Valley Drive-In
10477 Central Avenue,
Montclair,
CA
91763
10477 Central Avenue,
Montclair,
CA
91763
2 people
favorited this theater
Located in Montclair and known for its large neon mural and caged monkeys next to the playground. It was opened on April 14, 1948 with Rod Cameron in “Panhandle” & “Climbing the Matterhorn”. The monkeys were added in 1949. It was closed on September 13, 1977 and demolished on November 17, 1977. It was replaced with a Dodge dealer in 1980.
Contributed by
samantha russell
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
My mom thinks this place might have been on Holt, does anyone know exactly where? I went there as a kid, but can’t really remember it.
There is a pic of it here.
View link
Here is a 1952 photo. I think the placard says Holt Boulevard and Central Avenue.
http://tinyurl.com/6rt8fl
Wow, thanks! You’d never even know driving through there that there was ever a grand drive-in like this there…how sad.
Approx. address for this drive-in was 10477 Central Ave. While the entrance was the car dealership, most of the drive-in is now Saratoga Park behind this.
The Valley Drive-In opened on April 14th, 1948 with “Panhandle” and “Climbing the Matterhorn”
They want more money.
Valley Drive-In in Montclair wants more money. 06 May 1948, Thu The Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, California) Newspapers.com
Here’s a fun AP wire story, dateline Ontario, Calif., so it probably refers to the Valley. (It ran in the Dec. 17, 1963 Joplin (MO) News Herald.)
“A drive-in theater is short two essential items today - cash and popcorn. Detectives said burglars covered floors and concrete walks with popcorn kernels to make things easier when they wheeled out a 350-poiunts safe containing $6,000 from the theater office. The kernels acted like ball bearings.”
The Los Angeles Times' final listing for the Valley was on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1977, when the drive-in showed a couple of Italian films, “Autopsy” and “Sacrifice.”
Chet Wilkins of the Ontario Neon Co. called the Valley’s screen tower “the largest neon mural in the world”. It was assembled over weeks at the First Baptist Church of Ontario because its basement floor was large enough to accommodate it.
And here’s the Internet Archive link to the Charles Phoenix photo that sameegrl posted about 13 years ago.
Architects Bryant and Balch