c on February 27, 2024 at 8:23 am

Mike Shaw was the projectionist at the Village Theater from 1973 to 1996. Mike was the projectionist for the premiere of JFK. Oliver Stone hid out in the projection booth to escape the press in the theater lobby. The last hard ticket movie was “The Deer Hunter”. Mike was the projectionist for many world premieres. Mike was the projectionist for Streisand’s “A Star is Born”. Streisand came to the theater after hours to test the sound quality before the premiere on 12/18/76. Move forward to 1983.Once again Streisand came to the theater before the premiere of “Yentel”, Streisand remembered Mike from “A Star is Born”. The idiot who became Mikes boss was in charge of the AC equipment, etc for Mann Theaters. Idiots kid brother in law wanted Mikes Job. The kid was in his 20’s, too immature for the job. Mike was fired. Mike sued for age discrimination, Mike won the case, AC idiot was fired a day after Mike won his lawsuit. All this was related by Ned Fairburn, the projectionist at the Bruin theater. The kid did not last long as the projectionist at the Village. Mike Shaw passed away in Nov 2000. Mike died from the stress of being fired by the AC idiot. The kids sister divorced the AC idiot. Now that the Theater has been sold, a better class of people will be managing the theater. The Skouras family owns the land that the Village theater sits on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyros_Skouras

Larry Wilson on February 21, 2024 at 10:03 pm

Reitman’s group got it. At least a dozen other directors threw in with him too. I saw Christopher Nolan, J. J. Abrams, Chloe Zhao, Rian Johnson, Spielberg, and James Gunn. Guess Quentin Tarantino isn’t the only director to own a theatre or two…

RobertAlex on February 2, 2024 at 11:54 am

Great news!! I hope so!

Looks like this is sold to Jason Reitman and his group…..

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/jason-reitman-buying-fox-village-westwood-theater-1235893597/

Filmmaker Jason Reitman is working on a deal to take over Westwood’s historic Fox Village Theater in the next few weeks, Variety has confirmed. The approximately 1,375-seat theater has been listed for sale for the past year. Reitman is leading a group of other entertainment industry figures in the purchase, which was first reported by The Ankler’s Transom column.

It’s not known whether Reitman and his associates have plans to keep the venue as a first-run theater or to add additional screens.

Reitman, the director of “Juno” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” is currently at work on “SNL 1975,” a fictionalization of the iconic sketch show’s first broadcast. He’s also a producer on the upcoming “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”

The Fox Village, built in 1930, has hosted hundreds of premieres over the past 90 years, including Reitman’s own “Juno” (pictured above), “Licorice Pizza” and many others. Recently streaming services including Apple, Disney+ and Netflix have also hosted events for series and films there.

The location also includes a row of retail shops, including a Starbucks, and a parking lot. The distinctive Spanish mission revival -tyle building is topped by a 170-foot neon-lit tower, making it a beacon for filmgoers on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Though the large venue was massively popular with audiences for its first six decades, competition from modern multiplexes with adjacent parking and the downturn in Westwood Village’s foot traffic make it a somewhat challenging location, despite the large number of UCLA students in the area.

The Fox Village stands across from the much smaller 1937 Bruin Theatre, also run by Regency, which was immortalized in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

The Fox Village’s real estate listing, which did not list a price, called it a “Rare opportunity to acquire one of the most iconic assets in Westwood Village,” continuing, “This is a multi-generational asset which has not been previously made available for sale by the ownership adding to the uniqueness and rarity of the offering.”

Regency has run the Fox Village since 2010. It was designated as a historic-cultural monument in 1988.

The movie theater business apparently runs in the family, as Jason Reitman’s late father Ivan Reitman contributed the land and helped develop the building where TIFF’s Bell Lightbox Theater now stands.

The Los Angeles exhibition scene has seen numerous changes since the city was impacted by the COVID pandemic beginning in early 2020, including the closure of the Landmark Pico and the Cinerama Dome and Arclight Hollywood, which is reportedly set for a 2025 reopening.

MSC77 on July 11, 2023 at 12:28 pm

Here is a clickable link for “Preview Harvey” by Bruce Kimmel.

stumbley on July 10, 2023 at 9:18 am

To Haineshisway:

We always called that fellow “Preview Henry” and I’m sure I know the guy you’re talking about. And yes, I remember Fred Astaire being at the theater for “The Godfather.” You almost certainly saw me at the door taking tickets. Among the ushers at that time was Zach Horowitz, later the president of Universal Records. Lots of interesting people, both as customers and workers. I’ll have to read your book!

haineshisway on July 10, 2023 at 8:57 am

“vindanpar on April 3, 2022 at 6:01 pm WSS had its world premiere in NY’s Rivoli theater then had its Hollywood premiere at Grauman’s. When did it get to this theater? Even in LA I would think Grauman’s would have it exclusively first run.”

