Check out what is left soon! The Skyview DI is not demolished just yet. You can still see the old and new projection rooms plus refreshment building and boxofice areas. All the screens are gone and neon marquee out on Soquel Ave. The theatre lot will be razed in a few weeks. The old neon ‘Entrance’ sign over the boxoofice has been restored and is now lit at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz. See my new photos taken last week. By the time you read this (Oct 7 2025) the bulldozers/wrecking ball may have removed what was left of this classic Santa Cruz outdoor theatre. The next door hospital bought the land a few years ago and a new cancer center is going in where movies under the stars once played. No more drive In movies for a young new movie generation to enjoy in the beach city of Santa Cruz CA. You have to drive 40 minutes North to San Jose CA and go to the Syufy/Westwind DI.
No Landmark Theatres does not own the DelMar Theatre in Santa Cruz. The city of Santa Cruz owns the deco theatre building and store rentals. They spent most of the money along with the Ow family doing the renovation work. Landmark has the lease at this time. The Landmark movie chain is bankrupt and for sale. They do not maintain much of the DelMar they have no money. The city won’t fix all the neon outside and Landmark won’t bring back the stage curtains. I hear they still work but they will not use them. Landmark runs most of the same movies that play at the Syufy/Westwind Santa Cruz 9 Cinema a block away,a bad move. Many art/regular films never play the Santa Cruz area. The Delmar just sits mostly empty. When the lease is up We hope some new entertainment venture will take over this hot entertainment palace in downtown Santa Cruz CA. Another Planet Entertainment has just taken over the Castro Theatre lease in SF and now doing renovation work with live stage shows and movies coming, they plan to open Feb 2026. So many new condos and apartments going up every few months just a few blocks away. New people coming into Santa Cruz want to be entertained and they have the $$$. Santa Cruz has many tourists and students but they do not seem to want to make a visit to the lonely DelMar these days because of bad movie programing. Time to take out the twin cinemas in the former upstairs loge area and make the theatre one large event space for traveling shows and movies. The Rio Theatre in town does very well. I have asked the city many times to trim the trees outside the neon marquee so you can read what they are showing and nothing ever gets done. The DelMar has a place in Santa Cruz let’s get someone envolved in bringing this classic deco cinema back from the dead. Start with the neon blade marquee first! If the wrong people take over the lease It could be turned into a nightclub, gym health club, rock climbing space,bowling alley, antique stores,arcade games, restauarant food courts ,comedy club or some other crazy way to destroy the movie experience that the DelMar has given us in Santa Cruz.
Too bad they did not advertise in this newspaper ad that It was showing in 70mm & 6 Track Stereophonic Sound. This happend so many times in the roadshow era. Some 70mm theatres never bothered to let the public know of the 70mm film presentation showing in their ads.
Thanks Steven for the photo. Yes It is so sad that Sony Drafthouse Cinemas does not want to advertise what is playing inside the New Mission Theatre. A few months ago they left something up on the neon marquee for many months after a event had played. Free advertising not being used. If they don’t use a tall safe ladder then get them a marquee letter rod pole please. They are speneding money in installing new seats but won’t fix the dimmer blinking lights on the ceiling in the large theatre #1 space. The lights on the steps going up to the upper theatres are so dark someone is going to fall. The main large theatre needs multi color lights on the curtain and side organ grill space. Complain when you go write Drafthouse Alamo Sony!!!!!
Nice photo Joe. I had hoped they would have put in a larger more curved screen. Do the curtains work and is there masking sets ups top and sides? Do they have 70mm projectors in the booth?
The ‘New Mission Theatre’ is still open today in San Francisco CA. 35mm/70mm projectors in the large downstairs cinema with curtains that work plus brand new Barco projectors. New seats coming soon. Great ‘Drafthouse’ pre show entertainment before the show. The best and few live projectionists in the booth in SF my friend Jim Cassedy.
Thanks Dallas* The UA D-150 curved screen was so nice. I was lucky to see It whrn I was young at the UA Rivoliin NYC, Egyptian Hollywood Theatre, UA Santa Clara D-150, Century 21 Dome in Pleasant Hill CA, Northgate Theatre in San Rafael CA and the D-150 Dome Theatre in Seattle WA. The Netflick run Egyptian is the only cinema still left standing, they took out the D-150 screen after a earthquake In LA many years ago. Just have a small flat screen now.
Thanks River for the ad. They had one of these Cycloramic screens at the UA Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz CA. The ‘Rio’ still stands today and is used for live events in the area. The Cycloramic screen long gone when CinemaScope came in around 1954.
This was such a great curved screen theatre with the Dimension 150 screen. adjustable masking, curtains It had It all. UA tore her down like so many of the D-150 theatres in the USA. If you never saw D-150 you missed a nice movie experience. Looked so nice either in 35mm flat, 35mm scope, 70mm and the deluxe D-150 full curved screen. Thanks DB for the photo.
