Regency Village Theater
961 Broxton Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
961 Broxton Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
69 people
favorited this theater
The Village Theater in Westwood opened on August 14, 1931 with a Spanish Mission style decoration (a la Carthay Circle Theater, Fox Arlington Theater, Fox Florence Theater). The Village Theater was remodeled in the late-1940’s-early 1950’s and gold swirls were added near the stage areas, along with upgrades for the exits, lobby and new seats and carpet were added.
The California Gold Rush artwork in the lobby was added. (You can see the same artwork in a few other Fox houses in Southern California like El Portal Theater (North Hollywood), California Theater (Huntington Park).) The artwork near the restrooms, was also added during the renovations. Before that remodel there was a small patio outside. The artwork covers this area now. The stage area was damaged and changed between 1931-1940. Dressing rooms and storage areas were walled off from use. The Village Theater stayed the same until the late-1970’s (except for the new CinemaScope equipment in the 1950’s).
For “The Deer Hunter” engagement, the Village Theater got new 70mm projection equipment, a new larger screen, and a new main title waterfall curtain. The old screen was half as tall as it is today. The theater also got a new, less flattering carpet in the early-1980’s.
Fortunately, the “Fox” tower sign was refurbished in the late-1980’s.
The last remodel was around 1998-99, when the Village Theater got new seats and carpet. The Village Theater seated 1,480 people before the 1950’s remodel. After the 1950’s remodel it seated 1,535. With the last remodel it lost seats for (handicap areas/new wider seats). It seats 1,341 people now.
After more than sixty years as a first run movie palace, the Village Theater is still one of the sites of Hollywood’s biggest movie premieres.
Regency Theatres replaced Mann Theatres as the movie operator on April 1, 2010.
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Recent comments (view all 446 comments)
I love the new photos. Quite a few are from when I worked there. Altered States, Firefox.
I found this on youtube and thought it pretty cool. it’s home movie footage of Robert Redford up in the tower portion of the Village Fox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=g-ebrsdhqvg
I believe Roddy McDowall shot this home movie footage. What they’re doing up there, I have no idea.
I don’t get to the Village or Bruin often these days but it seems those those theaters are empty even on opening nights and weekends for big releases. Do they still pull in crowds? I never see them, but maybe i’m just not there enough to witness it. Westwood still has lots of foot traffic and students but nobody goes to see movies anymore. Cinema is dead, it’s been dead for 20 years or more in all honesty. What’s left of the single houses are just sputtering along. I just wish Regency had reduced the ticket price to $3 at all of it’s theaters, the Village ain’t what it used to be for screen & sound.
Last time I was at the Village this past Summer I thought the sound was still top notch.
They seem to do well enough with event films like Harry Potter, Inception etc. But obviously The Three Musketeers is not pulling them in. But you can probably find not very many people seeing Musketeers at the AMC Century City either. If a film is bad people will not go to a theatre to see it anywhere.
Regency pretty much went into the leases knowing they were not going to re-create 1981. It seems like a prestige thing with them, they have lots of premieres and pretty much the success of the other theatres in the chain make up for these theatres not really raking in the green. NO WAY should they turn the Village into a bargain theatre. We all should go to these theatres whenever we can. I’ll go see J. EDGAR at the Village in a few weeks.
If the Avco closes and WW ends up with only the Village, Bruin and Regent it will turn into Los Feliz pretty much. They will have pick of films and will probably have short 2 week engagements and will keep the flow going. Westwood is really not a theatre district anymore. But they can still show movies.
Cinema is not dead. Just look at the weekly box office grosses. Films are still opening to $50m weekends. Granted ticket prices are higher but people still like going to the movies. What’s dead is cinema in Westwood. Parking sucks and college kids would rather party on weekends than see a movie.
On 11/17 caught the 10:30PM showing of J Edgar. Only eight of us in the audience. If I ran the Village and Bruin I would do the following: 1) Sell a $59 annual movie pass with photo that would allow the holder to see movies for $5 and bring in as many companions for $7; also, the smart card would allow the passholder to see a movie a second, third, etc. time for $2 a pop(FYI: I saw “2010’s LA MISSION 14 times).
There could also be a family pass with similar savings. The concession stand choices would be upgraded and prices lowered. Free wi-fi would be offered and small tables and sitting areas sprinkled throughout the lobby and one could install a glass partition in the upper balcony and put more tables up there.
Venues like Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm understand one has to bring in people. The Village has about 1400 seats to fill. Raising an average screening number from say 30 to 100 or more much more will more than increase gross receipts. If the Vista and Los Feliz can run $5.50 senior rates and $6.50 for everybody before 6PM, there’s no reason the Village/Bruin couldn’t offer reduced rates.
The Vista and Los Feliz are showing all the brand new movies currently as the Hollywood Arclight and at a fraction of the cost.
Comparing movies theatres to amusement parks is like comparing apples to legumes. Both of the latter provide sustenance, but that’s about where the comparisons end.
An amusement park does not soly rely on product produced outside the environment on a daily basis in order to entertain its guests, nor does the amusement park need to hand over up to 90% of its revenue with the producer of said outside entertainment provider. The amusement park may entertain, but it entertains in a quite different way than a movie theatre, and that’s where the comparisons end.
Ask yourself this… why does the Landmark just one mile down the road often do 8-10x the business with the same movie as the Village? The Landmark does not offer season passes nor free wi-fi, and their ticket prices and snack bar items are more expensive than the Village. It’s because there is no one single factor that makes people change their habits.
We are cinephiles, and we care about the overall presentation. Most people don’t. They don’t care about the history of the place they are going to. They don’t care about what’s available at the snack bar. They don’t care if it’s a massive auditorium with a 60' screen and THX-approved sound and picture, or if it’s a thirty seat house with a 10' screen and sofas instead of seats. They don’t care if there is a wine bar. They don’t even really care if you have to pay for parking. All they want is a clean place to see a movie that has other things to do before or after the movie, in a convenient setting. Westwood isn’t all that convenient for most anymore, while the Westside Pavilion is. And that’s what makes all the difference in the world.
Westwood is not a theatre district any longer. But there is no reason to try to turn them into little cafes. Now with the Crest gone and the Avco closing Regency will be able to book more freely and keep the films flowing. It will not be 1980’s capacity but they will not be stuck with films that do not fi the theatre. Westwood will become like Los Feliz with the Village, Bruin and Regent. At this point doubtful a new complex with be errected. I think everyone has resigned themselves to the fact Westwood will not have a big resurgence. I’m pretty sure Regency did not take over the screens expecting anything spactacular.
With the Avco temporarily closed Regency has been having short 1 and 2 week bookings for the Village. They have CHRONICLE (this Fri) STAR WARS PHANTOM MENACE 3D Re-issue (2/10) and GHOST RIDER 2 (2/17). With more product available they do not have to keep films longer than they should.
Rather amazing that they seem to have gotten out of the customary 2-week contracts on CHRONICLE and STAR WARS (neither is slated to move to the Bruin, which is getting JOURNEY 2).