Grauman’s did have West Side Story exclusively first run for over a year. It never played the Village during its wide release, which began on February 6, 1963. During that release, it played the Picwood in Westwood (the Village was playing The Lion, which I saw there). In March, it moved from the Picwood to the Bruin, where it ran several weeks. It finally came to the Village for the 1968 reissue in September of that year. I saw it there then, too, after having seen it about fourteen times at the Chinese.

rivest266 on June 20, 2023 at 10:29 am

closing? It’s up for sale at Loopnet. Screenshot posted.

stumbley on July 14, 2022 at 12:12 am

I stumbled on this website not long ago, and was intrigued by all the comments on the Village.

I was Assistant Manager for about 3 ½ years in the early 70’s, when Westwood was considered the “hot” film place. We had a number of premiere events, and the theater was very busy.

I was among the first in Los Angeles (outside of the studio) to see “The Godfather” prior to its debut at the Village. Al Ruddy (one of the producers) brought the film to the theater one afternoon before the premiere to check out how the film would play at the Village. Ruddy, the projectionist, and I were the only people in the theater at the time. After seeing the movie, I knew we’d be VERY busy for a long time.

At the premiere, about halfway through the presentation, Mario Puzo emerged from the theater into the lobby with about a foot-long, inch diameter cigar, and lit up. We had an interesting conversation about the film, the book, and how he was doing since the book’s popularity. He shook his head sadly, and admitted that he “had gambled away everything I made on the book and the film” and that he was compelled to “write the crap screenplay for ‘Earthquake’” in order to pay off his debts. I asked whether he had been worried about offending organized crime with his depiction of “the Mob,” and he replied that “no, I had a lot of help from that corner.”

Some other tidbits:

Walter Matthau and his son PAID to see Matthau in “Plaza Suite” when it played at the Village.

We often had lines round the block for popular movies. At one point, Groucho Marx came by with his companion, Erin Fleming, and requested to be let in before the line. He said “You wouldn’t deny admission to a living legend, would you?”

We had the premiere of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” at the Village, for which Neil Diamond wrote the soundtrack. The film was so poorly received that one night, for the prime-time showing, no one had purchased a ticket by the time the show was supposed to start. The projectionist ran the film through the projector without firing up the carbon arc, to save carbon (the rods would actually burn up and had to be periodically replaced). Neil Diamond arrived at the theater about 15 minutes into the show, and we quickly informed the projectionist to start the arc, just in time for Diamond to enter the theater. He came out about 5 minutes later and asked “Am I the only person in the show?” When I answered “Yes” he shook his head and started to walk away. I told him that I thought the music was really good, but the film was crap, and he agreed. He said “I wish I’d never been involved in this junk.”

Finally, one of the commenters down thread had asked “What became of the former manager Jim Peters?” I can answer that question. He was let go after it was revealed that he had been faking refunds and pocketing the money. One of the cashiers and I had informed the District Manager that he was raking in about $20-$30 per night doing this. Small potatoes per day, but it added up. Peters claimed that he was using the money to renovate the Manager’s office, but the District Manager didn’t necessarily believe that story. However, Peters wasn’t actually fired, just moved to a smaller, less important theater. The cashier and I had to work with Peters for about 2 weeks after informing on him (before he was transferred) and I can tell you, it was NOT FUN. But since he had basically forced the cashier to participate (she had to sign the refund forms) she would have been complicit in the crime, and I didn’t want her to be implicated.

Many more stories about Westwood and the theaters there at that time; it was a “happening place”. I often contemplated writing a book!

BRADE48 on November 14, 2021 at 9:14 am

Regency Village and Bruin Theatres - Westwood, CA is feeling excited. November 12 at 12:00 AM · Our 90th anniversary continues November 26th at the Village with the EXCLUSIVE Engagement of the new Paul Thomas Anderson film, Licorice Pizza featured in 70mm Film! Being a master filmmaker, his films are inherently amazing so put on your best threads and boogie over now…and don’t stop and smell the magnolias. There will be Red Vines!

rivest266 on November 1, 2019 at 2:10 pm

Reopened on October 18th, 1951 Village Theatre in Westwood reopening Thu, Oct 18, 1951 – 32 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

rivest266 on September 12, 2019 at 5:00 pm

August 11th, 1931 grand opening ad in the photo section.

moviebuff82 on April 9, 2019 at 1:05 pm

https://www.thx.com/blog/thx-launches-worlds-first-thx-ultimate-cinema-at-regency-westwood-village-theater/ this is great news!!!

Coate on June 19, 2017 at 2:35 pm

The Village was among just eleven theaters in the United States that installed the then-new Dolby Digital sound system for their engagement of “Batman Returns” which opened twenty-five years ago today. And here’s the link to a retrospective article that commemorates the occasion.