The 2,000 parking spots was the lot for the entire plaza, which included National Foods, Baskin-Robbins, WT Grant, an art supply, a drug store, and some other businesses. Here is a current photo of the building! View link
Been waiting a long time for posts like these last ones… thank you so much!
Well, it just doesn’t matter anymore because all the fools ran out of money and can’t afford their cellphone bills! Now they only send text messages and have to check them CONSTANTLY. Watching a movie now means looking at one big screen and 10-20 little blue ones. While I’m here, how does receiving an emergency call in a theater help anyone? It just tells you which hospital to go to! Since it’s probably evening, the hospital won’t let you visit anyway.
The 1980s was a great time to live and work in Glendale. You could live walking distance from Brand Boulevard and have easy access to The US Theater, The Sands, The Glendale 1 and 2, The Alex, The Capitol, and at the North end, this one, The Roxy. A short drive away was the Pacific Eagle Rock, some Pasadena theaters, the Eagle Theater in Eagle Rock, The Burbank Drive-In, and a few on Vermont in Los Feliz (not to mention Hollywood Boulevard)! Believe it or not, Burbank had no indoor theater through most of the 80s! The Alex was nice, but The Roxy felt like a movie theater. One year, all of the Glendale theaters were competing with one dollar Tuesday Nights! It was always safe and you could park anywhere…even in front of the theater! Most memorable Roxy double-bill during this era: Emerald Forest and Silverado.
I see here that IMPORTANTTHINGS has no favorite movies under “profile”. Duh! I suppose it’s similarly okay to let it ring in the library? It is only partly the ringing sound and also it is the brazen insensitivity of I ME MINE. By the way, I actually DID start using a laser pointer and IT WORKS REALLY WELL!
I lived near SIU, but still walked to this theater very often for late weekend shows in the 70s. It was managed by a guy named David, who was also a film instructor at SIU. Most memorable were “Whatever Happened To Miss September”, “Zachariah”, “Enter The Dragon” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.
Oh for crying out loud! Didn’t ANY film lovers grow up in Hoffman Estates? It’s been a year! This poor theater! Well, I’LL never forget it! I guess I’ll never be able to post my photo of it… I’ll try to add a link to it soon. It was the only theater between Hoffman Estates and Rolling Meadows. Back then, if you wanted cinema, you went to the Thunderbird, watched NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, and followed Channel 32’s weird forays into what would become the norm for cable tv two decades later.
In my previous post, I also forgot Matt Helm.
There was a drug store next door to the Thunderbird and it was the only place you could buy comics, so this would always be part of the Thunderbird experience.
A cell phone is a silly toy for teenagers and it never stopped any of the above-mentioned “disasters”. “Hello, a tornado is striking the theater!” How useful! The woman with the severe seizure only had stomach cramps and her life wasn’t saved…it merely ruined King King for 400 patrons. I doubt if cell phones have saved more than 100 lives IN HISTORY! We all need to bring laser pointers and shine them in the eyes of these people. I will pay $20 admission to any theater which begins blocking these stupid, pointless, self-indulgent “phone-sturbations”.
My life there was in the 80s. Start at The Alex and walk south. Cross Broadway, soon on your left at 122 South was The Glendale (a “twin” when I was there). Proceed south. The UA and The Sands were little theaters in the same block…still north of the tall building (which I think may also have been a theater). They felt like they had seen much better days. At Colorado, cross Brand and turn back north. You would then pass the site of the Capitol. Continue north past BofA and The Roxy would then be on your left.
That mall is my favorite place in the world to eat…and I also love that the AMC is one of only two Los Angeles theaters with coffee (what is up with that????), but I got so sick of SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT for every single showing of every film that I stopped considering this theater as an option!
Westwood and it’s theaters were just a five minute drive away.
That Century plaza is fine, but where the heck is the parking lot? When it was the PLITT Century Plaza, it actually served beer. That was some competition.
Since I don’t go there anymore, here is my AMC parking secret: enter the parking lot from Constellation. Drive all the way forward until the lane ends. Turn left. Go to the end of that lane. Park in the corner. Go through the double industrial doors into the stairway. At the top, you will be at Houston’s, with Brentano’s and the AMC Theater on your right.
By the way, in Silverlake I saw a neon “eXpresso” sign! (emphasis mine)
Wow, very surprising jolt to my “memory”! I lived near the Irving Theater and I swear we used to walk to the Gateway…is that possible? Even though I remember ~nothing at the Irving, I very clearly remember Planet of the Apes, The Cheyenne Social Club, The War Wagon, and Hombre at the Gateway Theater! (however I got there)
Strangest mall parking lot anywhere! For late shows, you had to park clustered around the north door in this quasi-subterranean parking level. It’s partially on a hill which explains the need, but it sure is ugly!
I remember a theater full of screaming brats during ROBOCOP. The film soon picked them up and shook them so hard that they sat stunned with their mouths hanging open. I still love ROBOCOP for this great feat it accomplished. (I mean 12-year-olds and yes, it’s rated R).
The Hillside Strangler met one victim at this mall in a bar/restaurant near the theater.
