Valley Plaza Cinema
1940 Wible Road,
Bakersfield,
CA
93304
1940 Wible Road,
Bakersfield,
CA
93304
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: General Cinema Corp., Loew's Inc.
Firms: Tucker, Sadler & Bennett
Previous Names: Cinema Valley Plaza
Nearby Theaters
Opened as a single screen on Sept. 20, 1967 with the movie "Hawaii". Statewide Theatres openeed this theatre and a very short time later Loew’s Theatres took over operations. The theatre was equipped for 70MM and 6 track stereo sound and seating for 1,230.
General Cinemas took over the theatre in 1972 renaming it the Valley Plaza Cinema. The theatre closed in September 1976 for conversion to a twin. Seating when the theatre re-opened was listed at 1,120. Grand re-opening attractions after twinning were "The Omen" and "Norman, is That You".
New Dolby sound was installed in 1983.
The theatre closed in 1986 and was later demolished that year for mall expansion.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Yes, Valley Plaza resembled Anaheim’s Century 21…and San Bernardino’s Inland…and San Diego’s Cinema 21.
Paul…Here’s another date typo: I think “The Sound Of Music” should be 10/18/67, not 9/18. (Surely, “Music” didn’t open two days before “Hawaii”!)
Thanks, Mike. My handwritten notes DID show the correct date, but I was making some typing mistakes, and obviously didn’t catch them all.
A photo of the theatre’s interiot may be found here:
View link
(Photo from the Bakersfield Californian)
1/21/70: Cactus Flower
1/28/70: Cactus Flower; Me, Natalie
2/18/70: The Reivers; Viva Max! (2 weeks)
¾/70: The Sterile Cuckoo; Goodbye, Columbus
3/11/70: Downhill Racer; The Gypsy Moths
3/18/70:In Search of the Castaways; The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit
4/01/70: In Search of the Castaways; Downhill Racer
4/8/70: Marooned
4/22/70: Marooned; Ring of Bright Water
4/29/70: The Lawyer; Romeo and Juliet
5/6/70: A Walk in the Spring Rain; The Comic
5/13/70: The Molly Maguires; Marlowe
5/20/70: A Man Called Horse; The Reivers
5/27/70: King of the Grizzlies; The Battle For Britain (2 weeks)
6/10/70: The Boys In the Band; Staircase
6/17/70: 2001: a Space Odyssey; The Dirty Dozen
6/24/70: Sleeping Beauty; The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (2 weeks)
7/8/70: The Cheyenne Social Club; With Six You Get Eggroll (2 weeks)
7/22/70: Paint Your Wagon; Norwood (5 weeks)
8/26/70: Getting Straight; Medium Cool
9/2/70: The Out-Of-Towners; If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium (2 weeks)
9/16/70: Z; Secret of Santa Vittoria
9/23/70: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever; The Impossible Years (9 days)
10/02/70: Doctor Zhivago (5 days)
10/07/70:Threesome; Sex and the College Girl
10/14/70: Threesome; El Condor
10/21/70: The Cross and the Switchblade
10/28/70: Darling Lili; The Hawaiians
11/4/70: WUSA; Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
11/11/70: The Student Nurses; The Love Doctors
11/18/70: The Cross and the Switchblade (return engagement)
11/25/70: Monte Walsh; The Cheyenne Social Club
12/9/70: The Babymaker; Borsalino
12/16/70: Scrooge; A Boy Named Charlie Brown (2 weeks)
12/30/70: Rio Lobo; Monte Walsh (2 weeks)
1/13/71: Catch-22; The Adventurers (2 weeks)
1/27/71: Five Easy Pieces; Move (3 weeks)
2/17/71: The Owl and the Pussycat; The Ballad of Cable Hogue (3 weeks)
3/10/71: Cromwell
3/17/71: Little Big Man; Rio Lobo (3 weeks)
4/7/71: Love Story (5 weeks)
5/12/71: A New Leaf; Darling Lili
5/19/71: Two a Penny
5/26/71: Lawrence of Arabia (2 weeks)
6/9/71: Nana; Myra Breckinridge
6/16/71: Doctor’s Wives; There’s a Girl In My Soup
6/23/71: The Horsemen; A Man Called Sledge
6/30/71: Plaza Suite; Waterloo
