Picwood Theatre

10872 W. Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Unfavorite 22 people favorited this theater

Showing 1 - 25 of 251 comments

rivest266
rivest266 on October 16, 2016 at 10:18 pm

December 24th, 1948 grand opening ad. in photo section.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 9, 2016 at 11:08 pm

Lawsuit in 1948 http://latimes.newspapers.com/clip/6175272/picwood_theatre_opening/

Coate
Coate on May 24, 2016 at 6:20 pm

Extracted from 70mm in Los Angeles, here is a list of the 70mm presentations held at the Picwood, most of which were re-release, subsequent run or moveover bookings. (Sorry, I don’t have the duration data for most of these. But if anyone wants that info, it shouldn’t be that difficult for you to research now that you’re armed with the relevant titles and start dates.)

1975-01-22 … Gone With the Wind

1980-08-01 … The Black Hole / Sleeping Beauty
1980-08-15 … Fame (7 weeks)
1980-11-21 … Divine Madness
1980-12-17 … The Empire Strikes Back
1980-12-19 … Apocalypse Now (26 weeks)

1981-02-13 … The Jazz Singer (7 weeks)
1981-04-03 … Fame
1981-07-03 … Alien / Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1981-07-24 … Wolfen
1981-09-04 … Superman II
1981-12-16 … Zoot Suit (2 weeks)
1981-12-30 … Zoot Suit / The Jazz Singer (1 week)

1982-01-08 … Apocalypse Now
1982-02-05 … Sharky’s Machine
1982-04-02 … Quest for Fire
1982-06-11 … Raiders of the Lost Ark (5 weeks)
1982-07-16 … E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (22 weeks)
1982-12-17 … The Dark Crystal

1983-05-06 … Rocky III

1984-04-04 … The Right Stuff
1984-12-14 … Dune

1985-05-31 … Amadeus (3 weeks)
1985-06-21 … Lifeforce
1985-07-19 … Amadeus

jackwolf
jackwolf on August 7, 2015 at 5:24 pm

A great deal of my childhood was spent at the Pickwood. In 1967, when we lived in Westwood, I went to the kiddie matinee every Saturday at noon, where they had double-features. We used to go to Pickwood Bowl before, bowl, and have breakfast. Must have gone there for more than a year every Saturday. It was a great Westside tradition. I later saw many other movies there, including “Daddy’s Gone a Hunting”, “Rachel Rachel”, “All the Right Moves”, ect.

Joe Pinney
Joe Pinney on December 13, 2014 at 9:07 pm

When the Picwood opened it had a tropical type of interior in the auditorium. It was remodeled in and around 1966-7. After the remodel the Picwood seated 950 seats.

William
William on June 26, 2013 at 1:15 pm

Hi Steve, Those were the days at that theatre. Boy we had a fun crew running the theatre. Good to hear from you.

Captain_Furball
Captain_Furball on June 26, 2013 at 2:32 am

Hey, Steve Tinner here, I know I’m many years too late to actively post but just wanted to say Hi to crew from the days of ET, Qwest for Fire(I still have some promo material), Evil Under the Sun; circa 1980’s… Bill, Lisa, Bob, anyone else out there?

deward
deward on August 30, 2012 at 5:38 am

worked in the there in the 1950 was one of the greatest i worked in they had lots of first time showings like bell book and candles

                        james cook
                
BobSe
BobSe on November 28, 2011 at 4:55 pm

@Coate: sorry, I was agreeing with you and confirming according to the best of my recollection…thought you might like concurrance from someone who was actually there for the entire run.

Coate
Coate on November 28, 2011 at 4:10 pm

BobSe: Why are you repeating me??? Just two comments before you I had stated the Picwood showed “E.T.” after the Cinerama Dome and that it ran 22 weeks. If you were agreeing with me, then say so. Otherwise, please pay attention.

William
William on November 28, 2011 at 3:42 pm

The 1980’s was the last true decade that had outstanding projection in theatres, run by true projectionists. They ran the theatres without automations to run curtains and lights.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on November 28, 2011 at 3:13 pm

Funny how I clearly remembered seeing “E.T.” at the Picwood but had forgotten the Dome. I’ve always been pretty good at remembering where I saw certain films, especially in a unique place like the Dome, so the impact of this one must have been pretty significant to have wiped that part out.

Boy, do I miss the long runs of great films.

BobSe
BobSe on November 28, 2011 at 2:56 pm

The Picwood ran “E.T.” on a limited release after it left its exclusive engagement at The Cinerama Dome. We ran it until we opened “The Dark Crystal”. IMDB tells us the it opened on December 17, 1982. Anyone any good at math? If the dates are correct, Picwood ran “E.T.” for 22 weeks.

MarcS
MarcS on November 28, 2011 at 5:56 am

BobSe, you ran such a great show that I remember bringing you caviar! Picwood had such classy people :–)

Coate
Coate on November 28, 2011 at 2:52 am

FWIW…The Picwood’s run of “E.T.” began July 16, 1982, which was the film’s sixth week of release. The Cinerama Dome played it as a Los Angeles (city and county) exclusive for its first five weeks of release. The Picwood’s engagement ran, I believe, for 22 weeks.

BobSe
BobSe on November 28, 2011 at 2:12 am

sweet…that’s great to hear from someone after all these years

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on November 28, 2011 at 1:49 am

Yes, it would have been within the first 2-3 weeks. That’s great to hear, and it was a VERY good one!

BobSe
BobSe on November 27, 2011 at 11:48 pm

@ChasSmith: if you were there in the first month I probably ran the show. The other projectionist was let go the day before it opened so I was working 14 hour days. Hope it was a good one.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on November 27, 2011 at 6:05 pm

Sadly, the only film I know I saw at the Picwood was “E.T.” It was my second time to see it (don’t remember where else it opened) and I remember so clearly waiting out in front (probably in a line) on a beautiful sunny afternoon with friends who were seeing it their first time. Love the photos here, and I’m sorry I didn’t get there for other films.

BobSe
BobSe on November 27, 2011 at 4:06 pm

William (aka Bill). That is correct. The booth was pretty much a mess when I got there. The first feature I ran there was Wolfen in 70mm Dolby. I was there until summer 1985. Clark stayed until the theater closed. I went over to Cineplex Brentwood Twin just a few months before the Pic was raised.

William
William on November 27, 2011 at 3:51 pm

BobSe, You won the bid after Autley Musslewhite and Ozzie Pence left. Then you Paul Marks ran it. And after Marks Clark Wood. Before Picwood you was over at SRO’s Paramount Theatre.

William
William on November 25, 2011 at 12:24 am

Hi BobSe, You ran a good show Bob. It was nice have you in that booth.

BobSe
BobSe on November 24, 2011 at 5:42 pm

@MarcS: we played The Dark Crystal right after “E.T.”. Both were 70mm Dolby presentations and we went back to 35mm for almost a year after Crystal closed. The only gospel film we ran was “Gospel”, which ran for about 2 months. Tom Campion was the manager at the time and Clark W and I ran the booth.

William
William on August 20, 2011 at 1:59 pm

Picwood was a Great Theatre to work in those days. Marc you still have those tapes. :)