Aero Theatre

1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403

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Showing 51 - 63 of 63 comments

MagicLantern
MagicLantern on January 3, 2005 at 6:07 pm

There’s a Ray Harryhausen tribute here on January 16, 2005.

forlawson
forlawson on December 29, 2004 at 1:31 am

When I was a kid, my father took me to the Aero to see his favorite actress Ingrid Bergman. Lucky for me he was mistaken. It turned out to be an Inmar Bergman film, “The Magician”. It was a double bill. I got to see “Seven Samurai”. But “The Magician” was too dark a tale for my father. He made us walk out on it. I went to see “The Magician” at the Nuart theatre in Santa Monica later on when I was a teenager. It is one of my favorite movies.

RobertR
RobertR on December 13, 2004 at 6:04 pm

LA is getting a second Cinematheque and NY has none. What a great thing to do with the Gramercy.

Knatcal
Knatcal on December 13, 2004 at 4:17 pm

I just received the December/January schedule for the American Cinematheque and they have their first film. “In Good Company,” scheduled at the Aero Theater for January 6, 2005.

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on November 10, 2004 at 1:00 pm

The architect of the Aero Theatre was P.M. Woolpert.

wpaq
wpaq on November 6, 2004 at 7:56 pm

The Aero was such a great theatre until the Northridge earthquake, and they did renovations, putting in new seats that were so awful – They were too small and extremely uncomfortable… especially for a double-bill. I used to check their listings first and after they messed it up I rarely went… and I noticed I never saw it full anymore. I’m happy it’s being rejuvenated and looking forward to it.

br91975
br91975 on October 1, 2004 at 9:28 pm

According to the current issue of Los Angeles magazine, the Aero’s reopening as a branch of the American Cinematheque may occur as soon as this month.

fabie
fabie on February 29, 2004 at 1:08 pm

Hi, I am doing a written and visual history on the Aero. If anyone has stories or pictures to share, I would greatly like to hear from you. This is a personal project that has blown up. I am a UC student and would love to get information. .edu P.S. my grandpa used to work for Douglas after WWII

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick on March 27, 2003 at 11:40 am

After closing in mid-April, this theater will be renovated, restored, and reopened by the American Cinematheque.

Emily
Emily on January 16, 2002 at 10:54 am

When Montana Avenue was five gas stations and a Piece O' Pizza in the late ‘70s/early '80s, the Aero was a very second-run theatre with rock bottom prices. I grew up a few blocks away, and I’ve seen countless movies there. Now that the people of the neighborhood have changed, it is a different place (the prices are slightly lower than the rest of the screens in LA, but not by much, and the movies are a lot closer to first-run than they ever were). I’m glad that it was saved, I was always sure that it was about to be torn down. I am sad that our old house was razed for a 2 million dollar mansion, but I am glad that the Aero remains.

William
William on January 4, 2002 at 10:18 am

The Aero has been featured in many Hollywood movies as that small neighborhood house. You can see the marquee and some of the theatre in the Independent film “Donnie Darko”

William
William on January 4, 2002 at 10:01 am

The Aero has been showing movies since the mid 40’s, when it was built for Donald Douglas. The Aero is located on Montana and 14th Street, on the north side of Santa Monica. On the south side of Santa Monica, Douglas had a large aircraft factory. The Aero’s style is a little Art Deco. It seats between 500 to 600 people. In the late 90’s, Robert Redford’s Sundance Company and General Cinemas was going to start a new theatre chain for Independent films . The Aero was going to be part of this chain, along with a plex in Pasadena. But General Cinema going into bankruptcy and AMC going to but GCC. The plans for Sundance Theatres are on hold. For now the Aero is one of those great little neighborhood houses, we all grew up with in many cities in America. Remember to support the neighborhood house, they are just as rare, as the big palaces.