Sundown Drive-In
12322 Washington Boulevard,
Whittier,
CA
90606
12322 Washington Boulevard,
Whittier,
CA
90606
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The last reference I saw in an LA Times ad was on Aug. 25, 1990. Whittier’s Sundown was one of dozens of theaters showing Steve Martin’s “My Blue Heaven.”
Does anyone know what was the last movie playing at Sundown before it closed down in 1990?
Grand opening ad posted in the photo section.
Nice picure of the marquee kenmc.
Here is an August 1954 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ch2lvj
No it was butter flavored topping.
The pre popped popcorn came in big bags that were my guess was about the size of a 50 gallon trash bag.
Pre-popped popcorn? There should be a law against that. Did you at least have butter and not “butter flavoring”?
I worked there in the early 1970s. I worked the Box office, Snack Bar & as an Usher riding a bike around while the movies played.
After the movies were over I had to go wake up some of the folks so we could lockup & go home & sometimes they were sound asleep & not wearing their clothes.
During my time there the Snack Bar did not pop the Popcorn there we got it already popped in large plastic bags & we dumped it into large warming bins to warm it up a little before it was sold.
I grewup in Whittier & remember my Mom taking us there & remember seeing the Disney movie Old Yeller there in 1958.
The July 24, 1954, issue of Boxoffice Magazine carried an article about Hugh Bruen’s Sundown Drive-In, then under construction. It identified the designers as Balch, Bryan, Perkins, and Hutchason. William Glenn Balch was the lead architect of this firm. This was one of the first Southern California drive-ins equipped to show wide-screen movies from the day it opened.
I see from the aerial photo that this DI was built in the less common style of double ramps.
I was a projectionist here also, and I can still hear the manager telling me his million-dollar business will stay here forever.
Been There – Done That
Capacity for 1,000 cars.
Was mentioned in the documentary “Drive-In Movie Memories” in 2001.
An aerial view of Bruen’s Sundown Theatre, apparently from about the time of its opening in 1954, given the freshness of the blacktop.
From the LA Library:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics10/00024868.jpg
From socaldriveins.com:
View link
Can anyone tell me if the Sunland Drive-In is listed here under a different name? It was an Eswards Theater.
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I went to HS near this DI and it was already closed, but was being used as a swap meet at the time… I think they were even trying to save the place from being torn down.. but I guess it didn’t happen.