A Few Words About A few words about...™ The loss of the neighborhood movie theater (1 Viewer)

[Brent Avery]

Jeff, you are quite welcome - and regarding the Met - one of my most memorable movie experiences was going to this theater in 1968 on my own at 12 to see John Wayne in the Hellfighters - I was within the first few rows from the screen and it left a lasting impression. I usual sit further back so maybe that had something to do with it!

 

[supervehicle]

Reminds me of something I came across recently:
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/02/rich_living_quentin_tarantino_buys_the_new_beverly_theatre.php

"As long as I'm alive, and as long as I'm rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm," Quentin Tarantino told The Hollywood Reporter. He's bought the 200 seat Fairfax District theater that has shown second-run double features since 1978 (before that it was, appropriately, a grindhouse with live nude dancers, although it was built in 1929 and once showed first-run movies). In the mid aughts, hearing operator Sherman Torgan was having trouble keeping the doors open, Tarantino started paying the monthly expenses. After Torgan's death in 2007, his son Michael took over operations, but the landlord had a buyer almost immediately. Since the Torgans had the right of first refusal, Tarantino stepped in, and after some extensive haggling made a deal to buy the theater. Now the New Bev has new light fixtures, seats, and a digital projection system (although it still mostly screens in 35mm). This isn't Tarantino's first theater interest--in 2003 he made plans to lease the vacant King Hing Theatre in Chinatown to show the films that have inspired his work, although so far that plan doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. Tarantino will continue to make programming suggestions at the New Beverly, but the Torgans will still do most of the booking. Reservoir Dogs (maybe in thanks?) is showing next week.

 

[Brian McP]

Here in Melbourne we still have the beautiful Astor Theatre, thank God -- projecting in digital, 35mm and all throughout the year, in 70mm -- often with some of Robert Harris' best restoration work, including "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Vertigo"
www.astortheatre.com.au

 

[Kevin EK]

When I was young and living in Pacific Palisades and then in Santa Monica, movie theaters were plentiful, but they were also vulnerable to being closed at any time.

When we moved to Pacific Palisades in 1979, there was the Bay Theater on Sunset, which is where I remember seeing Viva Knievel on the big screen, among other things. Within a year of our moving there, the theater was closed and converted to Norris Hardware.

When we moved to Santa Monica in 1982, there was the Mann Wilshire (two screens), the Brentwood Twins (also two screens) and the Aero up on Montana Ave. The Brentwood Twins was the first to go - closed and sold by the end of the 1980s and eventually bulldozed to make room for a new shopping area. The Mann Wilshire hung on much longer, eventually being taken over by the Nuart and run as the Nu Wilshire until a couple of years ago. At that point it was closed down, and the theater interior was demolished. It now stands as an empty building in the shape of a movie theater with a FOR LEASE sign in the window. The only one of those three that still stands is the Aero, which is now operated by American Cinematheque as a revival house. There's also a small 4-plex theater down on 2nd Street that specializes in very small independent movies, and an Art House specialty theater on Santa Monica Blvd near the 405 freeway.

When I was old enough to take the bus by myself to the movies, I began travelling to Westwood in 1981, where you could find multiple theaters, like the Village, the Bruin, the Plaza, the National and the Mann Westwood multiplex as well as the Avco on Wilshire and the UA theaters. Most of these were (and still are) good, large theaters where I saw the biggest Hollywood summer blockbusters as a teenager. Westwood was and is a UCLA college town, and this tone remained even as the Cineplex idea began to take over in the mid-80s. (I still remember a snarky newspaper article about Cineplex Odeon talking about moviegoers being ushered into their little box to receive their "entertainment unit".) Westwood as a popular hangout lost its luster in 1991 for various reasons (violence being a big one) and many of the westsiders who formerly went to movies there rerouted to the reborn Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, which had no single screen theaters, but did have several newly minted multiplexes (The AMC, the Mann Criterion and of course a Cineplex), mostly built from the bones of older department stores that had been part of the old Mall. These multiplexes continue to exist, and seem to be a bigger draw than the the bigger single screen theaters that can still be found in Westwood today. I believe they all use digital projection now, where this was a specialty item even just a few years ago.

