1950, it had a balcony and a "crying room" for families with babies. The first time I recall going there was in 1954, when I went with my folks to see Lucy and Desi in "The Long, Long Trailer." As I got a little older, the California was where all the neighborhood kids went on Saturdays. For only 20 cents, we would see two features and a cartoon.
     It's where we saw such classics as "Giant" with Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. I saw the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in 1956. It was the only horror movie that gave me nightmares. When Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" played there, my cousin, Pat Kelly, worked there as an usher. She had to wear coonskin cap when the movie played. Every kid I knew wanted one of those. I was crushed when she told me she had given her's away.
     The Cornell Theater was on San Fernando Road a few blocks north of Zody's. I remember going there to see "The Old Man and the Sea" starring Spencer Tracy. The movie was shot right here in Burbank on Warner Bros. stage 16, but we didn't know that then. What was really interesting about the Cornell was the ceiling. It was kind of a light blue with white stars painted on it. Right about in the middle of the theater, the ceiling had a big, very visible patch. The story among all the kids was that the plaster fell down and killed some unsuspecting audience member. You never wanted to sit right under that patch.
     Uptown, in the heart of Downtown Burbank, was the Major. It was in the same block as Penny's and Sav-On. My cousin, Ross Heberly, who was a big Elvis fan, and I went to see "King Creole" there. The songs from that movie are still stuck in my head.
If you went 6 blocks south of the Major on San Fernando Road, you would come to the Loma. It was the oldest theater in town. My buddy Tony Trotta used to go there every Saturday. He said he would take his 25 cent allowance and buy 3 candy bars for a dime at Sav-On. Tony noted that those were big candy bars, not ones like we have today. Then he spent 9 cents to get into the Loma, leaving him 6 cents to spend on more candy at the theater. Always resourceful, Tony would look for coins dropped on the theater floor, and buy even more candy.
     The Magnolia, down on Magnolia Blvd. near the border with North Hollywood, was popular with us in the1970's. . By then, the California had turned into a church. The 1971 Sylmar Earthquake had wrecked the Loma. The Magnolia has been a recording studio since 1979.
     Burbank's two drive-in theaters were always popular. The San-Val, located at San Fernando Road and Winona, opened in 1938. The Pickwick on Alameda opened in 1949. It was a great place for families to go and watch movies, but we teenagers were it's most loyal customers. Although it was popular in the summer, we'd even go in the winter. Most of the time when we were on a date, it didn't really matter what movie was playing. The Pickwick charged per person, so sneaking friends in was popular. At the recent memorial service for Sunday Henig, one of her friends from the Burroughs High class of 1972, told about Sunday filling the trunk of her big yellow Buick with her friends, then driving into the Pickwick where they would all emerge to watch the movie. The San-Val was replaced by industrial buildings, and the Pickwick is now the Pavilion's shopping center. Those were the days.
     For more information about the old movie theaters in Burbank and other communities, check out Cinema Treasures on the internet. It has a wealth of information.

--- Stan
posted 3/27/05