Big Bear Theatre
42171 Big Bear Boulevard,
Big Bear Lake,
CA
92315
42171 Big Bear Boulevard,
Big Bear Lake,
CA
92315
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
The Big Bear Theatre was on a main street and was opened on April 28, 1946 with Gary Cooper in “Saratoga Trunk”. It was destroyed by fire in early-February 1968.
Contributed by
David Zornig
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The Grizzly (Big Bear Lake) noted on Sept. 21, 1945 that “Big Bear Theatre, formerly the Grizzly,” would close for the season that month, and that owner Earle C. Strebe planned to construct a new building for the theater “on the highway next to Safeway”. “The foundation was poured and laid this summer, but actual work on the structure of the modern steel and re-inforced concrete building was delayed.”
That new building opened on April 28, 1946, “when a capacity crowd of valley residents and visitors packed the first show to see the Gary Cooper-Ingrid Bergman vehicle, "Saratoga Trunk.” … The youthful looking Strebe - he has not yet reached 40 years of age - is well known in Palm Springs theatre circles, having operated two cinema parlors at the desert spa for many years. In addition Strebe owns a theatre in Las Vegas and controls several units in the Lake Arrowhead-Crestline area."
Final showtime was “Hawaii” on January 27, 1968. A fire the morning of February 2, 1968 destroyed the venue prior that evening’s showing of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” It was demolished.
There are two theaters in Big Bear Lake being named the Big Bear Theatre. In July 1972, a newer Big Bear Theatre opened nearby on Village Drive, which would later rename the Village Theatre in 1975. It’ll have its own CT page soon.