Victory Drive-In
13037 Victory Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
91606
13037 Victory Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
91606
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 38 comments
Boxoffice, Feb. 13, 1954: “Pacific Drive-Ins is taking over operation of two local ozoners, the Victory and Gilmore, from Sero Amusement”
Tnere was an appeal to save preserve the mural on tne back of the screen, but it didn’t work.
Site is now Savon drug store.
Final night of operation was February 13, 1977 with “Bound For Glory” and “Aloha Bobby and Rose”.
It was closed in 1977 and torn down that same year. Looking at Historic Aerials shot from 1978 no trace of it remained and there were business already built on site.
When was the drive-in closed and demolished?
“The Raid”, an episode from the second season of “The FBI”, was partially filmed at the Victory. A stoolie was murdered in a phone booth by the concession stand, and a sharpshooter fired from atop the V. Great to see “The FBI” on location, and the Victory looked sharp. Whomever owned her at the time was obviously taking care of her. The episode was filmed in 1966.
I used to set the marquee at the Victory drive-in in 1969. I was 19-years old and I had just bought my 1st home on Atoll Ave (about 3-blocks away) for $19,000. My house payments were $94 a month and my 3 hour a week job of setting that marquee more than made my house payments. When I was 15-17 yrs old, I set the marquee at the Mesa Theater on Crenshaw and Slauson in South Los Angeles. My older brother was the Asst Manager at that theater.
If you are not able to click on it and play, right click on the link, and Save As.. to your desktop to play.
I am going to try to post the program info recording for the Victory I made in 1969. We went later to see the features.
Victory program info
The hoopla.org photo link near the top of the page is now found at:
View link
And if you’re on Facebook, Valley Relics has
this photo
http://wesclark.com/burbank/victory_drive_in.jpg
Can anyone clarify the post above from 2008 which mentions the Drake Drive-in as being an adult theatre? Does that post indicate it was an adult drive-in, or an indoor?
If it was in fact a drive-in, where was it located and during what years was it operating?
I used to go to the Victory all the time. First with my parents and later with dates. I remember Ludlows, a driving range across the street. It had a pretty decent restaurant. I’ve eaten there many times
Now a parking lot for Bally’s, CVS, and a supermarket.
This Drive-in parked 650 cars and was owned in 1956 by Sero Enterprises.
Thanks Ken Mc.
Here is a 1953 aerial view:
http://tinyurl.com/yfatzn6
How I remember the Victory Drive In! We moved to North Hollywood back in 1970 just up the street on Welby Way. We say the movie “The Exorcist” through the ivy covered fence along Morse Street just adjacent to my school Saint Jane Francis De Chantel. What a site at 7 th grade age. I attended Saint Jane’s and we used to watch that way now and then, and also from atop the school office roof top which had a built in overhead portion that jutted out enough to give you cover if raining. It was awesome. We drank beers with the older bothers and ate pizza hut pizza and sometimes Matt and Tony’s subs while watching the movie right there for free any night you wanted. Even had sound. Someone’s brother worked there at the theater and ran wires from one of those speaker poles closest to the school, and the wired ran through the cracks in the asphault to the wall between the theater and the school right below us, then went up and connected to a small speaker right there. It was incredible. Free movies and only a select few knew it was even there. One day during morning prayer role call in the school yard, we saw the Janitor up there picking up beer bottles and trash and thought to ourselves, oh ShT the jig is up! We got up there on the roof by climbing up Mary’s Statue at the head of the schoolyard by the offices.
Also, I’ve been in the screen once and climbed the stairs. And when it was a dirt lot being prepped for a shopping center, a friend and I were trespassing and climbed aboard a tractor that had the keys in it, so we srted it up and almost were tempted to throw it into gear but we thought better. (Our catholic conscience kicking in maybe) and I’m sure it would’ve gone straight through to the building across the street across Victory Blvd (Matt and Tony’s?) oh no!!!!
What memories conjured up in our heads as we would drive north in our daddy’s car looking at the drive in screen with those big letters VICTORY when going north on Coldwater Canyon just past Grant High School. And thinking of all those times.
This is from the Van Nuys News on May 30, 1949:
Victory Theater, the Valley’s newest drive-in motion picture house, formally opened Wednesday night after Mayor Fletcher Bowron officiated at ribbon-cutting rites, which featured such radio and screen luminaries as Andy Devine, Joan Leslie, Doris Day, Alan Young, Beryl Davis, Peter Potter and Ken Miles. Located on Victory Blvd, just west of Coldwater Canyon Ave., the lavish 12-acre automobile-hosting theater introduced an alert array of employees prepared to take care of every customer need, from car repairing to baby bottle warming. Also housing a snack bar and 400 seats, the Victory featured a preview of “My Dream Is Yours” with Jack Carson and Doris Day as its opening billing.
Head of the new enterprise is William Oldknow, 24, whose grandfather erected the third film theater in the nation. Oldknow recently wed Constantina Skouras, niece of Dimitrio Skouras, head of Fox West Coast Theaters.
Been There – Done That
My father was a projectionist at the Victory for quite a while in the late ‘50’s and early '60’s. I spent many a Saturday afternoon with him repairing speakers. My mother learned to drive at the Victory, steering around the speaker posts. It was a great drive-in, and it was a golden era for family entertainment.
Nevermind about the Drake question. I found it. Apparently it was an “adult” theatre.
Anyone know anything about the Drake Drive-In in Hollywood? It’s not on this site. I’d like to know when it was built, who owned it, and of course pictures would be great too.
Here is a March 1958 ad from the Valley News:
http://tinyurl.com/yqbndk