UA Cerritos Twin Cinemas A & B
11202 E. South Street,
Cerritos,
CA
90701
11202 E. South Street,
Cerritos,
CA
90701
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A chronology of the Gateway Cities’ 70mm presentation history has recently been published. The Cerritos Mall Twin is mentioned numerous times.
Appears to have closed May 11, 1997 potentially at the end of a 25-year lease. Technically, it opened and closed as the UA Cerritos Twin Cinemas according to virtually every advertisement (without the A&B - though the screens are referenced as such; just as hundreds of multi-screen drive-ins name their screens but they are not designated in the title of the theater)
This was a good theater…but my friends and I tried to avoid it because it was impossible to sneak in to the other theater as they were separated by the snack bar.
8-)
March 22nd, 1972 grand opening ad posted here.
Yeah John,nothing like running a nice twin theatre,If I had my way we never would gone the 30 plex route,I pity the manager,or managers today, It is not the same business we worked in the 70’s and 1983 when i fially had enough.
The address of this theatre was 11202 E. South Street, Cerritos, CA. The theatre opened on March 22, 1972 and reopened after a remodel on Friday December 13th. 1991.
i loved this twin it was so damn busy when it had a hit I managed the fourplex in the mall and that was a nightmare . it was an old dark dirty dump, we opened at 9am when the mall opened and ran till 1am . all the hits moved over from the twin to the mall. I oversaw the twin Josephine was the manager she was green when it came to running the theatre. but a very hard working manager devoted to Untied artists.
I believe “The Gambler”,starring James Caan,played here in 1974. Or was it in the mall? I know i saw it in one of the two.
Just for the record, I saw Ghostbusters and 2010 at the UA Twin, both in 70mm six-track Dolby. A magical experience. But I have to say that the 70mm experience at the Lakewood Center Mall (“Temple of Doom” screening there) and the La Mirada Mall (“Star Trek III”), both Pacific Theaters, was more impressive. The UA Twin ran a very utilitarian 70mm experience, the sound was so-so. But who cares? Just a lot of fun. I also The Karate Kid here, among a few others, but that was in 35mm of course and on the second screen. By the way, I have distant memories too of the UA mall theater too where I saw Greystoke — not a great theater but whuddaya gonna do? ;)
I was actually pretty sad when this was torn down with “upscaling” of the Cerritos Mall (marketing folk insist on “Los Cerritos Center”). As a kid I saw Star Wars (all three original chapters), ET, Superman, Elephant Man, Flash Gordon, Xanadu, and, waaay later, Pulp Fiction; the bigger screen and better sound was always in the left theater (whichever letter that was).
Architecturally, it was pretty bland. The ticket booth was basically front and center behind glass as you walked up to the front door, with the option to buy the more “luxurious” Loge Seats that made up the last 6 or 7 rows of the auditorium. The outside looked like a shoebox with rounded corners; large white stones- it kind of looked like a large Baked Alaska.
I don’t think the city is called Los Cerritos. I think it’s just Cerritos.
I have fond memory of this theatre. When “Grease” was playing in the smaller auditorium, I had the pleasure of ants crawling on my arm during the screening. On the top of that, a lady sitting behind me and my parents sung every single song, verbatim, from the film. Did we leave? Nope. We were enjoying the film too much!
I also recall my aunt offering to take me to see “Star Wars” there. We walked across the parking lot and peeked in the lobby. We could clearly hear the roar of T.I.E. fighters on the soundtrack. But since my aunt bought me the 45 rpm version of Meco’s “Star Wars Theme,” she didn’t have enough money for the show. Luckily I had already seen it at the Orange City Center in 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo, and that was perhaps the most memorable film experience in my life.
As for the Twin, it was renovated in 1991 and was quite nice. The large auditorium was accomodating and comfortable with a large screen. The theatre did run some 70mm at times during the 1980s and early 1990s. But like most theatres built in the 1970s, this one met with the wrecking ball and was covered with asphalt for the Los Cerritos Mall parking lot.
I believe that the address for this theatre should read; “605 Freeway at South Street” which was its actual location.