This aerial photo from 1964 reminds us of something that used to be ubiquitous, but is now quite rare: the drive-in theater. The one we’re looking at here in this 1964 aerial shot is the Victory Drive-in Theatre at 13037 Victory Blvd in North Hollywood. Its opening night showed “My Dream Is Yours” and “Ma & Pa Kettle” on May 25, 1949, when land in the San Fernando Valley was cheap enough to make a drive-in theater financially feasible. This one had room for 650 cars, and had a 28-year run, closing on February 13, 1977, showing “Bound For Glory” and “Aloha, Bobby and Rose.”
Here is the entrance to the Victory Drive-in Theatre. At the time it was showing Never a Dull Moment, which came out in 1968:
I should’ve seen it coming: that land is now largely the parking lot of a shopping mall. This satellite image is from October 2023.
Drive-In’s were the only way I usually got to see a movie growing up. My father did not want to (can you imagine saying this now) “dress up” after a hard day at work to go see a movie. Personally, my preference has always been going to movie theaters. I almost went to a Drive-In during the pandemic when some places were showing films that way, like the Post 43 Theatre in Hollywood, but that didn’t work out.
Living in Burbank just a few blocks from the North Hollywood border, the Victory was my favorite Drive in theater. My Uncle lived on Mary Ellen Ave just about a block or so East of the Drive in. You could see the movie on the screen from his front yard. I grew up watching movies at this theater in the 60’s. I remember seeing The Parent Trap with Hayley Mills in 1961 with my parents and cousin Donna and many more. In High School in the early 70’s I took a few dates to see movies there in my 66 Chevy Impala. Many Drive in’s are torn down because of light pollution on the screen from new development nearby businesses like car lots, but this drive-in was in the perfect location surrounded by homes that keep the area in the dark. Very sad to see this one go. Do not know if this is true or not but I hear this drive-in installed speakers in the back yards of the homes in the back row of the lot so owners could watch movies from their back yard. At one time there were 13 drive in movie screens in the San Fernando Valley! All were single screens except for the Winnetka which had 6 screens.
A drive-in theater with SIX screens? Whoa! I didn’t know about that one!
Hey Bob, growing up in Burbank we would go to the Pickwick Drive in. We did not go very often, my folks would usually drop us off at the Cornel Theater on San Fernando or the Magnolia. When i started driving it was back to the drive in. Mostly Pickwick but I am sure I must have gone to the Victory. One movie I do remember when I was little was a hand that was cut off and it would crawl around and kill people.
Hey Bob, growing up in Burbank we would go to the Pickwick Drive in. We did not go very often, my folks would usually drop us off at the Cornel Theater on San Fernando or the Magnolia. When i started driving it was back to the drive in. Mostly Pickwick but I am sure I must have gone to the Victory. One movie I do remember when I was little was a hand that was cut off and it would crawl around and kill people.