Studio Drive-In
5250 Sepulveda Boulevard,
Culver City,
CA
90230
5250 Sepulveda Boulevard,
Culver City,
CA
90230
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 39 comments
Featured in the movie “La Bamba” where Ritchie (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Donna (Danielle von Zerneck) make out in his car while Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak engage in a passionate kiss on the screen in “Bell, Book and Candle”
Here’s a little fun. Photo is from a 1957 movie Crime Of Passion. This house can be found today at 11170 Fairbanks Way, Culver City. The neighborhood was built in 1949. The Studio Drive-in is probably farther away than it looks but it is still overpowering.
DID U KNOW?? ..>The song “Drive-In” was inspired by the group’s (Beach Boys) outings at the Studio Drive-In in Culver City, California.
Seen briefly in the tv series “Hart to Hart”(series 2, episode 5, ‘Tis the season to be murdered).
Opened on 27/8/1948 with “Romance on the high seas” and “Up in Central Park”.
Larger grand opening ad posted from the Vanguard.
Studio Drive-In opening 1 27 Aug 1948, Fri Evening Vanguard (Venice, California) Newspapers.com
and
Studio Drive-In opening 2 27 Aug 1948, Fri Evening Vanguard (Venice, California) Newspapers.com
Grand opening ad posted claiming that it was the largest drive-in in the west.
This theater is shown in the background of a couple of residential shots in Crime of Passion from 1957.
Facebook link with KTLA news coverage of the 1998 demolition.
https://www.facebook.com/24337647532/videos/10156290437702533/?hc_location=ufi
Also called Heart of screenland. Site is now a Holiday Inn.
This drive in was used in the movie Jawbreaker, which was released in February of 99. Apparently, the scenes were shot shortly before it’s demolition.
The drive-in scenes in the movie Grease were filmed at the Pickwick drive-in, not the Studio Drive-in.
Undated aerial photo added courtesy of Brent N Lois Melander.
Recent article with marquee photo from premiere of “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, 1985. Copy & paste to view.
http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/04/09/movies-that-shaped-me-pee-wees-big-adventure/
Found this among my photos:
View link
Was this known as the Cina-Car Drive-In at one point? Can’t imagine Culver City having two drive-ins.
Rest in peace:
http://tinyurl.com/25thf9j
The related links site is defunct and should be removed.
If you enter the address in this site, you will see aerial photos from 1948 to the present. In the first shot Culver City is farmland, and the theater is under construction. Over the years you see the area developing. In the contemporary photos there is no trace of the drive-in.
View link
This was also where the drive-in scenes from “Grease” were filmed, as well as the aforementioned “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”.
Hard to believe that this theater has been closed for almost fifteen years. They did cram a lot of shoebox-size houses into the space.
i dont really think it was an eyesore,i mean it was great to see it when everything around it were shopping malls.another thing that i rememeber were the trees surrounding it.it really was a nice place,its hard to imagine that all thoese tiny houses now occupy the site.
I remember the place well. We went there many times. One double-feature was “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Logan’s Run” in 1977.
I love the marquee that I have seen in photos. but most of the shots online are very small… does anyone have a high quality day shot of the marquee where you can see the detail?
I remember this place, boy was it an eyesore to look at, it was just an ugly big wall standing in the middle of nowhere… yet it amazes me how such a place can become so popular with the local, well it did play great movies and this after was a place of great memories… many people who have told me stories of first kisses, guys/girls/family night out, marriage proposals, birthdays, and so many other great memories under the moonlight, all in front of a big ugly wall, which played great movies.
It’s gone now, and so is the ugly wall, a housing development took over. Nowadays, Culver City’s got the Bridge, The Mann, and The Pacific 14, nice date places, too bad you can’t propose to your lover here, or make side-comments on the movie here, without people shushing, at least now we all can see Beautiful Culver City in all its charm unobstructed.