I'm going from 30 year old memories. Not even sure that West Hills was it's actual name or just what we called it. I remember this theater as modern (for 1970's) big box, huge 70mm shallow curved screen with a grand moving curtain, located in West Hills (suburbs) of Pittsburgh.
The West Hills would get the movies after the downtown theaters where done with the first runs. Occasionally it would get first runs, such as "The Love Bug", and follow-ons to "The Love Bug". I remember this vividly as my dad was a VW salesman at McMillan and Beaer VW and they displayed VW Beetles in the lobby during the runs.
I was hoping that someone could fill in the blanks regarding seating, etc. If the Warner had almost 2,000 seats, the West Hills must have had 4,000. It just seemed huge to me as compared with the Warner downtown. The West Hills didn't have a balcony as I remember it.
The West Hills got "Earthquake" with Sensurround after the Warner was done with it. I saw it at both and was more scared that the old Warner Theatre was going to crumble around me. The West Hills Sensurround experience was not as powerful in the huge theater which had about 20 people in it when I saw the movie as compared with the Warner which was filled to capacity. With the Sensurround speakers installed, the West Hills also got "Midway", "Rollercoaster", and "Battlestar Galactica" I think during their first run which were satisfying Sensurround experiences.
I remember going up to the big horns of the Sensurround speakers at the front of the theater and the two back speakers that were mounted on the backs of the rear seats to gawk in amazement that the horns were as big as me. Darn if I should have known to sit right in front of the speaker horns, but I wanted the center of the screen experience.
Contributed by Paul Fordenbacher
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