Big Sky Drive-In
1060 E. Huntington Drive,
Duarte,
CA
91010
1060 E. Huntington Drive,
Duarte,
CA
91010
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Edwards Cinemas, Pacific Theatres
Architects: J. Arthur Drielsma
Nearby Theaters
The Big Sky Drive-In opened on October 20, 1949 with Burt Lancaster in “Rope of Sand” & Robert Sterling in “Roughshod”. It was taken over by Pacific Theatres in October 1953. I grew up in Monrovia and as a kid I went to a drive-in in Duarte named Big Sky Drive-In. It was on Huntington Drive. It was closed on September 9, 1984 with “Hollywood Hot Tubs” & “Surf II”. It was demolished to make way for a Fedco, which later became a Target.
Contributed by
David
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
I’d rather have an aerial vs no photo at all.
A couple of notes for the comments above. The burger place across the street next to the Mini Golf (remember the giant golfer?) was called Chuck Burger. When BigSky was demolished it was a Gemco (Not Fedco) and a shopping center that replaced it. Target is there now and so is the shopping center. One of the last movies to play there was Superman III. I remember because after it closed down for more than a year the signage was still there for that movie. I lived across the street adjacent to Northview Middle School (also demolished and moved for car dealerships and now where CarMax resides). Cool note. In our porch there was a phone on the outside with no way to call out. You could only receive calls. At night when the movie played you could see about 80% of the screen from my porch (Darn eucalyptus trees covered the lower 20%) and you could hear the movie playing on the receiver that was in the porch. Not sure if that is how it was set up from the prior owners or if it was just luck. I miss those simpler days as well. More fun to go there then actually watching the movie. I mean as a kid of course. They also had a little playground near the screen where I spent much of the time playing rather than watching the movie.
“Pacific’s Big Sky Drive-In, 818/358-2565” was included in Los Angeles Times advertisements as late as September 1984.
Is Chuck Burger or the mini golf still there accross the street.
Boxoffice, Oct. 10, 1953: “MONROVIA, CALIF. – The Pacific Drive-In circuit has taken over operation of the Big Sky Drive-In here from Tom Charack and associates. Charack has joined the Pacific organization in a supervisory capacity.”
Looks like this drive-in was first proposed as the Midway. Note that the artist’s drawing is an exact match for the eventual Big Sky aerial photo.
The final listing for the Big Sky was in the Sept. 9, 1984 issue of the Monrovia News-Post. The drive-in was showing “Hollywood Hot Tubs” and “Surf II”.
Monrovia News-Post, Nov. 15, 1984: “The landmark orange and yellow Big Sky Drive-In screen rising from the sidelines of the 210 Freeway in Duarte will be torn down in a $4.5 million land sale to make way for the Mountain Vista Shopping Center. Under a deal unveiled Tuesday (13) between the Duarte Redevelopment Agency and developers … The city plans to buy the majority of the Big Sky property from the owners for $3.2 million. A portion of the land fronting Huntington Drive is already owned by the city’s redevelopment agency.”
Opened with “Rope of Sand” and “Roughshod”
Boxofice, Dec. 1, 1951: “After 13 years as a United Artists salesman, Jack Drumm has resigned to take over the operation and management of the Big Sky Drive-In near Monrovia, in which he is a partner with Lou Berman. The latter is heading for Ventura to manage the 101 Drive-In, which he and Drumm have acquired from Reeves Espy.”
Boxofice, Dec. 22, 1951: “Lou Berman has disposed of his interests in the Big Sky Drive-In near Monrovia to Jack Drumm and a group of associates, and has purchased Reeves Espy’s interest in the 101 Drive-In in Ventura. Berman will have J. Arthur Drielsma, theatrical architect, and Job Sanderson as partners in the latter venture.”
Entrance now The Burger Den next to Sonic.
Theatre itself is now Target!
Correct address was 1060 Huntington Dr, Duarte, CA 91010.
Plesse update.