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Cecchi Gori Fine Arts Theatre Closed
posted by
meheuck
on
May 23, 2005 at 4:53 am
BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Last Wednesday night, May 18th, was the last night of operation for the Cecchi Gori Fine Arts Theatre.
Arthouse chain Landmark has been booking the theater since the mid-‘90’s. No word has been issued if this is a decision made by Landmark or by the Cecchi Gori family who own the building, and no further information is available as to what will happen to the theater.
Comments (7)
I only visited once, in 1998, in my quest to enjoy almost all of LA single screen movie houses. I recall this being a wonderful theater, not huge, that had a neat interior and a TERRIFIC movie presentation. For those of us who like old fashioned moviehouses and presentations, complete with curtain before screen, the Cecchi Gori will be missed. From Philadelphia, Howard B. Haas
The Cecchi Gori family has been looking to unload the Fine Arts Theatre for well over a year; perhaps they or the realtor representing the attempted sale of the property felt they’d be able to move it easier if it was unoccupied. If that’s the case, I’d have to think its prospects of ever again operating as a film venue are tenuous at best.
I sent this question to my contacts at Landmark; I should know what’s up for the theatre in the next day or so. It really is a beautiful little theater – on par with the Royal on Santa Monica Boulevard – but there’s also an empty lot to the left of it so maybe someone’s fixing to tear it down and build on both lots. I hope not.
There was once a Union 76 service station in the lot next to the theatre.
Landmark closed the theatre. The Cecchi Gori’s want too much money for the building. It remains to be seen who, if anyone will re-open the cinema, which is too bad, because it really is a rarity these days – a mid-size movie palace. I hope someone with a little more vision is able to re-open it, and do a more than stick one film to play for 4 months at a time. With a bit of imagination, it could be home to some interesting programming.
This theatre is absolutely beautiful inside. It has a red velvet curtain with huge gold tassels on either side, a sparkly purple secondary curtain, and a lovely mural in the lobby. Up until its closure, this theatre had been doing fairly good business, even with one film running for a long period of time. The problem was with Landmark upper management. In the hands of a better chain, such as Laemmle, this theatre has the potential to do excellent business again. Please save this gem. If the Fine Arts gets torn down it would be a horrible loss.
The parking is really bad unless you go on a Sunday afternoon.