Azusa Foothill Drive-In
675 E. Foothill Boulevard,
Azusa,
CA
91702
675 E. Foothill Boulevard,
Azusa,
CA
91702
8 people
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Slight correction: Opened on December 20th, 1961.
Richard Kiel also appeared as Jaws at the 1981(or 1982?) Academy Awards, while Sheena Easton was singing the Oscar nominated song “For your eyes only”(it didn’t win, it lost out to “Arthur' theme – The Best you can do”), it’s on Youtube!
Both, actually. The producers liked the character and actor enough to bring Jaws back for a second film.
The bond film with Jaws(Richard Kiel) was either “The Spy who loved me”, or “Moonraker”. The Azusa FootHlll Drive-in sign appeared briefly at the beginning of an episode of Storage Wars!
I went there many times in late ‘70’s and early '80’s Saw John Carpenter’s, The Thing there. That was fun. Saw the Bond film with 'Jaw’ in that one.
Does anyone remember the Tuesday night specials at this drive-in?
Remember driving by in 2000 or 2001 and the marquee, the fences, everything looked so well cared for, I thought: Well this one should be around for a lot more years, how wrong I was.
Grand opening ad has been uploaded in the photo section
Hey, it was a great place..Its very wierd driving past, and seeing only the marquee…but I agree it’s great they are keeping it.
I remember the swap meets on the weekend, back in the late 60’s and 70’s Many fine items for sale!It was THE swapmeet to go to.
Good marquee,glad they are going to keep it.
YouTube link
The Azusa Foothill Drive In Theatre is featured in the Bloodhound Gang’s 2000 music video/remake of The Association’s “Along Comes Mary”.
The opening shot is the neon marquee at night. The rest is a bit of a mess.
Can be easily found on YouTube.
Also, the address should be EAST Foothill Blvd, if you want the mapping to work correctly.
Stopped by today. The parking lot behind the marquee still has the rises/hills (what do you call those things?) that made it easier for people in the back seat to see the screen.
The last film I saw here was The Flintstones live-action movie in 1994.
I remember going to this drive-in and seeing Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger! As a kid, I would love to play in the playground until the cartoons would start before the movie (usually Woody Woodpecker) and then my sister and I would dash to the car.
I wish this drive-in could have been saved as a working drive in, not just the marquee. It’s on Rte 66 for goodness sake, talk about Americana! Sheesh, shame on Azusa indeed!
Here is an ad for the grand opening:
http://tinyurl.com/yyuuh5
Edwards also had a theater in Azusa called the Village, which is seen in this 1963 photo from the LA Public Library:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics39/00039141.jpg
The marquee will stay. Everything else will go as part of campus expansion.
I talked to a student at the college. He told me the students wanted to use the screen to show a movie for a fund raiser. The City of Azusa would not let them. Said it was a historial landmark. The colleges uses the marquee to post messages. Isn’t that a landmark too? How stupid are these people that run the city of Azusa.
The lot is now paved,and used as a parking lot for the college anyway. What damage could be done by projecting an image on the screen. Are these city people crazy? Give them a little power, and it goes to their head.
I think it would be great for the students to use the screen a weekend or two a year to show a movie. Bet they would draw a good crowd too! Shame on the City of Azusa.
Had a problem with the city of San Pedro when a museum wanted to have fund raiser at the City owned Grand Theater. They were going to show Tora! Tora! Tora! on Dec 7 of 02. The city counselwoman Janice Hahn said NO, because it would offend Japanese! Public pressure forced her to to change her decision, and the event was a big success!
W.H. Wingo:
I believe that the Vineland Drive-In, located a couple of miles east of El Monte in Los Angles County, is still open. One of my friends went to a movie there about three or four months ago.
Listed here: /theaters/7692/
I commuted from Covina to Duarte down Route 66 past the Azusa from 9/2001 to 6/2003. Also did a good deal of bicycling in the area and pedalled past it up close many times. Never saw a show there, although from other comments it apparently didn’t close until a few months after I arrived. As someone raised in the drive-in culture of the 1950s and 60s, I always had a nice warm feeling when I saw it. It was said to be the last standing drive-in in LA county as well as the last one on Route 66 West of Oklahoma. Ah, memories.
The Los Angeles Conservancy ( www.laconservancy.org ) has been working with the school on a compromise plan that calls for the retention of the remaining elements to be worked into atheletic fields and student housing. The school wants to rebuild the screen at 50' instead of 80' and relocate it slightly.
Well, actually only the screen and marquee are still standing proudly! The perimeter walls have been removed.
As of January, 2005, the Foothill Drive-In is still standing proudly on former U.S. 66 (Foothill Blvd.), a wonderful reminder of Southern California before it got so crowded and sophisticated.