Cinema Theatre
1122 N. Western Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90029
1122 N. Western Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90029
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments
I see that there are four theatres named “Music Hall” listed in that 1945 ad. I wonder if they were all run by Walter Reade Theatres? I know that the Beverly Hills Music Hall was a Reade operation for a while, and they also ran the Music Hall Theatre in San Francisco, though that was in the 1960s.
I posted this photo on one of the other pages. It’s from a book of LA photos, circa 1994. The caption stated that the theater was on Western, but nothing other than that regarding the identity. The name started with S, obviously. Any ideas would be welcomed:
http://tinyurl.com/25jhk7
This is a 1945 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/2ecg7j
Here is an early 70s ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/26e89v
Here are two photos from July 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/22nzj6
http://tinyurl.com/23ceof
This is still a church.
I was the mgr. here from 11/67 to late 1968. Ed Muckerman was my replacement.
The CinemaTheater brings back great memories. I was employed by the Art Theater Guild, they had over 50 theaters across the country. I worked at one of their theaters in Hollywood; I was at the Cinema for about two years 68-70. It was a hip place to be. I remember we ran the trl’s for: I am Curious Yellow and the Stewartess' for over a year.
Manager was Ed Muckerman, some employees were jim babb, jack genero, sue liberwitz, rene, ronnie krich, oliver, bob evans. Great place to just hang out.
Gene Youngblood reviewed our Saturday Midnight program for the Free Press. His reviews packed the house to standing room only. Arthur Knight of Playboy Magazine, also gave us great reviews.
JackGen
When I went to LACC I frequented the Cinema quite a bit. It’s where I saw Mudhoney and Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill (Russ Meyer), and The Balcony. I do remember the outrageous marathon showing of the original Batman serial circa 1966 or so.
This theatre was owned and operated by Louis Federici (1912-2005) from the early 1950’s until he sold the property to the current church in the late 70’s. I was one of his projectionists for a time along with Bob Evans (1921-2004). Around 1964 Louie hired a manager named Mike Getz who introduced a series on Saturday nights called “movies ‘Round midnight” (offbeat stuff) and it was very successful. The booth was equiped with RCA/Brenkert BX 100’s, Simplex 9030 soundheads and Peerless magnarc arclamps – also an RCA 16mm projector customized by Bob (he has a number around town).
The Cinema was indeed an art house in the 1950’s-1960’s. From 1963-1965 I was a frequent patron. The theater was unique among L.A.’s art houses at the time for not having the usual snack bar. Instead, there was a small self-service rack filled with imported candy and cigarettes, and a coffee urn. The theater had been recently remodeled, and the lobby had a very stylish, sophisticated look. I think the management was trying to create the atmosphere of a European theater. Almost all the movies shown in that period were European. The Cinema was in every way the equal of the Los Feliz or the Nu-Art at that time.
The last time I went to the Cinema was in the late 1960’s, to see “Don’t Look Back.” I got the feeling that the people running the place had dropped acid. The tidy, European atmosphere was gone, and the subdued colors of lobby and ticket area had been replaced with a sloppy coat of lurid, day-glo orange paint. The place went rapidly downhill after that, and was showing x-rated movies within a couple of years.
The Cinema was located at 1122 N. Western Ave..
This is where I first saw the original Frankenstein in the 1940’s. It was a clean neighborhood theatre back then.