Barstow Cinema 1 & 2
140 W. Main Street,
Barstow,
CA
92311
140 W. Main Street,
Barstow,
CA
92311
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Last ad for this cinema is November 16th, 1988.
Two screens on April 10th, 1976
Barstow Twin Cinema opening 10 Apr 1976, Sat Desert Dispatch (Barstow, California) Newspapers.com
Grand opening ad:
History of cinemas in Barstow
Barstow movie theatre history 16 Feb 1950, Thu Desert Dispatch (Barstow, California) Newspapers.com
The Barstow Theatre launched for Western Amusements Circuit on February 22, 1950 with Broderick Crawford in “Cargo to Cape Town” supported by Johnny Weissmuller in “Captive Girl.”
The history of Barstow’s theaters, as told in a front-page story in the Desert Dispatch, Feb. 16, 1950:
“Grand opening of the new Barstow theatre on West Main St., on Wednesday, Feb. 22, will give theatre-goers of Barstow and vicinity a chance to see the result of weeks of careful planning and construction by Western Amusement Co. in bringing this ultra modern theatre here. Today’s theatre is a far cry from the first theatre, The Fletcher "Opera” house of the year 1910, where “first class entertainment was held for all.” And it is a tremendous improvement over the Forum theatre which has been the only theatre in Barstow city limits …
“Color scheme of the theatre is restful and blends well with the desert. The ceiling is beize (sic?), side walls soft restfull green, front panels blend from a soft fuschia to a deep wine …
“The early opera house originated from a hall in the fall of 1909, owned by Mrs. Mary Fletcher who rented it for social programs in the early days before the arrival of moving pictures. Later Mrs. Fletcher and her grandson, Homer Humble, with Charles Eagon working as projectionists, opened it for several years … H. L. Miller … rented the building from Mrs. Fletcher using it as a movie picture house. In the fall of 1922 sudden fire destroyed the entire structure.
“Charley Wallace rented the Bauer and Slaton building … and opened a new theater advertising for a name. Forum was finally selected. Mr. Wallace installed a pipe organ to furnish background music and the theater became most popular! In the early 1930s, Justin LaFont became the proprietor and he moved the show to First and Main streets, where it is now located.”
I also saw a reference to the Barstow Theatre in the Desert Dispatch in December 1911, though it apparently opened in 1910.
I can confirm the Barstow Cinema was twinned in 1976.
The American Classic Images page I linked to indicated only that the Barstow Theatre had been twinned by 1982.
I notice that all the American Classic Images pages have gone missing, and the links fetch only a register.com page requesting that the domain name registration be renewed. Does anybody know what became of the site and its operator? If it has shut down permanently, it’s going to leave a huge number of dead links all over Cinema Treasures.
There are two pictures of the theater as a single screen operation on this webpage
Probably opened in 1946, or soon after, the Barstow Theatre was located on the south side of W. Main Street (Route 66) where it curves in the block west of 1st Avenue. The house had been twinned by July, 1982, when this photo at American Classic Images was taken.
By January, 1988, the house was showing double features on both screens, as seen in this night shot from ACI. This ACI photo, dated June, 1988, shows the marquee vacant, so the house must have been closed during the first half of that year.
The site of the Barstow Theatre is now part of the very large parking lot of the New Life Foursquare Church. The church is at 134 W. Main Street, so the theater must have been right around 140-150 W. Main.