Cinema 21
1440 Hotel Circle N.,
San Diego,
CA
92108
1440 Hotel Circle N.,
San Diego,
CA
92108
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Mann Theatres, National General Theatres
Firms: Tucker, Sadler & Bennett
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 24, 2008 — Remembering Cinerama (Part VIII)
Opened in July 1963 with Charlton Heston in “55 Days at Peking”. The opening was attended ‘in person’ by Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, James Garner & Tony Bill. Closed by the Mann Theatre chain in September 1998. After closing, served as a church and sporting goods store before being torn down to build rather ugly condos.
Contributed by
Gabriel Neeb
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
“The Rocketeer” showed at the Cinema 21 in 70mm 6-Track Dolby Stereo SR beginning on Friday June 21, 1991 (the film’s nationwide release date).
I also worked at Cinema 21 and have some good memories here. The back doors never seemed to close right and I’m surprised more people hadn’t figured that out and didn’t sneak in more often. I have seen Dick Tracy, the Rocketeer, and Presumed Innocent more times than I can count. Would love to talk to anyone who also worked there in 90 and 91. We used to take breaks on the roof and I remember as a going away present I was given one of the “H"s from the marquis for my first name. I kept that thing for years hanging on the gate of my house.
When this theater opened was it the largest in San Diego?
Hey Zubi. I worked at the 21 from early 1982 (Chariots of Fire) until Silverado. I started as an usher and worked my way up to Asst. Manager. I remember the flood of ‘82. We had to remove the seats from the first 8-10 rows as the water was rising. I was part of the leftover beer with Mickey – Pressl was pretty upset. Mike G. worked there when I started.
Attn: neeb Thank you ever so much for your research. Very helpful to those of us who live somewhere where the San Diego papers aren’t available on microfilm…I have had to ILL them in, here in Pittsburgh, PA. Regarding the missing ads for August 13, 1969 through December 23, 1969…the papers at one point refused to carry ads for X-rated films any more, and since the Cinema 21 was a mainstream theater, I am guessing (not really sure)that all of those missing weeks were the San Diego premiere engagement of Midnight Cowboy, which started out as being X-rated, before being resubmitted and lowered to an R. Alas, there were some mainstream non-pornographic films in those years (1968-1980s)that were art but were still rated X and whose advertising was not permitted by conservative editorial policies.
I worked at the Valley Circle from 1969-1973. What memories . A few years ago I spent days at the downtown San Diego Public library copying movie sections from the SD Union and Tribune.
We played A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and we had to leave flyers all over the city as the film was X rated.
kagemusha98, Do you have some of those flyers? I’d love to get a look at them.
There was a similar issue when THE DEVILS played at the Cinema Grossmont. I had to look up the Daily Aztec to confirm that it was indeed THE DEVILS and not something else.
I only ever got to see one movie there, “Twister” on opening weekend. It seemed like a really nice theatre, but I never got the chance to catch anything else there before they shut down.
Lawrence Pressl, now there’s a name I thought I’d never hear again.