I went to see a Jackie Chan movie there in 1997, but the exit door had about a one-inch space under it which let in an unacceptable amount of sunlight. Then, in 2003 in went to see NARC on a Thursday night and they had decided it wasn’t worth showing, although their newspaper, internet, and phone ads all said there was such a showing.
Attention RBC3! Why would I ever bother going back?
When it opened, there was no CityWalk and the drive from Ventura Boulevard ran straight to the door of the theater into a circle drive. This was removed after a “drive-up box-office armed robbery” that took place one evening about 1990. When that area was made inaccessible to cars, the CityWalk seemed to be born.
Parking was normally to the right of the driveway (southeast, where I believe there is now a two-story parking structure with a pedestrian crosswalk). I would always go to late shows on the weekend and I often saw unusual wildlife when returning to my car at 2 am.
The first year, you had no access if you were a pedestrian. My sister and I learned this the hard way. We walked from a bus on Barham up to the theater…three one-way traffic lanes and NO sidewalk! We had to walk on the dirt incline!
When they started using the multi-level lot across from the box-office, they kept no record of the number of cars and you often were stuck turning around at the top. On the way down you would pass twenty cars headed to the same fate!
I started riding my bike…
Now I always park at the bottom and walk up…but I haven’t gone in the theater for over ten years. It was one of only three theaters in Los Angeles with coffee, but that hasn’t been strong enoough to lure me back. It was once my favorite theater.
I went there only one time. In the college years nobody had a car, so the Campus was a one-time special treat at a special time and with special friends from a long time ago. This is what made drive-ins such a great thing. It was whom you went with, whom you met there, and what you saw. That particular night I saw I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and I EAT YOUR SKIN.
What Glendale had was The Roxy, The Alex, The Sands, The UA, The Glendale, and The Capitol all within about two blocks! You could also park there (unlike Burbank and Pasadena). Plus, in the eighties, a few of them had “one dollar Tuesday night”! I lived two blocks away and this was a great time!
BATMAN was a memorable first run at the Capitol…a rare time I had to wait in a line.
I just listened to Funky Fanfare by Keith Mansfield in honor of you, CAMPUS DRIVE-IN!
Poor little forgotten theater.
The above photo link does not go to a picture of Vintage Vinyl OR to the Varsity.
I REMEMBER YOU, CAMPUS DRIVE-IN, even if no one else does! I actually ENJOYED living in Carbondale and I relish every memory of it!
Here’s a recent photo!
View link
It was zero degrees… no wonder I left.
The 2,000 parking spots was the lot for the entire plaza, which included National Foods, Baskin-Robbins, WT Grant, an art supply, a drug store, and some other businesses. Here is a current photo of the building!
View link
Been waiting a long time for posts like these last ones… thank you so much!
I ’ve been checking this board for years waiting for these last few messages… thank you so much!
In a 1969 phone book, the Varsity is listed as CARBONDALE’S TOP ENTERTAINMENT CENTER. The phone number was 457-6100.
The address was RFD 2 Murphysboro and the phone number was 684-8104. And come on now, am I the only person who cares about this theater?
For completists: The address was EASTGATE SHOPPING CENTER and its phone number was 457-5685. (and thank you swdguy!)
Well, it just doesn’t matter anymore because all the fools ran out of money and can’t afford their cellphone bills! Now they only send text messages and have to check them CONSTANTLY. Watching a movie now means looking at one big screen and 10-20 little blue ones. While I’m here, how does receiving an emergency call in a theater help anyone? It just tells you which hospital to go to! Since it’s probably evening, the hospital won’t let you visit anyway.
The 1980s was a great time to live and work in Glendale. You could live walking distance from Brand Boulevard and have easy access to The US Theater, The Sands, The Glendale 1 and 2, The Alex, The Capitol, and at the North end, this one, The Roxy. A short drive away was the Pacific Eagle Rock, some Pasadena theaters, the Eagle Theater in Eagle Rock, The Burbank Drive-In, and a few on Vermont in Los Feliz (not to mention Hollywood Boulevard)! Believe it or not, Burbank had no indoor theater through most of the 80s! The Alex was nice, but The Roxy felt like a movie theater. One year, all of the Glendale theaters were competing with one dollar Tuesday Nights! It was always safe and you could park anywhere…even in front of the theater! Most memorable Roxy double-bill during this era: Emerald Forest and Silverado.
I see here that IMPORTANTTHINGS has no favorite movies under “profile”. Duh! I suppose it’s similarly okay to let it ring in the library? It is only partly the ringing sound and also it is the brazen insensitivity of I ME MINE. By the way, I actually DID start using a laser pointer and IT WORKS REALLY WELL!
I lived near SIU, but still walked to this theater very often for late weekend shows in the 70s. It was managed by a guy named David, who was also a film instructor at SIU. Most memorable were “Whatever Happened To Miss September”, “Zachariah”, “Enter The Dragon” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.
