NuWilshire Theatre
1314 Wilshire Boulevard,
Santa Monica,
CA
90403
1314 Wilshire Boulevard,
Santa Monica,
CA
90403
24 people
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I see that, but wasn’t sure about behind the scenes. It was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here two months ago (from Florida). Very sad spot in the middle of a wonderful town. I thought it looked like (it could be) a great music venue.
No, Kylee. The NuWilshire remains empty, a large dead spot in the neighborhood…
Any new updates?
Correction to the above post:
Not that it matters much, but I just remembered that “Andromeda Strain” played with “Silent Running” (both Universal releases) and “Hellstrom Chronicle” showed with “The Red Tent.” One more unforgettable ‘77 bill after the twinning was the graphic double feature of “Taxi Driver” and “The Farmer.” I recall an older couple—who obviously didn’t research the films they were going to see that evening—walking out quite early. I do miss the days when a neighborhood movie house could without warning become an unforgiving grindhouse.
The Wilshire was a great place for young sci-fi/horror film fans in the early-‘70s. While it was still a large single screen, my pals and I caught such classics as “Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror” and “House of Wax” (both in 3-D), “Sssssss” and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf,” “Ben” and “Tales from the Crypt,” “Silent Running” and “The Hellstrom Chronicle,” and “The Andromeda Strain” with “The Red Tent” among others. The most fun I had at the Wilshire was a packed house on a Saturday night in spring of '76 for a triple bill of “The Groove Tube,” “Flesh Gordon” and a sneak preview of “The First Nudie Musical.” (I believe we told our folks we were cramming for a midterm that night!) The best double bill I never saw there was “The Getaway” and “Magnum Force.” The conscientious ticket girl, alas, wouldn’t sell me a ticket because I was underage. I pointed out that the Peckinpah film was PG, to no avail. (However, the next year, while I was still under 17, I got into the “Dirty Harry”/“Magnum Force” double-bill over at the El Miro on 3rd St., no problem!) Other great single screen shows included “Jaws” (saw Bill Cosby and family trying to stay inconspicuous the back row), “The Eiger Sanction” and “The Front Page,” “Night Moves” and “The Wilby Conspiracy,” “Straw Dogs” and “A Clockwork Orange” and “Gator” with “The Enforcer.” After the twinning, the place was never the same…though I did spend the better part of a day there in '77 for a triple-header of “Orca,” “Play It Again, Sam” and a sneak of “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.” Kids today don’t know what they’re missing!
Here is a close up photo of the marquee from March 2010:
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A May 2010 diptych I shot of the marquee:
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It had been a while since such sadness overcame me when I visited a previously functioning theatre. What a tragedy.
The twinning of the Mann Wilshire Theatre happened around the Dec. 1976-Jan. 1977. The New Mann Wilshire Twin Theatre opened on Feb. 18, 1977 with “A Star is Born” in one theatre and “Face to Face” in the other theatre.
The original exit doors in the alley were flush with the wall, but in the remodel they pushed them inward, creating a couple of closet-sized alcoves. I’ve previously reported that those spaces are collecting wind-blown garbage. Now the final indignity: people are starting to use them as restrooms. Thank you, owner of the NuWilshire, for your contribution to this community!
I stopped by for a look this past weekend. It was nice to see the terrazzo reinstalled, beautifully matched and filled-in where it had been sawn for temporary removal. I also noticed for the first time the faint outline of where the octagonal box office once stood, and this made me appreciate the care with which some long-ago terrazzo contractor had matched the zig-zag pattern and colors so that there would be no “scar” to denote the location of the missing structure.
Also to be seen is a reconstruction of the original ticket lobby ceiling—very simple, with a Moderne plaster band around the edge as a sort of cornice molding. This is the only architectural nod to the NuWilshire’s original interior. Beyond the location of the former entrance doors, all is clean but unfinished, waiting for a tenant. To the right, in what was once the lobby, the outlines of a staircase can be seen in the concrete of the West wall. As for the color scheme of the facade, I don’t find it offensive, though something more imaginative could easily have been arrived at.
Yes, everything else they fixed up, but not the marquee. I think they stabilized it (I saw guys climbing around on and in it), but didn’t clean it or drive away the pigeons roosting in it. I suppose they figured they’d see what the tenant/s wanted to do first. But of course there’s no one who wants the space. So it’s likely to just get worse and worse…
Sad marquee photo of the Wilshire!posted by Chuck1231.
Only a few months sitting finished and empty, and people are starting to vandalize the place. The other day I noticed the new glass in front all scratched up, and homeless people roosting in those entryways they added…
2009 photo of the NuWilshire Theatre courtesy of Avilon.
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The barriers and scaffolding are now down (looks like we’re stuck with the indifferent color). The glass is in place, and you can see into the building where they are still working. The marquee still needs to be cleaned up, however.
The terrazzo is back in place, and the entire building has been painted a color somewhere between grey and mint green. Since the scaffolding is still up in front, I’m hoping this is just a primer layer or something. But I don’t have high hopes. The insets above the retail spaces on either side of the marquee have some details painted in more normal shades of green.
Here is a photo taken this weekend:
http://tinyurl.com/lh7zzm
They’re turning it into retail space. Early on, there was talk of Lucky Jeans moving in there, even though they’ve already got locations on the Promenade and on Montana.
What exactly is the developer building here?
Ted Mann bought the troubled National General Theatres chain in 1973. The twining happened at the Wilshire during the Mann Theatre operations in the 1970’s. In the 1990’s Landmark picked up the former Mann Theatre and revamped it. From the last years Mann operated as a move-over house from the Criterion and other Santa Monica houses. “Cabaret” opened at the New ABC Century Plaza Twin Theatres. Could it have been that you saw the movie when it went city wide or on a reissue?
I lived in Santa Monica from 1968 to 2001 and went to the Wilshire many times. One day when there was a double feature in each theatre, (and I wanted to see all four films), I timed it so I could see the double feature in the left theatre then walked into the right theatre for the second double feature. There were plenty of people in the lobby so no one noticed. I wanted to see if I could do it and I was pretty sore and exhausted by the time I got out. I no longer remember the films except that I believe one of them was “Cabaret.” If that’s true, and one souce lists a February 1972 release for the film, then the theatre was twinned before 1972. I’ve only noticed two comments on the twinning, one suggesting the 1990’s and a later one giving the decade as the 1970’s. Anyone have any better information on this?
This really saddens me. I grew up and Santa Monica and attended this theatre when it was a single screen as a child. Now with the nearing of the end of the Bruin and Village it really stings.
According to the SM Conservancy guy I’ve been talking to, the exterior of the building is protected and will be restored.
Gary, I’ve been in many LA cinemas, but don’t recall this one from my part of one day in Santa Monica. But, I can root for it. Can you please clarify, does the exterior have legal protection or not? I thought it did, but then a comment suggested otherwise.
From your account above, it sounds like the exterior is being retained, and restored.
Howard: I share your relief!