New Beverly Cinema
7165 Beverly Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
7165 Beverly Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
44 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1929 and used as a nightclub under various names over the years. On February 8, 1950 it opened as the New Globe Theatre, but stopped showing movies in 1951 and became a Yiddish theatre. On October 23, 1958 it was opened by Robert L. Lippert as a twin screen cinema named the Capri & Riviera Theatres. On September 13, 1963 it was de-twinned and renamed New Yorker Theatre, and on June 11, 1964 it was renamed Europa Theatre. By 1969 it was screening adult movies and this use continued under various names: it became the Eros Theatre on February 11, 1970. In February 1971 it was renamed Beverly Cinema and on August 2, 1972 it was renamed New Beverly Cinema. It stopped screening adult movies in September 1977.
It reopened on May 5, 1978 as a revival house presenting a Marlon Brando double-bill:“A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Last Tango in Paris”.
The New Beverly Cinema is still a beloved venue for classic films. In September 2014 it was taken by film director Quentin Tarantino. All films shown are presented in 35mm or 16mm prints.
Contributed by
Ray Martinez, Lee Philipson
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Recent comments (view all 109 comments)
I really hope that QT and Michael Torgan can work something out where the Torgan family has a role in the continued running of the New Beverly. I can understand (and applaud) QT’s desire to want to play a bigger role in the running of the theater by taking over the programming to utilize is massive library of 35 mm and 16 mm films, cartoons, shorts and trailers and his love of “film’ as opposed to DCP. We, who love the New Beverly, owe him a debt of gratitude for helping Sherman financially to keep the doors open and then saving the theater from becoming a Supercuts by purchasing the building. However, the New Beverly is also synonymous with the Torgan Family whose business it has been since 1978, even though they did not physically own the building. Sherman and then Michael ran the business and did all the programing and, since 1980 when I started attending the NB, I’ve been comforted seeing Sherman and then Michael in the Box Office over the years. The Torgan’s built the brand and I felt like a part of their family over the years and, as much as I respect QT, I hope that we don’t lose that. I really hope something can be worked out between the parties.
Please enjoy this comprehensive timeline of the New Beverly Cinema building that includes a candy shop, a Yiddish theater, and its slip into porno: http://www.lamag.com/askchris/comprehensive-history-new-beverly-cinema/
Ron, did you find any ads for the New Globe Theatre, which this web page says operated at this address for a single season in 1951? As it was devoted to a revival of Yiddish theater, it’s possible that it advertised only in the Jewish press.
This month the New Beverly unveiled their new website: www.thenewbev.com
They did an excellent job with the website. Thats awesome!!
Timeline for this cinema.
February 8th, 1950 opened as New Globe. It was opened as a nightclub before.
1951 stopped showing movies
September 13th, 1963 reopened as New Yorker
June 11th, 1964 reopened as Europa, which had shown soviet movies.
1969 adult movies are shown
February 11th, 1970 reopened as Eros
February 1971 renamed Beverly Cinema
August 2nd, 1972 renamed New Beverly
August 1977 the LA Times stopped showing adult movie ads
May 5th, 1978 stopped showing adult movies
2010’s continues to show 35mm movies.
Grand opening ads in the photo section.
Mike, your timeline is missing the period from 1959 to 1963 when Robert Lippert operated the house as a twin art cinema called the Riviera & Capri Theatres. I went to the theater once during that period, though I don’t recall which movie I saw.
Also, I’ve never found anything about the New Globe having shown movies. The only references I’ve found to it say that the New Globe was a live house featuring Yiddish productions.
to Joe Vogel:
How was it twinned from 59-63? Was “Riviera & Capri” in the cinema’s current space (which is really difficult for me to envision)? Or was a 2nd screen in an adjacent building? Or something else? Thx.
question on name. Is rivest266’s August 8, 2016 post correct on when it became the “New Beverly”? My understanding was that it was Sherman Torgan, who took over the shuttered adult theater and began repertory programming in 1978, renamed it the “New Beverly Cinema” from the previous Beverly Cinema.
silver: Let me answer your question by first repairing the linkrot that has afflicted this comment I made a few years ago. The October 19, 1959, issue of Boxoffice ran this article about Robert Lippert’s Capri and Riviera Theatres.
As you’ll see from the floor plan in the article, it was only the building now occupied by the New Beverly Cinema that held both auditoriums. The movies I went to (both side usually featured double bills) were in the larger, right-hand auditorium, the Riviera, which was only 22 feet wide and seated 200. The smaller Capri to the left was only 15 feet wide and seated 100, so both were comparable in size to small, storefront nickelodeons of the early 20th century.
I was mistaken in my recent comment to say that Robert Lippert operated the twin until 1963 (and that it opened in 1959. I see the opening date of October 23, 1958, has been added above.) The Boxoffice article notes that he had sold the operation to Robert Rohauer before the article was published. I don’t know how long Rohauer operated the house. I’m pretty sure my visit to the Riviera was in late 1962 or early 1963. It was un-twinned and reopened as the single-screen New Yorker in 1963.