The Nuart Theater continues to exist on Santa Monica Blvd near the 405, and it still plays the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday nights.

Of course, a big revival house I came to love in Berkeley, the UC Theater, has not fared the same. From the time I went to school there in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, it was already a faded remnant of what had once been a glorious palace. The seats were ratty and broken. The screen was torn. The carpet was threadbare. But they showed movies very cheaply and they had an intelligent programmer who not only made clever pairings and choices but also produced a little newsprint insert for the local papers that showed each month's schedule. When last I visited Berkeley, I walked by the UC Theater - it's closed now and boarded up.

If I ever had unlimited funds, I have long wanted to be able to take a theater like that and really restore it - take it to the level of the best photos we've seen here in this thread. Unfortunately, the economics of this no longer seem to work.

Is it possible that the neighborhood movie theater is on the verge of going the way of the drive-in?

 

[EricSchulz]

I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one, but an amazing book to track down is "Cinema Treasures" by Ross Melnick and Andreas Fuchs. It's no longer available directly from Amazon, but DEFINITELY a book worth having...

Amazon.com: Cinema Treasures: A New Look at Classic Movie Theaters (9780760314920): Ross Melnick, Andreas Fuchs: Books

 

[Charles Smith]

Wow. Thanks for the trip down nostalgia lane, Kevin. I lived in Hollywood and a few areas of West L.A. in the '70s-'80s, and sometimes I feel like I could write a book about the wealth of theaters, both neighborhood and otherwise, stretching from the ocean to Pasadena. It continually sickens me to be reminded of the state of things now. Even here, in the relatively small town I've lived in for the past 20 years, the changes are sad -- depressing, actually, because so few people notice the difference, or care.

 

[Dave Moritz]

El Capitan Theater that was refurbished by Disney but it is a nice old theater with just one room and Disney premiers there movies there now.
Located in: Hollywood, California

 

[Charles Smith]

Ah yes, I'd know it anywhere.....the Loews Paramount!

 

[Dave Moritz]

Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California started out a single room theater but was renovated and had a megaplex theater built around it by the Archlight group. The Archlight in Hollywood is really nice because they thought of the movie lover and not the casual movie goer! They put alot of thought into that theater and it is nice to be able to go see older films there and with question and answer sessions with directors and other involved in the movies. With bigger more comfortable seats, high end projectors made in Germany, higher end JBL speakers and many other features that make this theater better than the average cookie cutter like AMC theaters. It is sad that many small theaters are disappearing and not all theaters need to be big megaplexes!

 

[haineshisway]

Wow. Thanks for the trip down nostalgia lane, Kevin.  I lived in Hollywood and a few areas of West L.A. in the '70s-'80s, and sometimes I feel like I could write a book about the wealth of theaters, both neighborhood and otherwise, stretching from the ocean to Pasadena.  It continually sickens me to be reminded of the state of things now.  Even here, in the relatively small town I've lived in for the past 20 years, the changes are sad -- depressing, actually, because so few people notice the difference, or care.

I did write a book
But all these memories are for youngsters. I grew up in the 50s and 60s when there was literally a movie theater single screen every few blocks in every neighborhood. Mine were the Lido, the Stadium and the Picfair, all on Pico. The Stadium closed its doors around 1960 and became a temple and still is. The Lido lasted much longer but was demolished to become a parking lot. The Picfair was used as a store and warehouse before being torched during the Rodney King riots. But I grew up going to movie theaters all over LA - my earliest movie memories are of seeing The High and the Mighty in Cinemascope at the Village Theatre in Westwood, The Tender Trap, and all that early Cinemascope stuff. The Picwood was a great theater (Pico and Westwood), but I also spent a lot of time at the Fox Wilshire, the Fine Arts, the El Rey and the Del Mar (where I worked briefly). Then there were all the Hollywood theaters - I began going to those around the time of Pardners, which I saw at the Paramount (now the El Capitan). I saw tons of movies there, at the Chinese, the Egyptian, the Vogue, the Warner Cinerama (then Pacific's), and all the smaller houses like the Hollywood, the Iris, the Academy, the Admiral and the New View. Then there was the Pantages (where I also worked for a brief time), the Pix and the World and further east the Hunley and Hawaii.
Then there was the Oriental on Sunset. My grandparents lived at a residence hotel on the boardwalk at Ocean Park - so I spent a lot of my childhood at the gorgeous Dome Theater, which closed but still remained all during Pacific Ocean Park. There was also the Bundy on Pico and Bundy (torn down to accommodate the new Santa Monica Freeway, and lord knows how many others I frequented. Westwood also had and still has the Bruin and the Crest (I think that's still there), and later, all the other Westwood theaters that have since bit the dust, like the National, the Regent, etc. And, of course, the Valley had tons of movie theaters, too, all of which I went to at one point or another.
And the drive-ins - the Olympic, the Gilmore - went to 'em all.
It was a time. Fortunately, I have tons of photos of all the theaters I went to.

