Mann Plaza Theater
1067 Glendon Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
1067 Glendon Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
13 people
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The Plaza Theater was a 650-seat single screen theater located in Westwood Village. It was a Laemmle theater up until 1981 when Mann took over the lease. It once showed first run films but ended showing move-overs from Mann’s larger WestWood theaters (i.e. Village, Bruin, National).
This theater was once a beloved movie house of residents and nearby UCLA students who flocked to its midnight screenings of classic films like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and more which were held on Friday and Saturday nights at the low price of $5.
The midnight shows stopped in 1999 and the theater closed in October 2004. It was demolished in 2005 to make way for a development project.
It’s a sad end for a nice neighborhood house.
Contributed by
B, Erickson, Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 26 comments)
They’re building a luxury apartment complex over there now. I think it’s called The Palazzo; it actually takes up both sides of the street.
“Rocky” was in its initial run at the Plaza in December 1976. The ad is from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2qv5an
Wow! Those are huge complexes. I wonder how many apartment units there are in all? It seems like it has taken the forever to build these.
Status should be closed/demolished.
It took forever because of the zoning in the area and the neighbors on the east side of the property.
Westwood Village in the 70’s was, indeed, Southern California’s premier entertainment spot, much like the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica is today. The fantastic Plaza Theater was a part of this excitement as Westwood was THE spot for first run movies. Yet, in its being located on quiet Glendon Ave. and in its focus on art films, the Plaza had a cozy, private feeling to it. I was always thrilled to catch a movie there! What is worse than the Plaza being demolished is the way that entire block of Glendon Ave. has been disfigured, and a charming piece of Los Angeles has taken on the look of a boring Orange County shopping complex. But that’s the way things go. Thanks for all for the great posts in tribute to this great movie theater.
Great photo of the theater found on this blog.
Thanks for the compliment, Ross! I publish that blog and someone recommended that I post the photo here, so I have. I am glad to help save part of the history of the Mann Plaza.
Status should read Demolished though.
For anyone who is interested, there is a new youtube video which shows both video footage and still of the Plaza dating from back in the 1970’s (note: the video footage is located in the middle of the video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xad6gLpKG9A