Eagle Rock Plaza Theatre

In the Los Angeles Times theatre listings for Sunday, August 24th, 1986, this multiplex is called simply the Eagle Rock. It was being operated by Pacific Theatres, and all four screens were presenting first run films. They were "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,Part 2" "Extremities," "Stand by Me," and "Ruthless People."

In this theatre's final days, it was an independent house. Pacific Dropped it sometime in the mid 90's.

Today, it is a store. But the store only seems to take up what was once the lobby, box office, and concession area. I am curious to know what became of the theatres themselves, if they are part of the small store, or still intact in the back.

when i was a kid... i used to hate going here because the seats were so high... you could barely see the screen

Strangest mall parking lot anywhere! For late shows, you had to park clustered around the north door in this quasi-subterranean parking level. It's partially on a hill which explains the need, but it sure is ugly!
I remember a theater full of screaming brats during ROBOCOP. The film soon picked them up and shook them so hard that they sat stunned with their mouths hanging open. I still love ROBOCOP for this great feat it accomplished. (I mean 12-year-olds and yes, it's rated R).
The Hillside Strangler met one victim at this mall in a bar/restaurant near the theater.

The Eagle Rock Plaza was bought a couple of years ago by the Westfield group that officially changed its name to "Westfields Shoppingtown, Eagle Rock". No one calls it that. The theater closed sometime after that sale. I have a feeling that the events are more than just a little related. Most of the stores have changed as well, including the removal of a Bobs Big Boy Jr that, like the theaters, had been there since the mall opened in 1971. I worked for several months at the May Company that also opened in the beginning. The theaters did do first run movies and we saw a lot of great films there. With the closure here, along with the closure of the Eagle Theater, which is now a church, the only open theater left in Northeast Los Angeles is the L. A. Smith designed Highland Theatre in Highland Park. I've been told that the theaters at the Eagle Rock Plaza are being used for storage, but there are plans to open a "Chucky Cheese" restaurant, which may take some of the space.

This theater open in the summer of 1973 when the Eagle Rock Plaza opened. It did great business for many years. There would often be long lines outside, especially when first run movies were there. I worked there in 1979 for a few months and it was a great place for a movie buff to work because they let you watch movies all day long.

Now closed and divided into several stores.

http://www.centrowatt.com/images/websiteplanlg/PCAEAGLE1.swf

Looking at the website for the mall, the area where the theatres were are now used as storage for Target. Check out the above link and you can see the four theatres and emergency exits. The lobby was turned into a shop and hallway for access to this area.

When Pacific Theatres operated this theatre the seating capacities were 244, 244, 244, 227.

Worked There...

i still live around the corner from the Eagle Rock Plaza, all i remember (during it's final years) was one of the screens looked like it had a heavy diffusion lense on the projector. The first patented "Murko-vision".
I'd be interested in hearing more about this place in the 70's. Too bad there are no cinema's left in the eagle rock area. The theatre scene is dead. These are the final years before D-Day