Comments from k0nod

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k0nod
k0nod commented about Victory Drive-In on Oct 1, 2008 at 2:40 pm

My father was a projectionist at the Victory for quite a while in the late ‘50’s and early '60’s. I spent many a Saturday afternoon with him repairing speakers. My mother learned to drive at the Victory, steering around the speaker posts. It was a great drive-in, and it was a golden era for family entertainment.

k0nod
k0nod commented about Van Nuys Drive-In on Apr 11, 2004 at 9:54 pm

My dad was a projectionist at the Van Nuys for a time in the ‘50’s and '60’s. We spent many a Saturday morning fixing speakers, a job the projectionists were given, pushing a wheelbarrow of new speakers around. My mother learned to drive there, weaving in and out of the speaker stands. It was a grand time for drive-ins. Too bad it’s gone.

k0nod
k0nod commented about Wiltern Theatre on Apr 11, 2004 at 9:40 pm

My father was a theater manager of the Hollywood and Vogue theaters, and later became a projectionist. When “The Music Man” opened at the Wiltern in the ‘60’s, I would leave Le Conte Jr. High after school and take the bus down Western Ave. to the Wiltern and wait for Dad to get off work. I had the balcony all to myself, and sat day after day watching Music Man over and over again. I can still sing all the songs. I used to walk the narrow hall from the booth, behind the north wall, to the organ lofts. On Saturdays I would often go in for the whole day, and my job was cleaning the mirrors behind the carbon arcs in the projectors, and cleaning out the copper drippings from the arc rods. In those days, the booth always had two projectionists, and there was also a stage hand on duty. I still love my memories of the Wiltern, but it will never be the same as it was then. I worked as a teen at the PIX on Hollywood Blvd.