 

[Kevin EK]

I remember going to see Close Encounters at the Cinerama Dome, as well as a revival of 2001 there around 1980. Still a mindblowing experience...

 

[Jeff Adkins]

The Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, NY. It's now part of the campus of Long Island University.

 

[Charles Smith]

I did write a book
Fortunately, I have tons of photos of all the theaters I went to.

1. Title, please? I'll order it immediately.

2. Oh my god...

 

[bigshot]

Theater owners cut their own throats. I have no pity for them. When they started loading people into pens to wait, charging as much to park as to see the movie, arranging to have no projectionist on duty to monitor the volume and focus, and did away with movie posters and public lobbies, I said goodbye to them andI don't miss them. I have better sound and picture, my home theater is more comfortable, I have room for guests and I can eat better on the cheap.
Movie theaters have been declining since world war II. Good riddance.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

You've been going to the wrong theatres.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Indeed. There are plenty of theaters that description applies to, but they're not the theaters being discussed in this thread. In fact, many of the theaters being described here were put out of business by the theaters Stephen has described. That, and white flight from the cities after World War II.
And I can't imagine them making big screen epics for the direct to DVD/Blu-Ray market. Even those who spurn going out to the movies should be grateful for the roles cinemas play in the content ecosystem.

 

[bigshot]

In Los Angeles, the only non megaplex theaters left are playing Mexican movies. I don't speak Spanish. I'd rather stick my neck in a noose or drink a jug of cyanide than go to Universal CityWalk.

 

[RolandL]

In Los Angeles, the only non megaplex theaters left are playing Mexican movies. I don't speak Spanish. I'd rather stick my neck in a noose or drink a jug of cyanide than go to Universal CityWalk.

Cinerama Dome, Chinese theater, El Capitan, etc. Aren't there more?

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by RolandL /t/318779/a-few-words-about-the-loss-of-the-neighborhood-movie-theater/60#post_3903110
Cinerama Dome, Chinese theater, El Capitan, etc. Aren't there more?

Egyptian.

Arclight.

Bridge.

 

[Kevin EK]

Two of the famous Westwood theaters are still going, now under the Regency flag: The Village, and The Bruin, which are across the street from each other. Back in the 1980s, we used to buy tickets at those places, preferably the Village as it was more than twice as big, and just next door was the WestWorld video game arcade. There was even a pretty good comic book shop around the corner called Grafitti. All of those places are long gone now.

I was shocked to see that of all the theaters that once existed in Westwood, now there is only the Village and the Bruin, along with two other, much smaller theaters (the Regent and the Billy Wilder theater).

It's hard for me to fathom that the National is gone, much less that the Avco Cinema Center has closed as well. Avco was where the Star Wars movies always played.

The Mann Theatres website indicates the company has finally closed its doors. Back in the 1980s, they really had the market on movies in Los Angeles. Their trumpet fanfare was well known enough that it popped up in plays at my high school. And they used to have a quick ad for the LA Times that would precede the previews, usually showing something about how the Times covered Hollywood with a quick snippet about "The Wardrobe Designer" or "The Special Effects Team". As a parody, somebody once made a version of this called "The Production Assistant" which showed a guy running around getting people coffee. That one was never shown at a Mann Theatre...