Sherman Theatre
15052 Ventura Boulevard,
Sherman Oaks,
CA
91403
15052 Ventura Boulevard,
Sherman Oaks,
CA
91403
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Grand opening ad posted.
Article: http://shermanoaks.patch.com/articles/sherman-theatre-was-the-hot-spot-for-grown-ups-to-see-movies
valley was shot i think between october and november of 1982. so these 80’s pictures are right on…
Here is an October 1977 item in the LA Times:
SHERMAN 15052 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks 784-9911
The Sherman, Nuart, Rialto and Ken in San Diego are part of Parallax Theater Systems, Inc., along with others in Denver, Berkeley, Sacramento, Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Kim Jorgensen, who had been affiliated with the Fox Venice, is the reigning executive at Parallax. “Our theaters’ programming is a bit more commercial than what the Fox Venice playsâ€, he said.
The Sherman, located strategically on busy Ventura Boulevard, is one of Parallax’s most recent acquisitions. For the most part it is devoted to film festivals. An Alfred Hitchcock retrospective included “Shadow of a Doubt†(1943), “Strangers on a Train†(1951) and the director’s first sound film “Blackmail†(1929). A three-week dance film festival included “The Red Shoes†(1948), “Tales of Hoffman†(1951), “An Evening with the Royal Ballet†(1964) and “Guys and Dolls†(1955).
Here are some 1982 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/o52jdh
http://tinyurl.com/om4kwa
http://tinyurl.com/ommspn
Here is a May 1961 ad from the Van Nuys News:
http://tinyurl.com/3lhugz
Here is a September 1960 ad from the Valley News:
http://tinyurl.com/2zr23a
Note the admission price went up a dime from 1950 to 1960. No wonder Ike was re-elected.
Here is the ad I was trying to post last October:
http://tinyurl.com/39vokf
Here is an LA Times ad from January 1960:
http://tinyurl.com/2oqchl
Here is a newspaper ad from 1950:
http://tinyurl.com/ya7lfa
“Valley Girl” is all we have left to remember this neighborhood theater. There is absolutely nothing left that would ever indicate a theater stood where a real estate office stands now.
I saw many movies in the Sherman and always looked at the interior spaces. The interior of this theatre was very much like the Midway in Los Angeles: Built in the same era, both theaters shared a similiar layout and size. On either side of the proscenium were two large murals of one large flower – possibly a magnolia – with a beige background. I feel research may reveal one architect and/or firm was involved in the designing of both these theaters as well as the Nuart, Del Mar and a few others that escape me at this time.
By the way, I always loved seeing The Bogart movies at the Sherman.
I remember the Sherman fondly, if only because it was there that I caught one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen, Jean Eustache’s “The Mother and The Whore.” What a test of endurance—it ran damn near four hours—but what a masterpiece!
Yes, Landmark Theatres took over the Sherman Theatre around 1977, I was the manager for Landmark’s Sherman for about a year and a half when they took it over. The programming was very eclectic, from a Sci Fi festival, a Silent Film festival, and the amusing “Golden Ladies of the Silver Screen” festival (which featured classic performances of many actresses) to specialized first run films that would be booked for one week only on the theatres movie calendar. I recall John Waters' DESPERATE LIVING had it’s L.A. premiere run here, but Sherman Oaks was a pretty conservative area to open one of Waters' films, so it did very little business. The theatre did best on repertory double bills. CLOCKWORK ORANGE always brought in a big crowd, and I remember THE WIZARD OF OZ selling out a Sunday matinee (the capacity was approx. 540 seats). Landmark Theatres also ran the Nuart Theatre in West L.A., with repertory programs which were always more popular than the Sherman ,due to it’s location near UCLA and fashionable Westwood Village. But the Sherman did it’s part to service the cult movie lovers in the San Fernando Valley. We ran ROCKY HORROR at midnight on the weekends which did well. Later it moved to the Tiffany Theatre on Sunset Strip where the cult became even more popular.
The theatre was very charming and they ran carbon arc projectors, which meant the projectionist would have to change the carbon every 20 minutes after the reel change. It had an outer lobby with lots of poster cases, a small box office set away from the lobby in it’s own space, connected to the lobby only by the door. The concession stand and lobby were small, and if we started selling tickets early for the next performance we would have patrons stand in line outside that would sometimes snake around the ice cream store and into the mini-mall area next door. The theatre was razed in the 80’s and in its place stands a bank. The Baskin/Robbins ice cream store that stood next to the theatre still remains!
Was this theater part of the Landmark chain, which ran the Fox Venice and Nuart?
My favorite memory of the Sherman: I met David Lynch and John Nance
after the screening of ERASERHEAD in 1978. Mr. Lynch was a very down to earth and humorous person (especially recounting his amazing stories of how long it took to get ERASERHEAD made).
I began working at Paramount Studios in 1979 and again met Mr. Lynch while discussing the distribution of his upcoming new picture,
THE ELEPHANT MAN.
As a kid growing up in the Sherman Oaks area in the Fifties and Sixties, I attended many movies there(with my family, and later as a teenager with friends). In comparison to the nearby La Reina, or the beautiful Encino Theatre further west or the Studio City Theatre about 4 miles east, the Sherman was fairly small, but it had a kind of homey atmosphere to it. I remember as a kid having to walk under the turnstile—if you could fit under it, you got in free!
I worked at the Sherman in the late 70’s. It was a really nice charming neighborhood moviehouse, it had about 500 seats and an small art deco lobby. We showed art films and old movies. There would be a theme for each program Sci-Fi,Film Noir,Japanese Cinema ..etc. We showed “Rocky Horror” and"Eraserhead" at midnight (David Lynch use to come in. so did Ron Howard,Charles Martin Smith, Robbie the Robot and Micheal Jackson…he lived nearby) It had a baskin robbins and mexican food place next door to it (they still exists there) They tore it down in 1984 and built a 3 story Coldwell Bank building.
The Sherman has been gone since around the late 80’s. It was located on Ventura Blvd. about 3 blocks west of the La Reina theatre on the south side of the street. It was replaced by a strip mall, the Baskin Robins Ice Cream store was were it sat. It was a small theatre with a nice little marquee. If you see the movie “Valley Girl”, the part of the movie when Nick Cage is spies on Deborah Forman going to the movies. You can see the front of the theatre. During it’s later years the Sherman ran revival.