I wonder when it will again be possible for anyone, anywhere, in any context, to say or type the word “Avatar” … WITHOUT following or preceding it with “the highest grossing movie ever” … whether it is or isn’t.
Wish I could be there for the tour. My memories of the Fox Wilshire are shamefully few, though I lived only a couple of miles away for a few years. A couple of memories: a “Gone With the Wind” that was probably the bastardized “widescreen” 70mm release in the 1970s. And my first “Blazing Saddles” — no idea if that was during its first run.
CT becomes more valuable to me every time I log in, and I haven’t even BEGUN to spend the time here that I need to. But it serves so well on both a public and a personal level, that already I can’t imagine not having it.
I must echo the very critical need for a photos database.
Here’s to another ten wonderful and productive years. Thank you for everything!
I was watching “2010” on Blu-ray this afternoon, which happens to be the first time I’ve seen it straight way through since it came out, and was reminiscing about living in Redondo Beach at the time, and seeing it at the Del Amo Mall. Another film I know I saw there was “The Right Stuff”. I’ve been in the northeast for the past 20 years, but I have wonderful memories of Redondo and the whole South Bay in the early 1980s. And since you all have mentioned it here, those memories include Old Towne Mall — a unique place. I know there have been incredible changes, but I hope the area is as great for people living there now as it was for me then.
Here’s a batch of pictures I took in November 2004 (while playing in the pit for a local production of West Side Story, hence the actor/musician photos). The theater is absolutely incredible, and they are now also showing movies on holidays and special occasions, but I haven’t yet been there for one myself. I’ll remedy that soon.
Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable, to any of us who knew and cherished Westwood Village in (in my case) the 1970s and 1980s. That this kind of area in any decent city, let alone one on the scale of L.A., could see this kind of change so rapidly, is shocking to those of us who have been away for some years. It’s unimaginable.
Seconded. I’m from CT, and just taking a glance at the few photos available here takes me back to many wonderful memories of similar theaters I took for granted.
In the early 1960s we lived within walking distance when this was the First Methodist Church. I had good friends who were members, and as a young organist at that time, I substituted there one week, enjoying playing on the church’s Allen organ. I have very warm memories of that neighborhood overall, most especially the easy walking distance between home and the then-existing Florida and Warnor theaters and the then-lively and traditional downtown.
I haven’t been to the Cinema Paradiso, but an article about the film festival caught my attention and normally I’d certainly look forward to checking it out next time I’m in South Florida. What a disappointment, then, to read the above description of the state of things. Has there been any improvement in the past year?
Interesting! I’ve also wondered if the Bexley might have been the one to have had it in that part of town. I think that about covers the possibilities.
The name was Davie Boulevard Drive-In, and it was in Fort Lauderdale, not Davie. An early-1960s city directory listed it at 3200 Davie Blvd. — not 3100 — which looks correct on the maps and agrees with my own knowledge of the large block it took up. It was replaced by the shopping center seen there now.
We lived about five minutes away, and I have a number of very nice memories of attending this neighborhood drive-in, both with my family and on my own dates, in the early-mid-1960s.
Thanks. I have no idea why I thought the layout was different. I visited Fort Lauderdale in 2000 and when I drove by there I had no sense whatever, even from outside, that this was the place I remembered.
I’m looking at a straight-down view on Bing Maps, which must be a few years old because the buildings are still there. (Unfortunately, the bird’s eye views are up to date.) There are two slightly fan-shaped movie auditoriums, with two other buildings in front of them, with what might be an open walkway between them. Was that retail space, or did they add more theaters at one point? What are we actually seeing here?
We lived in Fort Lauderdale during the 1960s and I’ve been trying to find the twin that I always remembered as the “Sunrise Cinemas”. I guess I’ve found it, but I admit to some confusion. It’s described here as originally being a back-to-back, and, oddly enough, I’d remembered it as a side-to-side layout, with the seats of both theaters facing north.
The theaters I remember, which were indeed new in the mid-1960s, were of a very clean, modern design with no curtains or other traditional details, and the screens themselves were set back, framed within bevelled walls that were painted light like the screen. In my mind’s eye, those were lit by a soft blue light before and after films. It was spare and modern, but attractive and comfortable.