Thanks ‘film’ for this great Todd-AO 70mm screen image. You can see by this photo that they have the correct lens to project ‘Sound Of Music’. Look at the letters on the screen, they appear flat they don’t bend around the curved screen. Seems the ‘Hollywood Arclight Cinerama Dome Theatre’ just before It closed never could get the bottom corners of the giant curved screen to not curve up showing 70mm or 35mm scope films. See how nice the bottom corners look on the Pictureville curved screen in England. They need to bring their projection staff and tech lens people over and get Pacific Theatres on track for whenever they decide re open in Hollywood. The Pacific Forman family is missing all the summer movie tourists $$$ business on Sunset Blvd. Get the correct lens to fill the whole screen on the bottom corners please.
Thanks DB for the classic ad. I remember as a small kid seeing this movie in CinemaScope at the Golden State Theatre Delmar in Santa Cruz CA. Our family sat up in the balconey and I loved listening to all the airplane surround sound coming out of the side wall little RCA speakers they had put for 4ch magnetic sound. The curtains worked with dark blue/red lights on them.The Delmar is still open today. Must have been great to see this film in Hollywood CA at the Egyptian Theatre Hollywood CA just before they put in the Todd-AO big curved screen for ‘Oklahoma’. At least the Egyptian is still open but with a smaller flat screen with curtians they seldom use even after the big Netflik remodel.
CM nice photo but not a good screen to see a movie in wide screen scope. They probably have no masking orcurtains and you will see a white screen on the top and bottom. The Super Screen signs on the right and left are a big distraction. These need to be outside the theatre so people can see from the stree. A good big screen if you watch a flat 1.85 movie these days. I hope they dont keep the ugly signs on when the movie is on.
Sony Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas has remodled and taken over the lease they plan to open June 14 2025 in Mountain View CA. ‘Alamo’ spent all this money and they forgot to put in what their local competition in the SF Bay Area at AMC Regal & Century Theatres offers. No ScreenX, 4DX, IMAX or Dolby Cinema installed in the fixed up theatre. They did keep some of the ‘Dolby Atmos’ equipent the old ICON place had in a few auditoriums. Space #1 #2 and #3 I hear will have large curved screens. No 35mm or 70mm projectors or moving stage curtains like many of the Alamo theatres have. Sony Alamo did not bother putting in any moving maskings. You will have to see a white screen on the top or sides on certain movies. I will have to go down soon and take some photos to see the up grades at this site. Maybe they will give me a free pizza. Seems like the new ‘Alamo’ people are only interested in the food and drink money they make and skimp on the special new movie gimmicks their competion have. It will cost them way more money to install these new special features later on If they can keep the place open. The ICON Theatres did not stay open very long.
One of the only IMAX movie theatres with slow moving thick curtains that move in front of the giant semi curved IMAX screen Chinese Hollywood Theatre screen.. Check them out If you are visiting Hollywood CA.
The new nice seats with food trays for the first time are almost finished in all 9 auditoriums as of May 26 2025. New bathrooms almost ready. New rugs will be going in next. The red neon on the lobby ceiling has been replaced with a flamingo orange type color LED. You can kiss the boxoffice out front on Pacific Ave goodbye soon, going to be torn out. They never have anyone inside anymore selling tickets. Machines will be put outside and in the lobby. I noticed more hot food being sold at the refreshmsnt counter these days. Probably the same things the Syufy family sells at their ‘West Wind’ Drive Ins. I hear they may install the ScreenX system in the cinema #3 or #4 space. This will be a first for the college town of Santa Cruz CA. Maybe If It goes over at the extra price of admission they will also do a 4DX install in space #1 or #2? I had thought they would put in a digital marquee outside on the former covered up plastic letter neon sign marquee. Has been covered up from a big wind storm many years ago when Regal leased the former Signature Cinema. They miss advertising space outside to let people on the street see what is playing inside. It will be so great when It is finished as the Syufy family under ‘West Wind’ Drive Ins does not have many indoor theatres still around so they can spend that money they rake in from all the malls they own on former drive in lots here at the Santa Cruz 9 Theatre.
Check out what is left soon! The Skyview DI is not demolished just yet. You can still see the old and new projection rooms plus refreshment building and boxofice areas. All the screens are gone and neon marquee out on Soquel Ave. The theatre lot will be razed in a few weeks. The old neon ‘Entrance’ sign over the boxoofice has been restored and is now lit at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz. See my new photos taken last week. By the time you read this (Oct 7 2025) the bulldozers/wrecking ball may have removed what was left of this classic Santa Cruz outdoor theatre. The next door hospital bought the land a few years ago and a new cancer center is going in where movies under the stars once played. No more drive In movies for a young new movie generation to enjoy in the beach city of Santa Cruz CA. You have to drive 40 minutes North to San Jose CA and go to the Syufy/Westwind DI.
