Plaza Theatre

stuberman on February 17, 2007 at 10:59 pm

I was the manager briefly at South Coast Plaza II (a.k.a. Theatre III) between 1982 – 1983.

The most successful film I screened there was the regional premiere of “Ghandi” in 70 mm.

We revived the concept of sending ‘candy sellers’ into the auditorium during the intermission (another forgotten relic) and would quickly sell out tubs of popcorn and large drinks.

I also found some cool Indian music that we played between screenings and during the intermission. People were always asking what the album was called (now I wish I would remember).

The rerelease of Empite Strikes Back also did well.

And Bill Kallay – ditto – nice photos and site!

papibear on April 2, 2006 at 4:21 am

I saw many, many films at this theater, which was an extremely popular theater during the 1980s. All three Star Wars films and all three Indiana Jones films were shown in Theater III in 70mm, as were Superman and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a re-release of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty in 70mm, Gone With The Wind in 70mm, Poltergeist in 70mm (I sat in the third row on opening night, first show, and still clearly recall literally jumping out of my seat at the clown doll scene), Braveheart (not sure if it was 70mm), Aliens, and many others. It’s really a shame that it’s now closed. It was one of the better theaters in all of Orange County.