The theater opened in 1949. It was located on I St in downtown Los Banos. The theater is currently used as a church.
From the Los Banos Enterprise: "The Crest opened April 22, 1949. It was a huge event, with representatives from Fox, Universal, Paramount, and Columbia studios. Amelia "Benny" Silva was hired as the manager. She was one of the few female theater managers in the country at the time.
The first movie at the Crest was "The Return of October," a Glenn Ford western. The theater was packed with 800 people. Lines formed at 6:30 for the 7 p.m. show. This continued for years. The theater had plush reclining seats in the back that you could purchase for an extra quarter.
Admission was $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. Candy was a dime while popcorn buckets and Pepsi-Cola were 15 cents apiece.
The entertainment kicked off with a newsreel and a short cartoon, and then the feature.
The Crest was lined with huge Egyptian murals. The theater quickly became Los Banos' hot spot. Manager Silva was extremely happy. However, she had high standards for her films.
There was no way the Crest would ever show a risqué movie like today's R-rated films. Parents used to drop off their children most evenings and at Thursday matinees with the instruction to mind "Aunt Benny."
The Crest also employed teenagers. Robert Benidettino, Benny's nephew, was employed as a poster boy. "A lot of the guys did this, so they could earn extra money," said Mr. Benidettino, who now lives in Chicago. "We would change the marquee or run the films, which needed to be changed about every 15 minutes."
The Crest also employed several high school girls as cashiers, usherettes and in numerous other positions. Terry Barcellos remembers working as a cashier. She recalls that Benny would patrol the aisles with her flashlight. "You better not have your arm around a girl or your feet on the seats," Mrs. Barcellos said. "She definitely put the fear of God in a lot of teenagers."
Mrs. Barcellos also remembers having a bird's-eye view of kids dragging Main Street (I Street), making a U-turn, and entering the Crest with their dates.
"I was a cashier out in front and got to see everything," she said. Most theatergoers got their news from the newsreels that played first. "TVs were scarce then and that's how we got the news."
Love Nests were "far and away the most popular candy bar at the theater," and westerns were the most popular movies, even though they weren't her favorite, Mrs. Barcellos said. The bar had a fudge center caramel, peanuts, and chocolate.
Mrs. Barcellos and Mr. Benidettino also recalled when Italian actress Milly Vitale visited. They said that occurred when she was married to Vincent Hillyer, a local resident best known for his love of vampire lore.
In the early 1970s, television was beginning to boom and video cassettes were also becoming popular. While dedicated patrons continued to attend, many watched their entertainment at home and declining numbers began to take their toll. The Crest eventually closed.
According to research done by former Los Banos High School student Nathan Salha in 2001, the Crest was a large part of cultural life in Los Banos for many years." (
visit link)