I’m probably not describing this well, and of course the memories are 45 years old, so I will very much appreciate it if anyone can confirm or correct any of this.
Here are films I think I saw there as a teen, some new and others obviously in re-release: “Blowup”, “Heavens Above” (Peter Sellers), “Psycho”, “Dr. Zhivago”, “West Side Story”, “How the West Was Won” (flat, of course). I left Fort Lauderdale for school in the fall of 1967, so all of this would have been in 1964-1967.
I’ll be very grateful for any help on this. Show me where I’m right and where I’m wrong. Thanks!
I was about 14 when my folks took us to the road show engagement in Miami Beach, and of all the footage later to be cut, for some reason I always remembered the scene in which Spencer Tracy goes out for his ice cream and telephones the police station from the ice cream parlor. Later, I used to wonder why I never saw this scene again, till a few years back when I got around to acquiring the deluxe laserdisc set which I believe contains this same “most complete print”. (This cut has yet to see the light of day on DVD.)
Oh man, some scary news to be found here about Mann. Simply unimaginable.
Meanwhile, on the subject of the UA THEATRE, as I knew it in the 1970s, I’d like to add my remembrance of “1984”, as well as (I think): the Herzog/Kinski “Nosferatu”, “High Anxiety”, and “Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother”. There were surely more, but some of them stick in your mind and others don’t. And I definitely remember the balcony, and appreciative full houses for the Brooks and Wilder.
I wonder when it will again be possible for anyone, anywhere, in any context, to say or type the word “Avatar” … WITHOUT following or preceding it with “the highest grossing movie ever” … whether it is or isn’t.
I must be dreaming.
Two things, though: (1) I’m not James Bond, and (2) I don’t mean that in a nice way.
Wish I could be there for the tour. My memories of the Fox Wilshire are shamefully few, though I lived only a couple of miles away for a few years. A couple of memories: a “Gone With the Wind” that was probably the bastardized “widescreen” 70mm release in the 1970s. And my first “Blazing Saddles” — no idea if that was during its first run.
Terrible news.
What horrible news. The last place I lived in L.A. in the late 1980s was a short trip away, and it was a wonderful neighborhood theater.
CT becomes more valuable to me every time I log in, and I haven’t even BEGUN to spend the time here that I need to. But it serves so well on both a public and a personal level, that already I can’t imagine not having it.
I must echo the very critical need for a photos database.
Here’s to another ten wonderful and productive years. Thank you for everything!
I was watching “2010” on Blu-ray this afternoon, which happens to be the first time I’ve seen it straight way through since it came out, and was reminiscing about living in Redondo Beach at the time, and seeing it at the Del Amo Mall. Another film I know I saw there was “The Right Stuff”. I’ve been in the northeast for the past 20 years, but I have wonderful memories of Redondo and the whole South Bay in the early 1980s. And since you all have mentioned it here, those memories include Old Towne Mall — a unique place. I know there have been incredible changes, but I hope the area is as great for people living there now as it was for me then.
Absolutely.
Here’s a batch of pictures I took in November 2004 (while playing in the pit for a local production of West Side Story, hence the actor/musician photos). The theater is absolutely incredible, and they are now also showing movies on holidays and special occasions, but I haven’t yet been there for one myself. I’ll remedy that soon.
View link
“Pre-Show Entertainment”
Orwell is rolling over, seething with envy.
Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable, to any of us who knew and cherished Westwood Village in (in my case) the 1970s and 1980s. That this kind of area in any decent city, let alone one on the scale of L.A., could see this kind of change so rapidly, is shocking to those of us who have been away for some years. It’s unimaginable.
Seconded. I’m from CT, and just taking a glance at the few photos available here takes me back to many wonderful memories of similar theaters I took for granted.
Same. All best wishes to the Senator.
Great information, everyone. Appreciate it. I know it’s a long shot, but I hope to eventually find mid-60s photos of the place.