Oh for crying out loud! Didn’t ANY film lovers grow up in Hoffman Estates? It’s been a year! This poor theater! Well, I’LL never forget it! I guess I’ll never be able to post my photo of it… I’ll try to add a link to it soon. It was the only theater between Hoffman Estates and Rolling Meadows. Back then, if you wanted cinema, you went to the Thunderbird, watched NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, and followed Channel 32’s weird forays into what would become the norm for cable tv two decades later.
In my previous post, I also forgot Matt Helm.
There was a drug store next door to the Thunderbird and it was the only place you could buy comics, so this would always be part of the Thunderbird experience.
A cell phone is a silly toy for teenagers and it never stopped any of the above-mentioned “disasters”. “Hello, a tornado is striking the theater!” How useful! The woman with the severe seizure only had stomach cramps and her life wasn’t saved…it merely ruined King King for 400 patrons. I doubt if cell phones have saved more than 100 lives IN HISTORY! We all need to bring laser pointers and shine them in the eyes of these people. I will pay $20 admission to any theater which begins blocking these stupid, pointless, self-indulgent “phone-sturbations”.
My life there was in the 80s. Start at The Alex and walk south. Cross Broadway, soon on your left at 122 South was The Glendale (a “twin” when I was there). Proceed south. The UA and The Sands were little theaters in the same block…still north of the tall building (which I think may also have been a theater). They felt like they had seen much better days. At Colorado, cross Brand and turn back north. You would then pass the site of the Capitol. Continue north past BofA and The Roxy would then be on your left.
That mall is my favorite place in the world to eat…and I also love that the AMC is one of only two Los Angeles theaters with coffee (what is up with that????), but I got so sick of SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT for every single showing of every film that I stopped considering this theater as an option!
Westwood and it’s theaters were just a five minute drive away.
That Century plaza is fine, but where the heck is the parking lot? When it was the PLITT Century Plaza, it actually served beer. That was some competition.
Since I don’t go there anymore, here is my AMC parking secret: enter the parking lot from Constellation. Drive all the way forward until the lane ends. Turn left. Go to the end of that lane. Park in the corner. Go through the double industrial doors into the stairway. At the top, you will be at Houston’s, with Brentano’s and the AMC Theater on your right.
By the way, in Silverlake I saw a neon “eXpresso” sign! (emphasis mine)
Wow, very surprising jolt to my “memory”! I lived near the Irving Theater and I swear we used to walk to the Gateway…is that possible? Even though I remember ~nothing at the Irving, I very clearly remember Planet of the Apes, The Cheyenne Social Club, The War Wagon, and Hombre at the Gateway Theater! (however I got there)
Strangest mall parking lot anywhere! For late shows, you had to park clustered around the north door in this quasi-subterranean parking level. It’s partially on a hill which explains the need, but it sure is ugly!
I remember a theater full of screaming brats during ROBOCOP. The film soon picked them up and shook them so hard that they sat stunned with their mouths hanging open. I still love ROBOCOP for this great feat it accomplished. (I mean 12-year-olds and yes, it’s rated R).
The Hillside Strangler met one victim at this mall in a bar/restaurant near the theater.
I went to see a Jackie Chan movie there in 1997, but the exit door had about a one-inch space under it which let in an unacceptable amount of sunlight. Then, in 2003 in went to see NARC on a Thursday night and they had decided it wasn’t worth showing, although their newspaper, internet, and phone ads all said there was such a showing.
Attention RBC3! Why would I ever bother going back?
When it opened, there was no CityWalk and the drive from Ventura Boulevard ran straight to the door of the theater into a circle drive. This was removed after a “drive-up box-office armed robbery” that took place one evening about 1990. When that area was made inaccessible to cars, the CityWalk seemed to be born.
Parking was normally to the right of the driveway (southeast, where I believe there is now a two-story parking structure with a pedestrian crosswalk). I would always go to late shows on the weekend and I often saw unusual wildlife when returning to my car at 2 am.
The first year, you had no access if you were a pedestrian. My sister and I learned this the hard way. We walked from a bus on Barham up to the theater…three one-way traffic lanes and NO sidewalk! We had to walk on the dirt incline!
When they started using the multi-level lot across from the box-office, they kept no record of the number of cars and you often were stuck turning around at the top. On the way down you would pass twenty cars headed to the same fate!
I started riding my bike…
Now I always park at the bottom and walk up…but I haven’t gone in the theater for over ten years. It was one of only three theaters in Los Angeles with coffee, but that hasn’t been strong enoough to lure me back. It was once my favorite theater.
I went there only one time. In the college years nobody had a car, so the Campus was a one-time special treat at a special time and with special friends from a long time ago. This is what made drive-ins such a great thing. It was whom you went with, whom you met there, and what you saw. That particular night I saw I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and I EAT YOUR SKIN.
What Glendale had was The Roxy, The Alex, The Sands, The UA, The Glendale, and The Capitol all within about two blocks! You could also park there (unlike Burbank and Pasadena). Plus, in the eighties, a few of them had “one dollar Tuesday night”! I lived two blocks away and this was a great time!
BATMAN was a memorable first run at the Capitol…a rare time I had to wait in a line.
Was it where the pool hall is now?