Yorba Linda Cinema

This cinema falls under the category of the Jerry Lewis Cinemas, an idea that never really caught on. According to old newspaper ads the cinema opened on December 10, 1971 with “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and an admission price of $1.50. The Anaheim Bulletin on January 12, 1972 announced that on the following Saturday Debbie Reynolds, along with her friend Glenn Ford, who were pictured in a photograph, would be cutting a strip of movie film to dedicate the Yorba Linda Cinema in Fullerton. Debbie had invested in this company with her husband, Harry Karl, in the hopes of providing suitable family fare for the entire family.

This was to be the first of 200 mini-theaters to be built nationwide. The theaters, with up to three screens, were expected to have seating ranging from 160 to 325. The 16mm projectors were to be entirely automated, as were the concessions and support systems, with the manager as the button pusher, eliminating the need for a large staff. The manager was asking the visiting celebrities coming to the opening to place their handprints in concrete slabs to become a permanent part of the cinema.

The theater was open for about five years before it faded into oblivion and it has been used for retail shops for many years. Today, no evidence remains at the location of any handprints in concrete.

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