El Monte Drive-In

9700 Lower Azusa Rd. El Monte, CA 91731   | map |

Opened: July 2, 1948 at the corner of Lower Azusa Rd. and Ellis Lane. It was operated by the Pacific Theatres subsidiary Cal-Pac Drive-In Theatres. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theatres for locating the 1948 photo for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 

An opening day ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org   

 

An item from the March 5, 1949 issue of Showmen's Trade Review that was located by Dbellis54 for a post on Cinema Treasures.  

 

Initially in the booth it was Motiograph AA projectors with Motiogaph soundheads and amps. The lamps were Asshcraft Core-Light. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theatres for locating this c.1950 trade magazine shot for a post on Cinema Treasures.   

Capacity: 874 cars 

Pacific Theatres got out in 1980 and new operators stumbled  along. At the end of its life they were running Spanish language product.  

Closing: 1999 

Status: It was demolished in 1999 or 2000. There's now a Home Depot store on the site.

 

1948 - An early shot with the theatre running the 1936 film "The Sea Spoilers" with John Wayne and Nan Gray. The co-feature was the 1938 epic, "The Storm" starring Charles Bickford and Preston Foster. Thanks to Bill Gabel for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures. Pam Petronio also included it in her album of eighteen photos of the theatre for the Facebook group Memories of El Monte.  

 

c.1952 - A ticket booth shot from the collection of Kevin Charbeneau.  

 

c.1952 - A pre-CinemaScope look to the screen. Thanks to Kevin Charbeneau for sharing the photo.  

 

 

c.1955 - A fine aerial shot that appears with the El Monte Theatres post on Richard's History of El Monte.  

 

1978 - An Elisa Leonelli photo from the Claremont Colleges Digital Library collection.  

 

 

1978 - A detail of the mural. It's a photo by Elisa Leonelli in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library collection.  

 

1981 - A John Margolies photo from the Library of Congress collection. 

 

 

 

c.1985 - A 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air at the theatre. The photographer is unknown. The photo has appeared in many places including a post by William Thomas on the Classic Old Cars Facebook group. "Hot Rods from Hell" was a 1966 release with Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews."  

 

 

c.1985 - Running Spanish-language product. "Los matones del norte" was a 1985 release. The image came from the now-vanished website American Classic Images.   

 

 

c.1990 - A photo located by Ken McIntyre.  

 

 

1993 - A shot from Christopher Guest's HBO remake of "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman." See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for nine more shots from the film.  

 

 

c.1999 - A photo from John J. Wilson. Thanks to David Zornig for sharing it as a post on Cinema Treasures.  

 

The El Monte Drive-In in the Movies:

The El Monte gets several nice scenes in Christopher Guest's TV movie "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman" (HBO, 1993). It got a theatrical release in some countries, including Spain and France. Thanks to Stephen Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre in the film and getting some screenshots. He notes that there's a nice upload of the full film on YouTube. The cast is headed by Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin, Christi Conaway, William Windom, O'Neal Compton, Victoria Haas and Frances Fisher. The cinematography was by Russell Carpenter. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for nine more shots from the film. 

 

 

Dennis Hopper and Penelope Ann Miller are at the El Monte in Paul Schrader's "Witch Hunt" (Pacific Western/HBO, 1994). The witches that a Joseph McCarthy-like senator is hunting in the film are not Communists but actual witches -- practitioners of magic. The film features Dennis Hopper, Penelope Ann Miller, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Eric Bogosian, Julian Sands, Valerie Mahaffey and John Epperson. The cinematography was by Jean-Yves Escoffier. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post in movies post for several more drive-in shots as well as views of the Warner Beverly hills and the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre.   

 

 

 

The El Monte is seen as a teen hangout called The Court in "Never Been Kissed" (20th Century Fox, 1999). Drew Barrymore and her high school friend Leelee Sobieski are deemed cool enough so they're chased away. The film is set in Chicago and Drew is actually a reporter for the Sun-Times. On the quest of a big undercover story she goes back to high school. The film also features David Arquette, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Garry Marshall and Octavia Spencer. Raja Gosnell directed. The cinematography was by Alex Nepomniaschy. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for another El Monte shot as well as views of a party scene shot at the Variety Theatre in West Adams.  

More information: See the page about the theatre on Cinema Treasures.  

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