7/7/71: Le Mans; A Man Called Horse7/14/21: Le Mans; The Reivers
7/21/71: The Anderson Tapes; The Pursuit of Happiness
7/28/71: Pinocchio; The Wild Country (2 weeks)
8/11/71: Big Jake; Von Richthofen and Brown (2 weeks)
8/25/71: Jacqueline Susann’s The Love Machine; Valley of the Dolls
9/01/71: The Love Machine; Doctors’ Wives
(9/1/71: weeklong matinee double feature: Willie Wonka; Charlotte’s Web)
9/8/71: Song Of Norway; True Grit
9/15/71: Woodstock; Gimme Shelter
9/22/71: On Any Sunday; Little Fauss and Big Halsey
9/29/71: On Any Sunday; Evil Knievel
10/6/71: The Hellstrom Chronicle; The Red Tent
10/13/71:Blue Water, White Death
10/20/71: Carnal Knowledge; Pretty Maids All In a Row (2 weeks)
11/3/71: Bless the Beasts and Children; A New Leaf
11/10/71: Way Out; Chisum
11/17/71:The French Connection; Vanishing Point
11/24/71:The African Elephant; Blue Water, White Death
12/1/71: The Telephone Book; The Female Animal (9 days)
12/10/71: See No Evil; The Anderson Tapes
12/17/71: Scrooge; A Boy Named Charlie Brown (8 days)
12/25/71: $; Friends (3 weeks, 3 days)
1/19/72: Star Spangled Girl; Plaza Suite (2 weeks)
2/2/72: Harold and Maude; T.R. Baskin
2/9/72: XY & Z; Diary of a Mad Housewife (2 weeks)
2/23/72: Pocket Money; something big (2 weeks)
3/8/72: Such Good Friends; Catch-22
3/15/72: The Hired Hand; Play Misty For Me
3/22/72: The Godfather (12 weeks)
6/14/72: Nicholas and Alexandra (4 weeks)
7/12/72: Now You See Him, Now You Don’t; Perri (2 weeks)
7/26/72:The Burglars; Buck and the Preacher
8/2/72: Play It Again, Sam
8/9/72: Prime Cut
8/16/72: The War Between Men and Women
8/23/72: Snoopy, Come Home!; Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow!
8/30/72: Butterflies Are Free; 3rd week co-feature: The Revengers
9/20/72: Stand Up and Be Counted; Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
9/27/72: The Last Picture Show; Fools Parade (2 weeks)
10/11/72: The New Centurians (3 weeks)
11/1/72: Funny Girl (re-release)
11/8/72: Cabaret
11/15/72: The Valachi Papers (4 weeks)
12/13/72: Snoopy, Come Home; Scrooge (6 days)
12/19/72: The Getaway (6 weeks, 1 day)
1/31/73: 1776
2/7/73: Young Winston (2 weeks)
2/21/73: Shamus; Play It Again, Sam (2 weeks)
3/7/73: The Legend Of Boggy Creek; Man In the Wilderness
3/21/73: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean; 2nd week â€" Vanishing Point
4/4/73: Up the Sandbox; Bless the Beasts and Children
4/11/73: Brother Sun, Sister Moon; 2nd week â€" Harold and Maude
4/25/73: Cabaret; Marjoe
5/2/73: Save the Tiger; Lady Sings the Blues (2 weeks)
5/16/73: The Ruling Class; The King of Marvin Gardens
5/23/73: Camelot (re-release)
5/30/73: Carnal Knowledge; The Graduate
6/6/73: The Legend of Frenchie king; The Wild Bunch
6/13/73: Hitler: The Last 10 Days; Fuzz
6/20/73: Godspell
6/27/73: Paper Moon; 2nd week â€" A New Leaf (4 weeks)
7/25/73: Lost Horizon (2 weeks)
8/8/73: 40 Carats; Butterflies Are Free (2 weeks)
8/22/73: Oklahoma Crude
8/29/73 The Day of the Jackal (2 weeks)
9/12/73: Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing; $
9/19/73: The Stone Killer; The Friends of Eddie Coyle
9/26/73: Let the Good Times Roll; Concert For Bangladesh
10/3/73: Bang the Drum Slowly; Oklahoma Crude
10/10/73: Romeo and Juliet (2 weeks)
10/24/73: Westworld; Soylent Green (3 weeks)
(10/29/73 The Iceman Cometh (American Film Theatre) (2 days) )
(11/12/73 The Homecoming (American Film Theatre)) 2 days
11/14/73: The Way We Were (5 weeks, 2 days)
12/21/73: American Graffiti (7 weeks)
Some great films,but these are double features,some together rated PG with an R rated film. I guess it wasn’t a double feature for the kids unless they didn’t care about 13 year old “johnny” seeing an R rated second feature.
