Americana Theater
8700 Van Nuys Boulevard,
Panorama City,
CA
91402
8700 Van Nuys Boulevard,
Panorama City,
CA
91402
6 people
favorited this theater
The Americana Theater was located along Van Nuys Boulevard in Panorama City. This stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard developed in the suburban boom in the San Fernando Valley after 1945 along with the surrounding neighborhood supporting many restaurants, department stores and other retail establishments.
In the 1980’s, the area began to decline and by 2000, most of the fine places dating from the post-World War II suburban boom had disappeared as had the Americana Theater. It was operated by Mann Theatres. It now houses a beauty school and sporting goods store.
Contributed by
David Knatcal
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
When this theatre was part of the Pacific Theatre chain the seating was as follows: 595, 238, 168, 238, 595.
I remember Stanley Livingston and he was a great, great guy. Always wore a tie. I grew up blocks away from the Americana. I remember Phil Ahn’s Moongate next door because that’s where my Bar Mitzvah reception was at. Hell, that was like 1968. I once snuck into the Americana to see “What Do You Say to a Naked Lady” only to find my Schwinn 10 Speed bike stolen. This was a great theater.
The Americana began as a single-screen theater, and a four-screen addition was opened in 1970. Here is an article about it in Boxoffice of April 20, 1970. The architect for the expansion was Gale Santocono. Most likely he did the original theater as well, since he designed so many of Robert Lippert’s theaters.
Thanks Joe.
As I pointed out in my 35th anniversary JAWS retrospective, this was a six-screener by the summer of 1975.
Swell post, Michael. Fittingly, my first exposure to the Americana was in the summer of ‘75, while on a family drive up Van Nuys Blvd. Seeing the long lines of people waiting to catch “Jaws,” I had no idea that two years later this would become one of my favorite exploitation venues, well worth the commute from West L.A. The first double bill I saw here was the terrific pairing of Cronenberg’s “Rabid” and “They Came from Within.” (The beckoning one-sheets outside included “End of the World,” “Hollywood Meatcleaver Massacre” and “Mansion of the Doomed”!) Next came the Nazi-zombie classic, “Shock Waves.” That Christmas vacation I sat in one of the smaller screens with an enthusiastic crowd for “The Choirboys” and “Death Wish.” Holiday entertainment at its finest! In the years that followed my eyeballs were fried by fare like “The Evil” and “Piranha,” “Humanoids from the Deep” and “The Brood,” Laura Gemser in “Women’s Prison Massacre” with “Armed Response,” and Fulci’s “Zombie.” Non-grindhouse viewings included the Irwin Allen clunker “When Time Ran Out” with James Caan’s “Hide in Plain Sight,” and Eastwood’s “Honkytonk Man.” My last visit was in 1989, for William Lustig’s “Hit List.” By then the theatre had really devolved into a depressing state; that afternoon the lobby was dimly lit, the popcorn machine looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in days (weeks?) and there were very few folks in the complex. Sadly, the Americana’s days of packed houses and blockbusters were long gone, and it was a shame to see a favorite psychotronic screening room go out on a low note.
http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/the_vault/issue_page?issue_id=1970-4-20&page_no=62#page_start has pictures of the theatre from Boxoffice in 1970.
Thanks a million Rivest266! Wonderful article and pictures. Great reading the comments. Originally come from Panorama City. These were never as “chic” as Panorama Theater—remembering the “crying room”. But they had the best films then. Before that it was Uncle Ben’s fair on a dirt lot except at Christmas with the live reindeer.
Hi! My name is Cate Livingston. My father was Stanley Livingston and managed the Americana theater in the 70s. I want to thank all of you for the nice things you said about my mom and dad and yes they did move here to Las Vegas but are now sadly gone. To Richard Stellar, thank you for your patronage, sorry you lost your bike:( but that’s karma. You snuck in. My mom and dad were the most generous giving people. They would let people in their theatres for free and would buy you a cold drink if you were thirsty or if you were down on your luck, he would always give a few bucks out here and there. We went on the own the Peppertree theatres in the late 70s and early 80s. Were I worked for my dad as a Mgr. but sold it in the Mid 80s to move to Las vegas. Robert Lippert was a magnificent person and I remember flying to San Francisco with my dad to meet him. But my brother is gone too. He worked for my dad too as a projectionist for the Peppertree Theatre in Northridge, Ca.
TO BIGDGIB: I think I remember you making the recordings for my dad. Not by your name, but by who he thought had the best voice Its been 40 years, wow. Wish I had your e-mail addresswould like to talk to ya.