Ah….the Crest! What a Palace! For kids from our hood (Bixby Knolls and the kids from Hughes Jr., High and Poly High) this row of movie houses and eateries
(don’t forget the famous original Russell’s across the street) were our hang outs on the weekends! We took great pride in calling this theater our own! A great
example of design motif on steroids this Art Moderne decor covered every surfaces with lavish embellishments and gilding … even bellow your feet! They (like all of
their other “sister” movie houses in that chain theaters) had a great swirly floral art design laid into the sidewalk …very much like in a mosaic technique kind of
way called …it went all the way from the entrance around the ticket booth and out to the curb! WE would try and follow the designs around walking on them like
tight ropes waiting for my dad to pick from the Saturday afternoon matinee in the Dodge station wagon. You can still see this same
artistic entrance treatment (including the footprint of the ticket booth!) on the sidewalk down in Belmont Shore on Second St. (south side) where they turned the
old Belmont into a gym. It was located next to the famous Hof’s Hut (best burgers and onion rings on the West Coast!) but alas ..that is history too! Favorite
memory there were the Beatles movies “Hard Days Night” and “Yellow Submarine”!
Now the Towne Theater… not much in style or design …kind of plain “Googie” and nothing compared to the lavish and decadent design that was used the
Crest Theater or in the smoky green low slung jungle of Welch’s….a truly fantastic Art Deco “tropical” palm tree style restaurant just a few doors down from the
movie house on the corner of San Antonio Drive and Atlantic Blvd. (what a street corner unto it’s self…don’t get me started!) BUT… what made going to a
double feature at the Towne good was the Thrifty Drug store across the street that we would hit before the flicks and we would stock up on 5 cent candy bars that
were 3 for a 10 cents instead of 25 cents a piece in their snack bar! Root Beer Barrels and Red Hots or maybe a Big Hunk too!…. and a maybe something that
would last like a Fire stick by Jolly Ranchers or a caramel delight Sugar Daddy …now they would both get you through a movie!
Later years …Best thing of going to the Towne was ….kissing and making out with my first love …the pretty Rhonda M. in the back row of the place were the
lovers always sat! ..who was watching the movie? NOT US! ..But they were watching us! Those ushers would give us the flash light treatment in our faces to try
and break us up! Love …it is a wonderful thing in a dark movie house!
I never saw Goldfinger till years later…but remember the sound track like it was yesterday!:)
Ah yes!..I guess that you don’t do that at the movies anymore…not that I still don’t try!
Tim Moran/artist and Poly High class of 1969
see my comments about growing up in Bixby Knolls and memories at the Towne and the Crest at the Crest Theater page!
/theaters/2035/
tim moran
Ah….the Crest! What a Palace! For kids from our hood (Bixby Knolls and the kids from Hughes Jr., High and Poly High) this row of movie houses and eateries
(don’t forget the famous original Russell’s across the street) were our hang outs on the weekends! We took great pride in calling this theater our own! A great
example of design motif on steroids this Art Moderne decor covered every surfaces with lavish embellishments and gilding … even bellow your feet! They (like all of
their other “sister” movie houses in that chain theaters) had a great swirly floral art design laid into the sidewalk …very much like in a mosaic technique kind of
way called …it went all the way from the entrance around the ticket booth and out to the curb! WE would try and follow the designs around walking on them like
tight ropes waiting for my dad to pick from the Saturday afternoon matinee in the Dodge station wagon. You can still see this same
artistic entrance treatment (including the footprint of the ticket booth!) on the sidewalk down in Belmont Shore on Second St. (south side) where they turned the
old Belmont into a gym. It was located next to the famous Hof’s Hut (best burgers and onion rings on the West Coast!) but alas ..that is history too! Favorite
memory there were the Beatles movies “Hard Days Night” and “Yellow Submarine”!
Now the Towne Theater… not much in style or design …kind of plain “Googie” and nothing compared to the lavish and decadent design that was used the
Crest Theater or in the smoky green low slung jungle of Welch’s….a truly fantastic Art Deco “tropical” palm tree style restaurant just a few doors down from the
movie house on the corner of San Antonio Drive and Atlantic Blvd. (what a street corner unto it’s self…don’t get me started!) BUT… what made going to a
double feature at the Towne good was the Thrifty Drug store across the street that we would hit before the flicks and we would stock up on 5 cent candy bars that
were 3 for a 10 cents instead of 25 cents a piece in their snack bar! Root Beer Barrels and Red Hots or maybe a Big Hunk too!…. and a maybe something that
would last like a Fire stick by Jolly Ranchers or a caramel delight Sugar Daddy …now they would both get you through a movie!
Later years …Best thing of going to the Towne was ….kissing and making out with my first love …the pretty Rhonda M. in the back row of the place were the
lovers always sat! ..who was watching the movie? NOT US! ..But they were watching us! Those ushers would give us the flash light treatment in our faces to try
and break us up! Love …it is a wonderful thing in a dark movie house!
I never saw Goldfinger till years later…but remember the sound track like it was yesterday!:)
Ah yes!..I guess that you don’t do that at the movies anymore…not that I still don’t try!
Tim Moran/artist and Poly High class of 1969