Rosecrans Drive-In
8864 E. Century Boulevard,
Paramount,
CA
90723
8864 E. Century Boulevard,
Paramount,
CA
90723
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 23 comments
Movies i saw at this wonderful legendary drive in: Gremlins, Star Trek 3 The Search For Spock, Beverly Hills Cop, Back To The Future, Commando, The Karate Kid Part 2, Biloxi Blues, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.
Just added a picture of the June 22,1979 ad as a triplex
Reopened with three screens on June 22nd, 1979. No grand opening ad found.
A hint of the timing on the triplexing was provided by The Los Angeles Times on June 10, 1979: “The 1,600-car, 25-year-old Rosecrans Drive-In is being remodeled to accommodate three screens and more than 2,000 cars.”
Apparently it was on Rosecrans Avenue. Good thing there isn’t a Rosecrans CA with a Paramount Theatre. It might get confusing.
Why was it called Rosecrans?
The Rosecrans Drive-In was seen in the film, “Attack of the Puppet People”. The back of the drive-in screen is seen around the 18:50 mark of the film.
I remember seeing Teen Wolf, Fright Night, E.T., Back To The Future, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Crocodile Dundee, The Karate Kid, Ghost Busters, Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, etc. All at this theater in the early mid 80’s. I wish Drive-ins were still a thing. I’m glad the Van Buren Drive-in out in Riverside is still open. My kids have now had the drive-in experience and today it’s still just as much fun as it was when I was a kid.
If I recall correctly, because we went to different ones, this drive-in had a playground in it for the kids. I remember watching one movie with my parents and looking at the screen behind us to watch one of the Friday the 13th movies. —Great memories.
Address correction: Its just Century Blvd. NOT East.
Now a WalMart and an Albertsons on the site – pretty big drive-in indeed.
Pretty big drive-in.
In my 1956 motion picture almanac it has the drive-in listed but no capacity or owner listed one of the few i have come across like that.
Here is a January 1976 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/ybb6ofh
“The Big Combo” was playing at the Rosecrans in March 1955:
http://tinyurl.com/nk7m3g
Here is an opening day ad from drive-ins.com:
http://tinyurl.com/dzqfrb
Pacific’s Rosecrans Drive-In opened July 1, 1954, according to Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of July 10 that year.
“I, Mobster” was playing at the Rosecrans in March 1959. Click on the ad for a better view:
http://tinyurl.com/cr8u4t
Worked here and the UA Long Beach Marketplace 6. This place could be tough. During the day, they had a swap meet. When I can in, so many speaker poles would be knocked down. Know matter what, you had to be there a couple hours early to fix any shorts in the sound. The business agent had this theater for years, until the swap meet came in. Finally, in 85, I got sent to the OKC Academy to become an FAA radar air traffic controller. That lasted a year until I had a stroke. Guess what, back to the damn drive-in again. The story never ends. sheesh
(Sorry, that should have been “Hwy 39” Drive-In)…
I took photos of this marquee many years ago and have got to find them. I recall it had a mural of racing airplanes (like something out of “The Rocketeer”). I always thought that was curious because there was no airport in that area, at least not that I remember. This theater was on a huge lot and they’ve since built a massive shopping mall centered by a Wal-Mart, which is the same fate as that of the Hwy 59 Drive-In.
This drive-in is featured briefly in the AIP 1958 film Attack of the Puppet People.
The Rosecrans Drive-In was operated by Pacific Theatres.
“You’re dead to me, Fredo”. From the LA Times, February 1975:
http://tinyurl.com/2emqv2