Capri Theatre
444 S. Glendora Avenue,
West Covina,
CA
91790
444 S. Glendora Avenue,
West Covina,
CA
91790
2 people
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The Capri theatre opened on June 19th, 1963 with Bye Bye Birdie. Grand opening ad posted.
“Mrs. Pollifax-Spy” was aired on TCM in letterbox no less, that’s where I copied most of my favorite unaired movies or not on VHS, DVD or Blue Ray. To this day, thet have not been re-broadcast on TCM either. When I saw it, it was the bottom of the bill with “What’s The Matter With Helen?”. IF UA-Tranamerica released “Pussycat, Pussycat I Love You” a 1970, six day engagement with Sat.-Mon. matinees of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, they can put out “Mrs. Pollifax-Spy”. I love all the movies that I listed in this post and realized that Ian McShane in 1969 was a very talented actor at that time (along with Jennifer Thompson) long, long before “Deadwood”.
This reopened as a 3-plex on June 13th, 1980. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Other memorable films that I saw at the ‘Capri’ in its early years… “How the West Was Won”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “The Music Man” and “Mary Poppins”!!
The ‘Capri’ opened in 1963… “Bye Bye Birdie” was the first film screened. I went with my Dad. It was a fabulous theater when it was new! It had the latest amenities, (touchless drinking fountains!) It felt very much like a trip to ‘Tomorrowland’ :) A photo of the ‘Capri’ has become the ‘holy grail’ of our WC FB groups!
SRO Theatres took over this and other Loewstheatres that didn’t go to GCC,including The Paramount/El Capitan in Hollywood and The Crest in Westwood,sometime around 1976.
This is my favorite theater in the world, as it is where I spent a great deal of child/teen years. Almost every weekend my friends and I would walk, yes walk, it was just over 2 miles, hmmm seemed farther back then LOL. It cost about 15cents for a matinee and a quarter would get you snacks too. I saw Billy Jack, The Way We Were, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, The Exorcist (scary), Fiddler on the Roof,etc. etc. etc. Tooooo many to mention : ) Some of my favorite memories with friends involve this theater : )
Joe,
The Capri operated for many years as a single screen then toward the end they tried to do the multiple screen thing…If I recall ..IT wasnt too great…but as a single screen theatre it was wonderful!
Remember seeing the cast of Munster GO Home there promoting the movie way back in 65 or 66…
Here is a larger view of the Capri from the Loew’s report posted by Joe Vogel on 2/12/09:
http://tinyurl.com/yfxw353
Maybe in listing some of the movies I saw there, i might rekindle some memories for others…
Earliest movie I remember seeing at the Capri was “The Heart is A Lonely Hunter”. On one occasion, c. 1969-70, they had a kid’s day when they ran “The Last Safari” and gave away raffle prizes (I won a toy truck, one the few times I’ve ever won a damned thing).
Other films: “Big Jake”, “Stanley”, “The Doberman Gang”, “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad”, and “Paper Moon”.
I saw many, many more flicks there from the late seventies to the late eighties, part of the reason being that during its later years it became a tri-plex.
Sad to see so many of the San Gabriel Valley’s older theaters closed…
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of September 11, 1961, published an article about three theaters being planned by Stein Enterprises, the development arm of Statewide Theatres. The Capri was one of them, and the caption of a drawing of it said it was scheduled for a September 18 groundbreaking. I can’t find any later Boxoffice articles about the Capri, but it seems likely that it opened in 1962.
Loew’s Theatres Inc.’s annual report for 1967 said that the company had acquired 30 theaters from Statewide that year, and mentioned the Capri as being among the acquisitions. See my comment of March 8, 2007, above, for later developments at the Capri.
Here’s a link to a PDF of Loew’s 1967 annual report, for anyone who might be interested.
Waited 2 hours in line to see “The Sting” there.
Also saw “Rollercoaster” and Earthquake" there in Sensaround.
Lots of memories there.
The Capri was a great theater to see second run low budget Sci-fi in the 1970’s. It had a sub-zero temp air conditioning system and was the place to beat LA summer heat for $2 or $3 matinee. You could feel you skin change tension as you left the theater. Saw “Empire of the Ants” and “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” there and the re-release of the original “War of the Worlds” double feature with “When Worlds Collide”. The theater was cavernous, truly an old movie palace , and sadly, there were never more than a few people inside.
In the 80’s they divided it into a multiplex and would show first run low budget films like John Carpenters “The Thing” 1982. It was demolished/mercilessly bulldozed in the 90’s for a cheesy strip mall which was a very evil thing to do…like building a suburb on an Indian burial ground. It could have become a landmark if it were in a different neighborhood. Very nice 60’s lounge style design. It had a very cool gold star logo with “Capri” in a swank font in the lobby. — Mark of Maplegrove
The Capri opened some time in the early ‘60s — Dr. Strangelove played there
The Capri was a very cool looking theatre—
very modern circa 1965.
I saw the Beatles' movie “Help” there when it opened.
The ticket price was a whole dollar!—25 cents more than usual!
Operating as early as 1968.
The L.A. Times of February 10, 1971 lists the Capri Theatre at 444 S. Glendora Avenue. It was a single screen house being operated by Loew’s Theatres. The L.A. Times of August 24, 1986 lists the Capri as a triplex being operated by SoCal Cinemas.