San Diego enjoyed the introduction of several new theaters designed for movies in the mid-20th Century. Most of them were, big, sleek, Modern-
Googie works of art designed to celebrate popular entertainment and the feel of air conditioned class demanded of a society getting ready to go to the moon.
Between 1962 and 1966, San Diego stayed classy by taking in movies at first-run houses like the
Cinerama, the
Cinema 21, the College, the
Center, the
Cinema Grossmont, the
Clairemont, and finally- the Fox
Valley Circle.
The Valley Circle opened in late December 1966 with the Peter Sellers movie,
After the Fox (I know, I'd never heard of it before). Things improved and the VC was soon able to show good movies like
Blow Up,
The Dirty Dozen, and
Bonnie and Clyde (on it's triumphant run after it's first, disastrous run).
The 1970s were even kinder as
M*A*S*H enjoyed showed up to play for eight months straight, and
A Clockwork Orange played for 4 months without benefit of newspaper ads- the main papers of the day didn't advertise X-rated films. To cap off the decade,
Star Wars had one of its 32 opening day engagements play at the Valley Circle. And play. And play. And play for 57 weeks.
However, the dark days of the multiplex were coming, and by the mid-1980s, whispers of closure dogged the lives of every single-screen theater in San Diego. The VC still managed to play top films like
The Karate Kid,
The Shining, and
Poltergeist for extended periods of time.
Although there was speculation the Valley Circle would survive until 2002, the company that held the land below it, unceremoniously closed and demolished it in February 1998.
The last movie to play there was
Sphere.
The space that held the Valley Circle is now occupied by a Coffee Bean, a BevMO and a store that sells workout equipment.
The Valley Circle was the last of the great movie theaters in San Diego to open. Ten years gone, it is sorely missed.
San Diego Union B-7. Wednesday 21 December 1966.
San Diego Union A-7. Friday 23 December 1966.
Motion Picture Herald Page 19. 29 March 1967.
Motion Picture Herald Page 20. 29 March 1967.
Motion Picture Herald Page 22. 29 March 1967.