Van Nuys Drive-In

15040 Roscoe Blvd. Van Nuys (Los Angeles), CA  91343  | map |

Opened: July 30, 1948. Bill Gabel notes that the initial films were "Buffalo Bill" with Joel McCrea along with "Wings of the Morning" with Henry Fonda and Anabella. The theatre was on the south side of the street several blocks west of Van Nuys Blvd.

The 1981 photo by John Margolies is in the Library of Congress collection. Note the Pacific Theatres logo on the lower right corner of the mural. Also see another version the LOC has. There's more about the photos of Mr. Margolies on the site Picryl. The LOC also has a page on the John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive.

Architects: William G. Balch and Clifford A. Balch. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the data. He notes that the brothers are credited as designers in the November 15, 1947 issue of Boxoffice as well as in the June 13, 1947 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor.

Capacity: Originally 890. It ended up as a three screen facility with a 1,400 car capacity. Pacific Theatres did the remodel in the winter of 1982-1983. 

 

A construction shot that Ken McIntyre located in a June 22, 1948 newspaper. It's one of many items appearing in a thread about the theatre on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group. 

 
 

The article that appeared with the construction shot. The image, but not the article, has also been seen as a post on the Valley Relics Museum Facebook page. 

 

 

Church at the drive-in in October 1950. Thanks to Ken for locating the article.  

 

 

Shakespeare's "Othello" at the drive-in. It's a February 1966 ad Ken McIntyre located.  

 

 

The Van Nuys was one of four drive-ins being used as a park-and-ride lot. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the May 1974 ad for his thread on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group. 

Closed: September 2, 1996. It was the last drive-in operating in the Valley.  

Status: It was demolished in 1998 after being used by a local dealership as a lot to store cars. There's now a school on the site. 

 

 

More photos:  

c.1949 - Running "On An Island With You," a May 1948 release with Esther Williams. Thanks to Barbara Walters for locating this version of the photo for a post on the Growing Up In California Facebook group. 

 

c.1949 - Another "On An Island..." shot on Cinema Treasures, this one a find by the site's contributor Granola.

 

c.1950 - A shot by an unknown photographer. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it. You can buy a print of it on Etsy. 

 

  

c.1952 - The theatre running "Meet Me After the Show," a 1951 release with Betty Grable and Macdonald Carey, along with "The Sea Hornet." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo. 

1963 - "Irma la Douce" at the Van Nuys. Thanks to Laurel Canyon Rider for finding this photo to share in a now vanished post on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page. 

1964 - A view by Howard D. Kelly looking northwest. It's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.  

c.1970 - A terrific screen tower shot. It's one Carol Momsen found for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. 

 

1970s - A photo from the Sean Ault collection. Thanks for sharing it, Sean!

1974 - "The Lords of Flatbush" and "Let the Good Times Roll." Thanks to Gene Sculatti for sharing this one in a post on the page for the Mid Century Modern private Facebook group.  

1978 - Thanks to the Valley Relics Museum Facebook page for this photo. It seems to have vanished from their page. 

1979 - Thanks to Glenn Morgan for this one, a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 

1982 - A sad view of the original screen tower demolition. The site reopened "all new" with three screens on June 24, 1983. It's a Brad Smith photo appearing on Cinema Treasures. Carol Momsen also featured it, uncredited, in a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.  

 

1995 - The marquee after the new triplex construction. Thanks to Terrence Butcher for locating the photo for a post on the Images and Memories of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

1996 - Not just closed for the season, but permanently. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this shot for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.  

 

 

The Van Nuys in the Movies: 

We get this fine view of the marquee and screen tower in Emmett Alston's "New Year's Evil" (Cannon Group, 1980). The film stars Roz Kelly, Kip Niven and Chris Wallace. The cinematography was by Thomas E. Ackerman. Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre in the film and getting the screenshot.

 

Brad Pitt lives in a trailer next to the drive-in in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" (Sony Pictures, 2019).

The marquee was built full size in Saugus, the screen tower was a miniature built to 1/24 scale. The photo of the model designed by Barbara Ling is courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Head to the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies pages about the film for more images of how the shot was put together as well as photos of the Pantages, Vine, Vogue, Ritz/Pussycat, Bruin and Fox Westwood Village theatres from the film.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Van Nuys Drive-In. There's a Drive-In Theatres page with several photos on a site from the Garbell family.

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