Redondo Beach Cinema 3

1509 Hawthorne Boulevard,
Redondo Beach, CA 90278

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Associated Independent Theatres Inc., General Cinema Corp., Loews, Regency Theatres

Architects: George T. Kirkpatrick

Previous Names: South Bay Theater, South Bay 1-2-3

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News About This Theater

Jun 18, 2010 — "Jaws"... Happy 35th!
May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
Mar 21, 2010 — Redondo Beach Cinema 3 closure

At one time, this was actually three separate free standing buildings – each one a large, modern single screen theater.

The first, simply called the South Bay Theater when it opened by Associated Independent Theatres Inc. on December 29, 1964 with a sneak preview (title unknown). The following day it opened to the public with Walter Slezak in “Emil and the Detectives” & Sidney Poitier in “Lilies of the Field”. It was built close to Hawthorne Boulevard and next to it were storefronts and a bowling alley. On the other side of the alley, Cinema 2 was built, another large, modern single screen house. A little further down, #3 was built which was the nicest of all and may have been equipped for 70mm.

Eventually, Cinema 2 was twinned, and then the original theater was tri-plexed in the 1980’s.

General Cinema later built a large multiplex in the adjacent shopping center and the two newer houses were closed.

The original theater operated as an independent, second-run triplex as the Redondo Beach Cinema 3 until it was closed on March 11, 2010. It was demolished in summer of 2010.

Contributed by Manwithnoname

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Recent comments (view all 45 comments)

Mike Rogers on September 9, 2010 at 1:16 am

Ray Milland story was good long with others.

kencmcintyre on September 13, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Looks like they are building something on the site.

ChasSmith on August 8, 2011 at 12:12 am

I hope I’ve positioned the street view accurately. Don’t have any photos yet. The theaters were just to the south of the (then) South Bay Galleria Mall, which is what I remember it being called in the 1980s.

LawMann on June 29, 2013 at 11:31 pm

South Bay Cinema 3 which was next to Levitz furniture never ran 70mm. In fact it didn’t even have stereo sound. The booth has two Simplex XL projectors. When I worked there in the early to mid 1970’s General Cinema operated the three theatres.

jimtheactor on January 26, 2015 at 5:40 am

I saw SNOW WHITE there at a very young age, JAWS there when it first came out, and then upon my return to the area in the 1980s, I saw CHUCK BERRY: HAIL HAIL ROCK AND ROLL. Good memories.

plasticvengeance on February 9, 2018 at 8:08 pm

So so many amazing memories here. The screen nearest Hawthorne Blvd. most often, I saw Sixteen Candles, The Karate Kid and more in the 80’s. The twinned house in the middle also showed Rocky Horror and other midnight movies (Dawn of the Dead, Cheech & Chong flicks) on the weekends. And that bowling alley complex was AMAZING, complete with an ice cream parlor, a coffee shop, a bar and an arcade. You could live there. ;)

Scott Neff on December 27, 2018 at 2:13 am

So near as I can figure from LA Times ads, and if anybody knows differently please correct me:

12/29/1964 Statewide Theatres opens the South Bay Theatre

11/01/1967
Loews acquired Statewide Theatres

08/21/1969 Loews opens South Bay 2

12/24/1971 Loews opens South Bay 3

06/28/1972
General Cinema acquires Loews in Southern California

12/20/1974 GCC splits South Bay 2 causing a name shift to all three buildings. South Bay 1 > South Bay I South Bay 2 > South Bay II-III South Bay 3 > South Bay IV

11/14/1986 South Bay 1 is split into three, causing a name shift to the buildings. South Bay 1 > Cinema 4-5-6 South Bay 2-3 > Cinema 2-3 South bay 3 > Cinema 1

11/25/1997 Cinema 2-3 and Cinema 1 close as GCC Galleria at South Bay 16 opens the following day inside the mall.

03/11/2010
The original South Bay theatre, now the Redondo Cinema 3 closes.