No Landmark Theatres does not own the DelMar Theatre in Santa Cruz. The city of Santa Cruz owns the deco theatre building and store rentals. They spent most of the money along with the Ow family doing the renovation work. Landmark has the lease at this time. The Landmark movie chain is bankrupt and for sale. They do not maintain much of the DelMar they have no money. The city won’t fix all the neon outside and Landmark won’t bring back the stage curtains. I hear they still work but they will not use them. Landmark runs most of the same movies that play at the Syufy/Westwind Santa Cruz 9 Cinema a block away,a bad move. Many art/regular films never play the Santa Cruz area. The Delmar just sits mostly empty. When the lease is up We hope some new entertainment venture will take over this hot entertainment palace in downtown Santa Cruz CA. Another Planet Entertainment has just taken over the Castro Theatre lease in SF and now doing renovation work with live stage shows and movies coming, they plan to open Feb 2026. So many new condos and apartments going up every few months just a few blocks away. New people coming into Santa Cruz want to be entertained and they have the $$$. Santa Cruz has many tourists and students but they do not seem to want to make a visit to the lonely DelMar these days because of bad movie programing. Time to take out the twin cinemas in the former upstairs loge area and make the theatre one large event space for traveling shows and movies. The Rio Theatre in town does very well. I have asked the city many times to trim the trees outside the neon marquee so you can read what they are showing and nothing ever gets done. The DelMar has a place in Santa Cruz let’s get someone envolved in bringing this classic deco cinema back from the dead. Start with the neon blade marquee first! If the wrong people take over the lease It could be turned into a nightclub, gym health club, rock climbing space,bowling alley, antique stores,arcade games, restauarant food courts ,comedy club or some other crazy way to destroy the movie experience that the DelMar has given us in Santa Cruz.
I can’t tell this my be the projection booth rear auditorium back part of the Towne Cinema buliding with that brocken window above.?
Sorry I put this photo on twice. The Castro movie palace will look great when they re open in 2026. Try to visit them and check the place out.
Looks like the old scren tower in the midde with the 1954 CinemaScope addition on the sides.Thanks Rives for the cool circus image.
Looks like the Todd-AO curved screen. Looks like It chould have been higher and wider?
Too bad they did not advertise in this newspaper ad that It was showing in 70mm & 6 Track Stereophonic Sound. This happend so many times in the roadshow era. Some 70mm theatres never bothered to let the public know of the 70mm film presentation showing in their ads.
Thanks Steven for the photo. Yes It is so sad that Sony Drafthouse Cinemas does not want to advertise what is playing inside the New Mission Theatre. A few months ago they left something up on the neon marquee for many months after a event had played. Free advertising not being used. If they don’t use a tall safe ladder then get them a marquee letter rod pole please. They are speneding money in installing new seats but won’t fix the dimmer blinking lights on the ceiling in the large theatre #1 space. The lights on the steps going up to the upper theatres are so dark someone is going to fall. The main large theatre needs multi color lights on the curtain and side organ grill space. Complain when you go write Drafthouse Alamo Sony!!!!!
Nice photo Joe. I had hoped they would have put in a larger more curved screen. Do the curtains work and is there masking sets ups top and sides? Do they have 70mm projectors in the booth?
I wonder If they played it in D-150/70mm or just a 35mm scope print?
Thanks Jack I wish some of these great shows would play the SF Bay Area. Looks like a nice theatre.
The ‘New Mission Theatre’ is still open today in San Francisco CA. 35mm/70mm projectors in the large downstairs cinema with curtains that work plus brand new Barco projectors. New seats coming soon. Great ‘Drafthouse’ pre show entertainment before the show. The best and few live projectionists in the booth in SF my friend Jim Cassedy.
Former York Theatre SF CA
Thanks Dallas* The UA D-150 curved screen was so nice. I was lucky to see It whrn I was young at the UA Rivoliin NYC, Egyptian Hollywood Theatre, UA Santa Clara D-150, Century 21 Dome in Pleasant Hill CA, Northgate Theatre in San Rafael CA and the D-150 Dome Theatre in Seattle WA. The Netflick run Egyptian is the only cinema still left standing, they took out the D-150 screen after a earthquake In LA many years ago. Just have a small flat screen now.
Thanks River for the ad. They had one of these Cycloramic screens at the UA Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz CA. The ‘Rio’ still stands today and is used for live events in the area. The Cycloramic screen long gone when CinemaScope came in around 1954.
