At its peak in the mid- to late-1960s, the Walter Reade Organization operated two flagship movie houses in Beverly Hills, California. The Beverly Hills Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard hosted many first-run foreign films and prestige releases, including the world premiere of John Cassavetes' “Faces.” The Music Hall was the exclusive exhibitor in the region of the 1968 Russian production of “War and Peace.” (see photos) All the movie industry elite turned out for that long-running “hard ticket” engagement, including Katharine Hepburn, Warren Beatty with Julie Christie, Mike Nichols, Joanne Woodward, James Coburn and scores of others. Theater staffers were required to wear Russian tunics on duty, and the doormen wore full-length Cossack coats, fur hats and accessories.
The second Walter Reade cinema in Beverly Hills was the Beverly Canon, which also exhibited the company’s licensed foreign films and was the site of world premiere screenings, including Peter Bogdonovich’s “Targets.”
At its peak in the mid- to late-1960s, the Walter Reade Organization operated two flagship movie houses in Beverly Hills, California. The Beverly Hills Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard hosted many first-run foreign films and prestige releases, including the world premiere of John Cassavetes' “Faces.” The Music Hall was the exclusive exhibitor in the region of the 1968 Russian production of “War and Peace.” (see photos) All the movie industry elite turned out for that long-running “hard ticket” engagement, including Katharine Hepburn, Warren Beatty with Julie Christie, Mike Nichols, Joanne Woodward, James Coburn and scores of others. Theater staffers were required to wear Russian tunics on duty, and the doormen wore full-length Cossack coats, fur hats and accessories. The second Walter Reade cinema in Beverly Hills was the Beverly Canon, which also exhibited the company’s licensed foreign films and was the site of world premiere screenings, including Peter Bogdonovich’s “Targets.”