In the early 1960s we lived within walking distance when this was the First Methodist Church. I had good friends who were members, and as a young organist at that time, I substituted there one week, enjoying playing on the church’s Allen organ. I have very warm memories of that neighborhood overall, most especially the easy walking distance between home and the then-existing Florida and Warnor theaters and the then-lively and traditional downtown.
I haven’t been to the Cinema Paradiso, but an article about the film festival caught my attention and normally I’d certainly look forward to checking it out next time I’m in South Florida. What a disappointment, then, to read the above description of the state of things. Has there been any improvement in the past year?
Interesting! I’ve also wondered if the Bexley might have been the one to have had it in that part of town. I think that about covers the possibilities.
Here’s an ad from late November 1963:
View link
A couple of corrections can be made here:
The name was Davie Boulevard Drive-In, and it was in Fort Lauderdale, not Davie. An early-1960s city directory listed it at 3200 Davie Blvd. — not 3100 — which looks correct on the maps and agrees with my own knowledge of the large block it took up. It was replaced by the shopping center seen there now.
We lived about five minutes away, and I have a number of very nice memories of attending this neighborhood drive-in, both with my family and on my own dates, in the early-mid-1960s.
Was the Esquire operating through the 1950s/1960s?
Is there any chance that it ran Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” on its first release in 1959?
Thanks. I have no idea why I thought the layout was different. I visited Fort Lauderdale in 2000 and when I drove by there I had no sense whatever, even from outside, that this was the place I remembered.
I’m looking at a straight-down view on Bing Maps, which must be a few years old because the buildings are still there. (Unfortunately, the bird’s eye views are up to date.) There are two slightly fan-shaped movie auditoriums, with two other buildings in front of them, with what might be an open walkway between them. Was that retail space, or did they add more theaters at one point? What are we actually seeing here?
View link
http://tinyurl.com/yduey4y
We lived in Fort Lauderdale during the 1960s and I’ve been trying to find the twin that I always remembered as the “Sunrise Cinemas”. I guess I’ve found it, but I admit to some confusion. It’s described here as originally being a back-to-back, and, oddly enough, I’d remembered it as a side-to-side layout, with the seats of both theaters facing north.
The theaters I remember, which were indeed new in the mid-1960s, were of a very clean, modern design with no curtains or other traditional details, and the screens themselves were set back, framed within bevelled walls that were painted light like the screen. In my mind’s eye, those were lit by a soft blue light before and after films. It was spare and modern, but attractive and comfortable.
I’m probably not describing this well, and of course the memories are 45 years old, so I will very much appreciate it if anyone can confirm or correct any of this.
Here are films I think I saw there as a teen, some new and others obviously in re-release: “Blowup”, “Heavens Above” (Peter Sellers), “Psycho”, “Dr. Zhivago”, “West Side Story”, “How the West Was Won” (flat, of course). I left Fort Lauderdale for school in the fall of 1967, so all of this would have been in 1964-1967.
I’ll be very grateful for any help on this. Show me where I’m right and where I’m wrong. Thanks!
Thank you all for the links. The good news certainly didn’t travel as fast as the bad, that’s for sure. But what a relief. For now.
“Seismic shifts” = a barely adequate description.
How I’d love to be there for this!
I was about 14 when my folks took us to the road show engagement in Miami Beach, and of all the footage later to be cut, for some reason I always remembered the scene in which Spencer Tracy goes out for his ice cream and telephones the police station from the ice cream parlor. Later, I used to wonder why I never saw this scene again, till a few years back when I got around to acquiring the deluxe laserdisc set which I believe contains this same “most complete print”. (This cut has yet to see the light of day on DVD.)
Enjoy, you lucky ones!
Oh man, some scary news to be found here about Mann. Simply unimaginable.
Meanwhile, on the subject of the UA THEATRE, as I knew it in the 1970s, I’d like to add my remembrance of “1984”, as well as (I think): the Herzog/Kinski “Nosferatu”, “High Anxiety”, and “Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother”. There were surely more, but some of them stick in your mind and others don’t. And I definitely remember the balcony, and appreciative full houses for the Brooks and Wilder.