Starlite Drive-In
2560 Rosemead Boulevard,
South El Monte,
CA
91733
2560 Rosemead Boulevard,
South El Monte,
CA
91733
4 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1950, this was an all year operating drive-in theatre that had an 860 car capacity.
Since closing it has been used as a swap-meet. The screen was demolished in 1997 but the Art Deco style roadside marquee still stands.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Here is a February 1975 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3967qj
Here are two photos of the Starlite, taken March 2008:
View link
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Here is another recent photo.
This is a June 2008 photo.
Although Southwest Builder and Contractor announced in the issue of June 13, 1947, that Clifford and William Balch were preparing the plans for this theater, it appears that the owners decided to go with another architect. The March 25, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Starlite was scheduled for a May opening, and that it had been designed by Los Angeles architect J. Arthur Drielsma. The magazine said that the theater could accomodate 850 cars. The original owners and operators of the Starlite were Ford Bratcher, his brother Carl Bratcher, and Byron Congdon.
I wouldn’t call the style Art Deco. If anything, it was Art Moderne, with early Googie overtones.
According to a comment posted to one of the photos that Monika linked on 3/17/08, the snack bar still exists and is “vintage.” I stopped by today, but it wasn’t open and the gate was closed. The marquee is worth the visit however. I hate to see any theater marked as “closed/demolished” as long as there are still some features to see.
Here is a photo of the marquee from February 2011:
View link
Allegedly, this place is ripe and ready for a rebirth. Nothing concrete, just rumblings…
I grew up less than a mile from this theater. Went there many times with my father in the 50’s. I loved it! Back then it was fairly common for cars to have spot lights on them. In between shows people would turn on their spots, and have “wars” on the screen with each other.As I recall prices were about $1.25 a “CAR LOAD.” When prices went to “Per Person” people would hide friends in the trunk and sneak them in. Those were fun times!
My family had a pottery shop next to the drive in. We lived there for years and could go to the back of our property and watch the movies.