Panorama Theatre

In the early 1970s, as a small child, I visted this theater. My only clear memory is of a small eclosed room with a window in the back of the theater for mothers with babies to view the movie.

The architect of the Panorama Theatre was W.L. Pereira.

The theatre was built in 1949.

The address for the Panarama Theatre is 9110 Van Nuys Blvd. Also according to the newspaper accounts in 1949 there is a time capsule of copper buried in the foundation that contains gum, bobby socks, pictures of Frank Sinatra, pictures of Rita Hayworth and various other items.

The Panorama theatre may have started as a twin , but it had been multi-plexed by the time I visited it several times in the early 1990's. The theartre appeared to be two separate structures. The main auditorium was on the north side of the complex, and seemed to have been left unaltered, It had a separate entrance and lobby with concession at street level on Van Nuys Blvd. This auditorium I think sat between 340 to 450 patrons. The structure to the south Contained the box office, the main lobby and concession, the south theatre had beenpoorly multi-plexed sometime in it recent past, splitting the theatre in to 4 separate screens with a central hall. There was a small hall that crossed the main hall halfway down the building. This made each auditorium is own separate little box. The doors to theses auditorium used to slam shut rather loudly. The curtain material that llined the walls of these auditoriums were in need of a real good cleaning. I do believe the name of the company to run the theatre was Cinemacal. Later on I think part of the building was a bueaty college

As a boy growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1950's and 1960's, I went to dozens of movies at the Panorama Theatre, located at the corner of Nordhoff and Van Nuys Blvd. This spacious theatre was the official theatre of Panorama City, a beautifully planned community in the center of the Valley. Sadly, as the neighborhood decayed, the Panorama Theatre deteoriated with it. The good news is it is still fully intact, unlike so many of the Valley theatres that were torn down in the 1970's and 1980's.

My grandfather, Edward Grossman, built the theater as a single-screen house. When it was new it showed many sneak previews and first-runs, and was frequented by numerous stars. It did indeed have a "crying room" in the back. It had a nice, bright carbon arc projection system. As a kid my brother and I used to watch LOTS of free matinees and visit Forest in the projection room.

The theater that Glendale 5 wrote about on August 11, 2004, is not the Panorama Theatre but the Americana down the street on Van Nuys Boulevard in Panorama City which closed much more recently.

"Copped" my first little "feel" in this theater in 1964...

Don't worry, we've been married 35 years come May.

:^)

My son, Mark Grossman, (see above) told me about this site; my father, Edward Grossman and 3 associates opened the Panorama on December 20, 1949,and operated it until 1970. We leased the premises to several companies including Metropolitan Theatres who twinned it and booked Spanish language films until the Universal Church assumed the lease in 2002. My father was a recognized pioneer in the industry dating back to 1917.

I grew up going to the "kids' Saturday Matinees" in the 1950s. 25-cent admission, unless it was a Disney film, then it was 35. On Summer vacations the matinees were every day. I remember the long one-sheet of all the summer movies, all "kid-friendly" items and lots of cheesy horror. Every so often an actor from one of the movies would show up and take a bow. I remember the "crying room" in the back with a separate entrance for parents with babies - about eight 10 or 12-seat rows with a large window looking out at the screen (the historic Vista Theater in Hollywood also has one, upstairs, now hidden behind curtains). The Panorama was indeed a single-screen theater, as there was no other kind when it was built (as stated above, the Americana Theater down the street was an early convert to multiple screens - in its case seven - but it too began as a single-screen). I remember the lines around the Panorama for Oscar Cow "Gigi" in 1958 and for "West Side Story" in 1961. Every Saturday I would call the theater to find out that day's matinee, and still remember the number - EMpire 2-1167.

The Panorama opened on 12/22/49. The telephone number was EM 2-1167.

I worked as an usher at the Panorama Theater from summer 1957, until I joined the Navy in July, 1958. Lots of great memories.
Bill Robinson

right! there was a crying room. around 1960 i think there was a pizza place and a hobby shop next to the panarama.
i remember seeing "forbidden planet", "war of the worlds", the original "parent trap", and "the alamo" about 10 times!!!
once invited to sit with the girls. magda was the cutest girl in the school, but i thought she had a tough boyfried, who would knock my head off! yes. i think that is the phone number of the panarama!
also, saw a "l'il abner" movie, which i have never seen anywhere else!? visited the old neighborhood last year (arleta -- used to be pacoima). the hebrew school on beachy and osborne is no longer there, but the building is still there. around 1980 noticed spanish movies playing at the panarama. last year noticed the panarama sign was still there -- i should take a picture for this website next time in LA.
finally, saw "the time machine" there -- going into the future where the morlocks have taken over!

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/raqz3s

This is a 2008 photo.

This was in Boxoffice in June 1949:

Max Torodor broke ground last week for his 1,000-seat Panorama Theatre in Van Nuys. Ceremonies, led by Andy Devine, featured sinking a "time capsule" containing current southland and Hollywood mementos.

I love the look of the theatre.

I like the name,looked pretty cool from the outside too bad there are no inside shots.