Regency Village Theatre

segask it all depends on what the wording is on the lease as to what will be left in place or removed. When AMC closed the former GCC Beverly Connection 6, they sold the equipment to the people who run the Academy in Pasadena which also ran the Fairfax, South Bay etc. . The only thing they really might leave is the Norelco AA-II projectors (they weigh alot) and most of the speakers (since they are used). If they are still running other complexes select things might leave the theatre for a new home.

Ed, we know your connections…at least I do. So I consider your statement a dead giveaway! :)

Good move for them. I’d better not see any blinding neon next time I go there.

Are they getting Grauman’s & Chinese 6 too?

William, thanks for all the insider info on equipment that Mann has taken/left behind when they left those other theaters.

But since the Mann chain is shrinking nowadays, do you think they would probably just leave all the good projection/sound equipment this time?

Isn’t C: his hard drive on his computer and not from a photo site.

In most cases it all depends on the lease as to what equipment is left in the theatre. The lease can just say equiped theatre and that can included just projectors, platter and sound system. Any upgrades could be taken out and sold, if it is not spelled out in the lease agreement. When Mann pulled out of the Vogue Theatre in Hollywood, the lease had an equipment clause in it. The theatre had tobe equipment to show film. Before it closed Mann replaced the good 70MM/35mm projector with a ok running Simplex XL and pulled out the Dolby working processor and repleced it with a old Dolby CP-50 which needed help to run. The amps were old semi-work BGWs. As for the former Mann Regent they took the good Dolby processor and replaced it with an older model they left the Norelco 70MM projector there because it had a problem. Mann did this over at their former Huntington Oaks 6 in Monrovia afew years before it closed by moving the Norelco AA-II 70MM/35mm projectors out for a pair of old Simplex 35mm projectors. All the chains have done this in the past.
Inventory is always taken at a closing. Plus there are old theatre equipment brokers that buy old equipment for the used market. Or they see what is up there in the booth and moved to storage for later use in another house.

C:\Users\BADBRAD\Pictures\MP Navigator EX\2010_02_27\IMG_0004.jpg.

Mann Theatre Ads for September 29, October 6 and October 13, 1976. Both Santa Monica and Westwood.

I agree about Rave. A few weeks ago, they acquired close to 35 theaters(over 300 screens) from National Amusement, almost doubling in size. They are now the 5th largest domestic chain( after Regal, AMC, Cinemark and Carmike). The Village and Bruin would give them a presence and a calling card. Those theaters are prestigious, and for a newer exhibitor like Rave, that would put them on the map….I agree that one of the theaters would probably have to be used as the anchor for a multiplex,like the ArcLight and the Cinerama Dome —-that’s the only way the deal makes any economic sense. However building anything in Westwood is a nightmare of epic proportions.

In 1998, both Edwards and Pacific tried to buy the entire Mann chain.

But Rave could revialize the once planned multiplex behind the Bruin Mann was considering years back. It would have to be a plan for the future.

I’d be very surprised by Laemmle given they’d be RE-ENTERING the Westwood market… although they do seem like a fit…

The owners of these vacant businesses need to apply incentives to get vendors in them. I think the problem with Westwood is that it is not fun to visit any longer. There was a time when you went there to shop, eat, and see a film. Now that is The Grove, 3rd St Promenade, etc. When I go now, it is pretty much timed to just see a movie. There is noting else to do there other than that these days. And the number of theatres is drastically dwindling. I doubt Landmark will renew the Regent lease when it comes up renewal.

Glad to hear that the business was brisk for Shutter Island at the Village. I’m planning a visit this Sunday to see it. Did not know Chili’s was gone. Someone needs to step in and resuscitate Westwood. Then there would be no issue in keeping these theatres open. I think in order to survive, the Village needs to be anchor for a new nearby multiplex to keep films in strong rotation. Something similar to the Cinerama Dome and once upon a time the Chinese.

Stopped in at the Village to see Shutter Island in a real movie theater and also to say good-bye if and when Mann leaves the Village and Bruin next month. Happy to report that the theater was ¾ full for the 7pm showing on Saturday night. Image and sound were fantastic as usual, but the Screenvision before the show is a real distraction and a bummer! I have not been to the Village for about 5-6 years and the last time was before the irritaing “Screenvision.” Other then that I was happy to see the old girl in such fine shape and looking good. God, I hope someone steps up and picks up the leases for this theater and the Bruin. I cannot imagine them going dark; they are such a part of my life having seen films there for the better part of 35 years. Westwood continues it’s downward decline as I noticed that they closed the “Chili’s” resturant and the space is vacant. Hard to belive since everytime I went there in the last 5 years it was doing good buisness with UCLA students at the bar.

I can’t imagine that the Village and Bruin will close, given their historical significance and their pivotal role in holding premieres. But I’ve seen Westwood become almost a ghost town over the last ten years…I am worried but hopeful.