I live in walking distance from the Sunset 5 so it is a frequent visting place for me. Not very spectacular but still a great place to see quiet intimate Art films. But I after stopping at the Virgin Megastore and Guacho Grill for dinner it gets quite expensive. Still one of my favorite theatres in L.A.
I frequented the GGC theatres when I was a child. My family would go to the Racetrack and drop me off to the mall. They were small but they played first run movies. I remember the run of “Grease” was forever.
General Cinema ruined the Theatre when they split the Largest theatre into 2 smaller screens. The AVCO was on of L.A. Countys prime theatres. They should many exclusive films like most theatres in Westwood did in the 1970’s. It was a very well designed theatre for its time and along with the Village, Bruin, and National were the most popular theatres in Westwood.
Like the Picwood, it was a theatre I was able to get to easily by Bus when I was a child. It was a 2nd run theatre for a while. I remember seeing double feature of “The Fortune” and “Smile” in 1975. Laemmle later took over and it remained as one of their theatres until it closed. Very tiny theatres but not as bad as the Cineplex in the Beverly Center.
One of my favorite theatres as a child. It was easy to get to by bus from my house. They played alot of Universal disaster/action flicks, “Midway”, “Earthquake”, “Airport ‘77” had successful runs there. It lucked out during the summer of 1982 when a small film called “E.T.” was booked there. Rumor was that GCC thought “Annie” would be a bigger hit and passed on it for the AVCO in Westwood. Pacific tried compete with the ever popular Mann Theatres in Westwood but couldn’t. It is sad that it is gone because the annex to the Westside Pavilion (which is where the Picwood was) is now a bust. The irony is that Landmark has proposed a Multiplex in the same spot.
Mann ran the Vogue from the early 70’s to the early 90’s. They had the Chinese, Hollywood, Vogue and the Fox. Most of the “A” films opened at the Chinese, but the Vogue would get first run bookings. I believe it had 70mm projection.
It is still a very nice theatre. Nice sized screen and comfortable balcony. It is a much better theatre than when UA ran it. I remember it being a real dump when they ran it. They remodled it and later Cineplex Odeon did a refurbishing. It remains pretty much as Cineplex had it except for the marquee and they changed the seats.
I worked with Harry Francis in 1980/1981 at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood. He was quite well known by many celebs. One afternoon he pulled me aside to get refreshments (On him) for his friend who ended up being Natalie Wood with her kids. Oh, was she beautiful. I think the butter on the popcorn melted more when she smiled at me. Later the next year she passed away.
Is a refurbishing going to happen to the National? I went over the weekend to see Team America:World Police. The consession stand looks newly updated but the auditorium itself is a mess. Broken seats and the seats in general are very uncomfortable. It really needs a cosmetic lift. The screen and sound are still top notch, except I was agry because the lights were on during the trailers and the first 5 minutes of the feature. Otherwise it is a great theatre still.
I live in walking distance from the Sunset 5 so it is a frequent visting place for me. Not very spectacular but still a great place to see quiet intimate Art films. But I after stopping at the Virgin Megastore and Guacho Grill for dinner it gets quite expensive. Still one of my favorite theatres in L.A.
I frequented the GGC theatres when I was a child. My family would go to the Racetrack and drop me off to the mall. They were small but they played first run movies. I remember the run of “Grease” was forever.
It was named the AVCO Not because of AVCO Embassy films but because it shared the same area with AVCO Finance, which is now something else.
General Cinema ruined the Theatre when they split the Largest theatre into 2 smaller screens. The AVCO was on of L.A. Countys prime theatres. They should many exclusive films like most theatres in Westwood did in the 1970’s. It was a very well designed theatre for its time and along with the Village, Bruin, and National were the most popular theatres in Westwood.
Like the Picwood, it was a theatre I was able to get to easily by Bus when I was a child. It was a 2nd run theatre for a while. I remember seeing double feature of “The Fortune” and “Smile” in 1975. Laemmle later took over and it remained as one of their theatres until it closed. Very tiny theatres but not as bad as the Cineplex in the Beverly Center.
One of my favorite theatres as a child. It was easy to get to by bus from my house. They played alot of Universal disaster/action flicks, “Midway”, “Earthquake”, “Airport ‘77” had successful runs there. It lucked out during the summer of 1982 when a small film called “E.T.” was booked there. Rumor was that GCC thought “Annie” would be a bigger hit and passed on it for the AVCO in Westwood. Pacific tried compete with the ever popular Mann Theatres in Westwood but couldn’t. It is sad that it is gone because the annex to the Westside Pavilion (which is where the Picwood was) is now a bust. The irony is that Landmark has proposed a Multiplex in the same spot.
Mann ran the Vogue from the early 70’s to the early 90’s. They had the Chinese, Hollywood, Vogue and the Fox. Most of the “A” films opened at the Chinese, but the Vogue would get first run bookings. I believe it had 70mm projection.
It is still a very nice theatre. Nice sized screen and comfortable balcony. It is a much better theatre than when UA ran it. I remember it being a real dump when they ran it. They remodled it and later Cineplex Odeon did a refurbishing. It remains pretty much as Cineplex had it except for the marquee and they changed the seats.
I worked with Harry Francis in 1980/1981 at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood. He was quite well known by many celebs. One afternoon he pulled me aside to get refreshments (On him) for his friend who ended up being Natalie Wood with her kids. Oh, was she beautiful. I think the butter on the popcorn melted more when she smiled at me. Later the next year she passed away.
Is a refurbishing going to happen to the National? I went over the weekend to see Team America:World Police. The consession stand looks newly updated but the auditorium itself is a mess. Broken seats and the seats in general are very uncomfortable. It really needs a cosmetic lift. The screen and sound are still top notch, except I was agry because the lights were on during the trailers and the first 5 minutes of the feature. Otherwise it is a great theatre still.
Saved for now? According to the Mann website, Napoleon Dynamite is booked begining Friday the 15th.