Eastland opened “Star Trek IV” in 35mm dolby stereo over the Thanksgiving weekend of 1986, and picked up a 70mm print in early 1987 (not 1988 as I posted)….Michael is right, “Star Wars” did not open at the Eastland (what was I thinking? I saw SW at the Wescove), but per the Eastland manager I got to know in the mid 80’s, CEO3K played in mono for the first 5 days of the run.
As for “Star Wars”, it was moved-over to the Eastland for it’s 1978 “re-release” from the Wescove and again in 1979 for a 3-weeks run in 35mm dolby.
(SW never played at any of the 2rd run theaters in the Covina booking area like Plaza Glendora, Canyon San Dimas, or the Covina Cinema durring the original release AND the two re-releases before Empire in 1980. Empire Strikes Back did play at the Plaza with a 2nd feature of SE version of CEO3K in 1981 in mono)
Drove by the Eastlast yesterday, and it’s gone! Maybe in the last 2 weeks or so….too bad, We’ve lost FOX, Capri, Covina, and now the Eastland….guess Westcove will be next. Pictures of the Westcove will be posted tonight on the following site:
The Eastland opened in the early 1960’s (1963-1964) with one theater, which had over a 1000 seats and 35mm 4-track mag stereo. In the early 1970’s theaters two and three were added along with Dolby Stereo for “Star Wars†in 1977. By 1980 Sanborn Theaters (they changed names to SoCal in the late 80’s) added 70mm to the sister theater the Wescove. Eastland had to wait until 1983 after the big house was split into 3 smaller theaters ( giving it the magic number of five) for 70mm. The summer of 1984 kicked 70mm into high gear with “First-runs†of “Star Trek III†& “GhostBustersâ€. “Start Trek IV††in early 1988 was the final film to be played in 70mm at the Eastland. The original “Die Hard†opened at the Wescove in 35mm Dolby (never played in 70mm at the Eastland), and with 200+ prints of “Dick Tracy†in 70mm in 1990, the Eastland failed to play it (Edwards Azusa ran it for five weeks).
Even with 70mm, the Wescove and Eastland never played “Raiders†or Indy II†in first-run, which ended up at the Mann Fox Covina, in 35mm mono.
I’ve been unimpressed with the presentation at the Royal of late. Not only the sloppy projection has become an issue, the broken seats and a family of crickets, who chirp during the film is a major turn off.
Picture of the Canyon Theater in 2005
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Eastland opened “Star Trek IV” in 35mm dolby stereo over the Thanksgiving weekend of 1986, and picked up a 70mm print in early 1987 (not 1988 as I posted)….Michael is right, “Star Wars” did not open at the Eastland (what was I thinking? I saw SW at the Wescove), but per the Eastland manager I got to know in the mid 80’s, CEO3K played in mono for the first 5 days of the run.
As for “Star Wars”, it was moved-over to the Eastland for it’s 1978 “re-release” from the Wescove and again in 1979 for a 3-weeks run in 35mm dolby.
(SW never played at any of the 2rd run theaters in the Covina booking area like Plaza Glendora, Canyon San Dimas, or the Covina Cinema durring the original release AND the two re-releases before Empire in 1980. Empire Strikes Back did play at the Plaza with a 2nd feature of SE version of CEO3K in 1981 in mono)
Picture of the Wescove sign
View link
Drove by the Eastlast yesterday, and it’s gone! Maybe in the last 2 weeks or so….too bad, We’ve lost FOX, Capri, Covina, and now the Eastland….guess Westcove will be next. Pictures of the Westcove will be posted tonight on the following site:
http://modernlosangelesinkodachrome.blogspot.com/
The Eastland opened in the early 1960’s (1963-1964) with one theater, which had over a 1000 seats and 35mm 4-track mag stereo. In the early 1970’s theaters two and three were added along with Dolby Stereo for “Star Wars†in 1977. By 1980 Sanborn Theaters (they changed names to SoCal in the late 80’s) added 70mm to the sister theater the Wescove. Eastland had to wait until 1983 after the big house was split into 3 smaller theaters ( giving it the magic number of five) for 70mm. The summer of 1984 kicked 70mm into high gear with “First-runs†of “Star Trek III†& “GhostBustersâ€. “Start Trek IV††in early 1988 was the final film to be played in 70mm at the Eastland. The original “Die Hard†opened at the Wescove in 35mm Dolby (never played in 70mm at the Eastland), and with 200+ prints of “Dick Tracy†in 70mm in 1990, the Eastland failed to play it (Edwards Azusa ran it for five weeks).
Even with 70mm, the Wescove and Eastland never played “Raiders†or Indy II†in first-run, which ended up at the Mann Fox Covina, in 35mm mono.
I’ve been unimpressed with the presentation at the Royal of late. Not only the sloppy projection has become an issue, the broken seats and a family of crickets, who chirp during the film is a major turn off.