I did just notice a miswtake on my list. The weeklong matinbee engagement of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that started 9-1-71 played by itself, not with Charlotte’s Web.
In Nashville if you showed a double feature with different ratings we had to go with the highest rating in admitting patrons.But we hardly had double features at our theatres.
1/21/74: AFT: Butley
1/23/74: American Graffiti (continues)
(2/01/74: Sneak: Jonathan Lingston Seagull)
2/04/74: AFT: Lost in the Stars (2 days)
2/06/74: Jonathan Livingston Seagull; The Thief Who Came To Dinner
2/13/74: Serpico
(2/16-2/17/74: matinees: Pippi Longstocking)
2/27/74: Papillon (benifit premiere – BHS Orchestra Associates)
2/28/74: Serpico (continues)
3/06/74: Papillon
3/11-3/12/74: AFT: Rhinoceros (2 days)
3/13/74: Papillon (continues)
3/27/74: The Last Detail
4/08-4/09/74: AFT: Luther (2 days)
4/10/74: The Great Gatsby
(5/05-5/06/74: matinees: Marco)
5/06/74: AFT: Three Sisters (2 days)
5/08/74: The Great Gatsbyl Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
5/15/74: Zardoz; Fantastic Planet
(5/18-5/19/74: matinees: Rumpelsiltskin)
5/22/74: The Three Musketeers
6/05/74: The Three Musketeers; Chariots of the Gods?
6/14/74: Old Yeller; The Incredible Journey
(6/17-6/18/74: Frank West PTA: n/a)
(6/24-6/25/74: Frank West PTA: George!)
6/26/74: Conrack; The Heartbreak Kid
(7/01-7/02/74: Frank WSest PTA: And Now, Miguel)
7/03/74: The Sound of Music
(7/08-7/09/74: Frank West PTA: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines)
7/10/74: For Pete’s Sake
7/15-7/16/74: Frank West PTA: Flight of the Doves)
(7/22-7/23/74: Frank West PTA:The Wacky World of Mother Goose)
7/24/74: For Pete’s Sake; Oklahoma Crude
(7/29-7/30/74: Frank West PTA: Living Free)
7/31/74: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad; Beyond Atlantis
(8/05-8/06/74: Frank West PTA: An Elephant Called Slowly)
(9/12-9/13/74: Frank West PTA: The Shakiest Gun in the West)
8/14/74: The Parralax View; Paul and Michelle
(8/19-8/20/74: Frank West PTA: Smokey)
8/21/74: Pippi in the Sounth Seas; Brother of the Wind
8/28/74: Chinatown; Little Laura and Big John
9/06/74: Chinatgown; The New Centurians
9/11/74: The Last Picture Show; Easy Rider
9/18/74: 2001; a Space Odyssey
10/02/74: Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry; The Last American Hero
10/09/74: Bootleggers; Le Mans
10/18/74: The Longest Yard
11/13/74: The Longest Yard; The Parallax View
(11/23-11/24-74: matinees: Charlotte’s Web)
11/27/74: The Odessa File
(11/28-12/01/74: matinees: Touch the Sky)
12/06/74: The Odessa File; The Lords of Flatbush
12/11/74: Camelot; Oliver
12/18/74: Tom Sawyer; Huckleberry Finn
12/25/74: The Godfather part II
You start getting into the 1974’s and you are getting in the begining of my Theatre years,“THE LONGEST YARD” shot in Georgia was a HUGE hit at National Hills Theatre.I had guys wanting me to slip them in for $10.00 with a date which was great money in 1974.
I worked here in 1986 from May (just before I graduated from high school until the closing shift in October, either the 30th or 31st. During that time, we showed Space Camp, Ruthless People, Aliens, Jumpin' Jack Flash, and Stand By Me, among others. It was a great job I loved the crew I worked with.