Canyon Theatre

165 San Dimas Canyon Road,
San Dimas, CA 91773

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Bill_Lonee
Bill_Lonee on August 3, 2020 at 12:23 am

I remember going at least twice, back in the early-to-mid seventies. My friend’s mom took him and me to it, but I can’t remember the movie. I think the only other time I went, it was to see King Kong in 1976. The place only had one screen which was probably partially responsible for its eventual decline.

LebowskiT1000
LebowskiT1000 on May 10, 2013 at 1:41 pm

Wow thanks, I wish I could remember it better. The only one I can really remember well from the area was the Mann Glendora 6 theater. It’s too bad that all these theaters are virtually all gone, I hope someone posts some pics of this theater, other than the closed down remains seen at cinematour.com

LebowskiT1000
LebowskiT1000 on August 23, 2012 at 7:31 pm

Was this really only a one screen theater. I believe I saw a couple movies here when I was a kid.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 14, 2010 at 6:50 pm

As state in Bansheee,s post of June 25,2009 Google maps show the entire shopping center and parking lot gone down to bare dirt,strange.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on July 14, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Big write up in BOXOFFICE Nov.1995,Color pictures,Long story,Gene and Judy Harvey were the owners in 1995.They are interviewed in the BOXOFFICE article.

matineeidol
matineeidol on August 12, 2009 at 8:04 pm

Saw GOODFELLAS and DEAD CALM here twenty years ago, and a revival of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Also, a double feature of DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS/GET SHORTY. For a short while in the 90s, they were running THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Occasionally, the owner’s red Jaguar XKE coupe could be seen parked out front.

bansheee
bansheee on June 25, 2009 at 5:21 am

I drove by The Canyon Theatre last month and was very shocked to see the entire shopping center has been completely destroyed. Even the paved ground has been removed and there’s only dirt and weeds. I wonder why they would go to the trouble to remove the pavement parking lot? There’s a chain-link fence surrounding the entire perimeter of the ex-shopping center. It’s been a number of years since I’ve been by there and that fence looks to have been there for quite some time.

I remember when they were showing old b&w movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, which I thought was a neat idea. But, they weren’t old movies that I’d heard of. It would’ve been great to have themed days or weekends. Even midnight movies like was done in the 70’s and 80’s and those pulp fiction and grindhouse concepts. I think that kind of thing along with horror nights has a lot of potential to save the few remaining nostalgic movie houses that are left. Now that some of the 80’s are beginning to come back, there were many cool horror movies that would do very well in these old theaters. So many are gone and it makes me very sad.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 24, 2008 at 1:57 am

The Canyon Theatre opened in June, 1966, according to an article in Boxoffice Magazine’s June 13th issue that year. It had 700 seats, and was one of the first theaters in the Robert Lippert chain’s major expansion into Southern California.

Lavarus
Lavarus on June 17, 2008 at 4:41 pm

This theater’s interior was similar to that of The Americana in Panorama City (/theaters/7863/). Like The Americana, this venue hosted The Rocky Horror Picture Show for a time during the early 1990s; and reportedly had another/earlier RHPS run in the ‘80s.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 13, 2007 at 6:43 pm

It was open in July 1969, according to the LA Times.

buddieslounge
buddieslounge on April 1, 2006 at 11:32 pm

Picture of the Canyon Theater in 2005

View link

William
William on September 24, 2002 at 10:13 am

During the mid 90’s this theatre ran a series of classic films. The operator also ran for a short time the State Theatre in Pasadena.