Harbor Drive-In
23444 S. Vermont Avenue,
Torrance,
CA
90502
23444 S. Vermont Avenue,
Torrance,
CA
90502
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 46 comments found
The manager of the drive-in back in the early fifties was Joe Greene, as I mentioned in 2009. He was also an actor. In reading the local archives, there were a couple of occasions when he was an actor in the film that he was showing at the theater.
The Torrance Library recently digitized local papers going back to 1913. I have posted the link below. If you search for Harbor Drive-in, there are many entries about its colorful manager Joe Greene, along with ads, mostly in the 1950s.
http://www.torranceca.gov/libraryarchive/
Still looking for any photos of the marquee or screen.
You’ve come full circle.
This link should show an aerial view of the drive-in, circa 1952. If the link doesn’t work, let me know.
http://tinyurl.com/y9btafy
The floodgates are open.
Here is a February 1960 ad from the LAT:
http://tinyurl.com/ngywh2
Was that Bonnie and Clyde jr?
The LAT reported the robbery of the Harbor manager, Joseph Green, by a man and woman bandit team on July 20, 1954.
http://tinyurl.com/lbd3ac
Here is an August 1965 LA Times ad for a swap meet at the Harbor:
http://tinyurl.com/ktqpzg
The ad in the link above clearly shows the address as 23322 S. Vermont as it does in earlier posts. Now we have 2 addresses a block apart with 23322 being in the later ads. Is it possible the entrance was moved?
Here is an August 1960 ad from the Long Beach Independent:
http://tinyurl.com/mdyqr9
PS. Hope someone finds some photos. I would love to see the place again!!
I used to live just north of the drive-in on Kaywood drive from 1962 till 1969. I remember the “farmers” wheat field south of my house and west of Van Deene Ave. as we would play in it all the time! I remember going to the theater for movies and also the swap meet on the weekends. And yes I do remember the chili dogs!!
If you look at the aerial photo at historicaerials.com and look at the 1952 picture you do see the theater but hardly anything else. The little housing tract and Kaywood Drive where I had lived did not yet exist. If you look at the 1972 photo you can see my house on Kaywood Drive and you see the construction site of the condos that are there now. So the theater did come down in 1971 or 1972. I have just returned to the area after living in Hawaii for the past 40 years and boy have things changed!!
That address might have been the location of the entrance to the drive-in. I would use that address. Print out a Google map with the old address so you can find your way home.
See my comment of 8/20/05. If you change the address, I might get lost on the way home. 8-)
Two sources give the same address. The 23444 S. Vermont Ave address is the one that I would use.
The address probably varied. The old aerial photo shows the DI taking up most of the block between Vermont and 228th.
That’s incredible. The link that you posted on Sep 10, 2005 gives the same 23444 S. Vermont Ave address. We had the address all the while.
The drive-in is listed at 23444 S. Vermont in this March 1952 ad in the Long Beach Press Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/cas75r
If you enter the address on this site and click on the 1952 image, you will see the drive-in:
http://tinyurl.com/ddtd55
I think the Theater part of the name should be 86ed to be consistent. I don’t know too many other drive-ins listed thave have Theater at the end.
It would be great to see a photo of this drive-in. Please keep us posted.
My sister and I were delightfully surprised to find that people have fond (if “creepy”) memories of The Harbor Drive In Theater! Our father owned it and we have some great old memories of the swap meet, playground and snack bar.
We had the best chili….does anyone remember the chili dogs? Who knows what was in that stuff but it sure tasted good.
I remember my dad saying it was “the end of an era” when the land became a condo site. It certainly was true for us.
Some of your comments really made me laugh. Thanks for that.
Will look for some photos – of course there must be some around.
I met Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle at a charity softball game in Atlantic City, around 1980. They were working as casino greeters and had been banned from baseball by the commissioner. Willie seemed nice enough but the Mick was not too interested.
I don’t think there are any photos of this drive-in available. If any locals read this and happen to have an old photo, please let me know.