This was such a great curved screen theatre with the Dimension 150 screen. adjustable masking, curtains It had It all. UA tore her down like so many of the D-150 theatres in the USA. If you never saw D-150 you missed a nice movie experience. Looked so nice either in 35mm flat, 35mm scope, 70mm and the deluxe D-150 full curved screen. Thanks DB for the photo.
Thanks DB must have been great to see this 70mm Todd-AO film on the large curved screen at the UA Rivoli Theatre NYC
Thanks Kino. Glad this former UA D-150 dome theatre is still up. Too bad they removed the deep curved D 150 screen.
Thanks ‘film’ for this great Todd-AO 70mm screen image. You can see by this photo that they have the correct lens to project ‘Sound Of Music’. Look at the letters on the screen, they appear flat they don’t bend around the curved screen. Seems the ‘Hollywood Arclight Cinerama Dome Theatre’ just before It closed never could get the bottom corners of the giant curved screen to not curve up showing 70mm or 35mm scope films. See how nice the bottom corners look on the Pictureville curved screen in England. They need to bring their projection staff and tech lens people over and get Pacific Theatres on track for whenever they decide re open in Hollywood. The Pacific Forman family is missing all the summer movie tourists $$$ business on Sunset Blvd. Get the correct lens to fill the whole screen on the bottom corners please.
Thanks DB for the classic ad. I remember as a small kid seeing this movie in CinemaScope at the Golden State Theatre Delmar in Santa Cruz CA. Our family sat up in the balconey and I loved listening to all the airplane surround sound coming out of the side wall little RCA speakers they had put for 4ch magnetic sound. The curtains worked with dark blue/red lights on them.The Delmar is still open today. Must have been great to see this film in Hollywood CA at the Egyptian Theatre Hollywood CA just before they put in the Todd-AO big curved screen for ‘Oklahoma’. At least the Egyptian is still open but with a smaller flat screen with curtians they seldom use even after the big Netflik remodel.
CM nice photo but not a good screen to see a movie in wide screen scope. They probably have no masking orcurtains and you will see a white screen on the top and bottom. The Super Screen signs on the right and left are a big distraction. These need to be outside the theatre so people can see from the stree. A good big screen if you watch a flat 1.85 movie these days. I hope they dont keep the ugly signs on when the movie is on.
Thanks NT for the photo image . Wish I could have seen a Cinerama film on this giant curved screen.
Sony Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas has remodled and taken over the lease they plan to open June 14 2025 in Mountain View CA. ‘Alamo’ spent all this money and they forgot to put in what their local competition in the SF Bay Area at AMC Regal & Century Theatres offers. No ScreenX, 4DX, IMAX or Dolby Cinema installed in the fixed up theatre. They did keep some of the ‘Dolby Atmos’ equipent the old ICON place had in a few auditoriums. Space #1 #2 and #3 I hear will have large curved screens. No 35mm or 70mm projectors or moving stage curtains like many of the Alamo theatres have. Sony Alamo did not bother putting in any moving maskings. You will have to see a white screen on the top or sides on certain movies. I will have to go down soon and take some photos to see the up grades at this site. Maybe they will give me a free pizza. Seems like the new ‘Alamo’ people are only interested in the food and drink money they make and skimp on the special new movie gimmicks their competion have. It will cost them way more money to install these new special features later on If they can keep the place open. The ICON Theatres did not stay open very long.
One of the only IMAX movie theatres with slow moving thick curtains that move in front of the giant semi curved IMAX screen Chinese Hollywood Theatre screen.. Check them out If you are visiting Hollywood CA.
The new nice seats with food trays for the first time are almost finished in all 9 auditoriums as of May 26 2025. New bathrooms almost ready. New rugs will be going in next. The red neon on the lobby ceiling has been replaced with a flamingo orange type color LED. You can kiss the boxoffice out front on Pacific Ave goodbye soon, going to be torn out. They never have anyone inside anymore selling tickets. Machines will be put outside and in the lobby. I noticed more hot food being sold at the refreshmsnt counter these days. Probably the same things the Syufy family sells at their ‘West Wind’ Drive Ins. I hear they may install the ScreenX system in the cinema #3 or #4 space. This will be a first for the college town of Santa Cruz CA. Maybe If It goes over at the extra price of admission they will also do a 4DX install in space #1 or #2? I had thought they would put in a digital marquee outside on the former covered up plastic letter neon sign marquee. Has been covered up from a big wind storm many years ago when Regal leased the former Signature Cinema. They miss advertising space outside to let people on the street see what is playing inside. It will be so great when It is finished as the Syufy family under ‘West Wind’ Drive Ins does not have many indoor theatres still around so they can spend that money they rake in from all the malls they own on former drive in lots here at the Santa Cruz 9 Theatre.