Azteca Theatre

kencmcintyre on August 23, 2009 at 6:29 pm

Here is a part of a long article on Spanish-language theaters in the LA Times on December 31, 1984:

The line outside the Azteca Theater in San Fernando begins to form when the Spanish-language Mass ends at a church less than a mile away. Family after family arrived Sunday, close to 900 people eventually filing through the theater doors to see the double feature-“Nino Pobre, Nino Rico” and “Alla en Plaza Garibaldi.”

Move passers-by cannot read what is advertised on the marquee-the titles mean “Rich Boy, Poor Boy” and “There at Plaza Garibaldi”-and probably have not bought a ticket from the box office in 17 years, when English-language films last played inside. But for the area’s large Latino population, the Azteca, along with six other Spanish-language movie theaters, is a regular part of life.

The huge theaters, with heavy red or gold drapes covering the screens and auditoriums triple the size found in most modern cinema complexes, each weekend attract thousands of patrons-people able to turn a double feature into a mini-fiesta, and who seem to attend the show faithfully regardless of which movie is playing.

“When we bought the Fox, it was nothing”, said Jorge Bueno, who heads the company that for five years has operated the 660-seat Spanish-language theater on Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys. “It had been vacant for three or four months. Before that it couldn’t survive with those 99-cent action and kiddie films.”

The Lankershim Theater in North Hollywood had previously shown adult films, a theater in Chatsworth had been vacated and thee other movie houses played host to hundreds of empty seats every night, operators said. Of the seven Spanish-language theaters in the Valley, four are run by Metropolitan Theatres Corp., which operates 30 Spanish-language and 28 English-language theaters in Southern California. The Azteca in San Fernando and the Cinema 76 in Chatsworth are independently operated. The Fox is one of nine Spanish-language theaters operated by J. Bueno Corp.

DonSolosan on November 18, 2008 at 12:09 am

The Azteca is presently undergoing a complete remodeling, and it is unlikely that anything from the past will remain. Yesterday, part of the word “Azteca” was visible on one outside wall, but that too will soon be gone. We managed to go inside and talk to a few of the guys doing the work. It’s going to become a live venue. There’s a stage, and lighting already in place. It also appears that they enclosed and leveled off the balcony.

kencmcintyre on June 14, 2008 at 9:22 pm

The San Fernando Redevelopment Agency discussed plans to renovate the building back in June 2006. I don’t know if anything became of that.
http://tinyurl.com/59eo4s

kencmcintyre on July 6, 2007 at 7:05 pm

This was known as the Crest Theater in 1963.

MagicLantern on November 3, 2005 at 2:05 pm

It must be the same theatre, Ken.