Why were the engagements so short in comparison to other Cinerama cities? 29 weeks for “2001” is rather insane! What in the world could they have possibly replaced that with? Or did the place become a one-stop-shop for all things 70MM by the close of the 60’s?
It’s very rare that I double post, but in this case I feel it’s necessary.
To remphasize the point of my post in question: I merely raised an issue about the film titles that you claim were shown there in the year 1977. I am also from St. Louis. Yes, my factual info is spotty since I was a child during the era in question. But I still have my childhood memories – of which I distinctly remember “The Bird” having obtained a reputation for featuring the aforementioned “schlocky, exploitation fare” at the theatre.
I also rely on childhood factoids from my family members who shared personal stories of my tiny tot years here watching Blaxploitation & Kung Fu flicks (1972 through its 1977 closing). I’ve heard stories about me almost breaking my neck trying to imitate my older cousins during intermissions of kung fu movies along with nervous aunts trying to cover my eyes during nude scenes in Blaxploitation flicks. There’s a photo online of The Bird’s marquee circa 1974 that supports my memory of these flicks.
The theatres I mentioned are where I personally saw many of the 1977 films mentioned. I cannot – and DID NOT! – speak about the films of the 1960’s that you mentioned. I believe that the good people you mentioned did see the flicks that you cited and have those great memories. Once again, I only raised a question about the films from 1977. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was planning to respond to that diatribe…but JAlex’s posting of the final 3 weeks of film schedules at The Bird said it all. :)
For the record – my comments about “schlocky, exploitation fare” were directed towards the films you said showed there – NOT TOWARDS ANY SPECIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE SURROUNDING AREA.
I saw everything from mainstream (Saturday Night Fever) to Blaxploitation (Coffy, J.D.’s Revenge), to even a way out triple feature consisting of one of those Bruce Li (remember him – the Bruce Lee knockoff who they pushed after Lee died!) kung fu flicks and 2 hardcore prison movies.
The one thing I DON’T remember seeing during the Weherenberg era: PORN.
In a nutshell, Pagedale was considered The City (St. Louis code word for “The Hood”) so whatever that particular demographic wanted to see, they got it.
Score a major one for DeAnza (all 4 D/I’s featuring this presentation are owned by DeAnza Land & Leisure Corp – who has spent the last few years massively remodeling and upgrading their existing drive-ins)!
I only wish they were showing double features and some flicks that are a bit more “drive-in-ish.” “Viva Las Vegas” & “Bonnie & Clyde” get a pass, but “Lolita” & “To Catch A Thief” kinda don’t fit the whole drive-in-movie vibe.
If Landmark somehow ends up with this theatre, I will never attend it again. Period. Mark Cuban will run it like he runs his sorry @$$ed baskeball team.
Allow me to defend this RunPee concept (as me and my film club staff are currently working on partnership oppportunities with the founder/creator of the site). RunPee DOES NOT – in any way, shape, or form – encourage or entice viewers to pop open their Blackberries & IPhones to chat/text/Tweet/etc during a movie. Instead, it merely seeks to alert moviegoers of the best time to make a run for the restroom during any given film without missing any key/major plot details. Period.
I, personally, make my pit stop as soon as I step into the theatre…but everybody ain’t like me. Besides…those 32 ounce sodas have a nasty habit of creeping up on folks midway through a flick.
I think they’re just using this as a means to break into the LA market – if and when they decide to build a whole new theatre in or around the Center, they want first dibs. They have no business taking over this place. I said it before – I said it again: Beverly Center should either be a Regency discount house or put out of it’s misery outright!
Glad you corrected yourself on my behalf. I only posted that it had been closed. I had no idea who was gonna pick the place up. I was hoping it was Regency (makes all the sense in the world!) but, alas, Rave is the winner.
What in the world are they gonna do with this place? I went to a Rave in Las Vegas once. The place was drowning in a sea of VERY! LOUD! NEON GREEN & ORANGE! Can’t really see that color scheme working out over there…let alone the aforementioned issues with projection/sound/etc. We will see.
Simple answer: Regency should give Fairfax back to Laemmle (which still won’t solve the nightmare of trying to park there – which I would guess is 75% of that theatre’s struggles) and take Beverly Center 13 as a discount house. 13 screens of flicks at $3.00 a pop in the middle of a recession would surely make the cash strapped movie fanatics of LA truly glad.
Not to be a hater, but I question the validity of the 1977 titles listed being shown at “The Bird.” Holiday Drive-In, yes. Airway Drive-In. Even the St. Ann 4 Screen D/I, yes. But “The Rescuers” at the Thunderbird, I doubt very seriously, as by the time “The Bird” was closed, they’d switched to schlocky, exploitation fare.
Good to see IAMMMMW back at the Dome again. I’ve already seen it there and had an awesome time. I’m holding my breath for “This Is Cinerama” since I haven’t seen that yet.
“Lawrence” would be nice for the September downtime, too.
Took my film club to see Harry Potter on 7/18 (Saturday night 7:00 PM show). House was 80% or so full. A couple of guys had never been here before – needless to say, the sound/screen/picture/decor blew them away.
One word: TECHNALIGHT! Provides the clearest images ever projected on a drive-in screen. It literally saved all the remaining drive-ins in Southern California from fading away.
I took a girl to see this movie on opening weekend in Long Beach at the newly opened (at the time) Edwards Long Beach 26. The lights in the auditorium came on right as the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Darth Maul fight started. We all got our money back. Coolness.
About that girl: 10 years, 2 wedding bands and 2 kids later, she’s still on my arm. I can never say that George Lucas didn’t give me nothing!
D-Box is equipped for Chinese 6 – not Grauman’s Chinese.
Why were the engagements so short in comparison to other Cinerama cities? 29 weeks for “2001” is rather insane! What in the world could they have possibly replaced that with? Or did the place become a one-stop-shop for all things 70MM by the close of the 60’s?
It’s very rare that I double post, but in this case I feel it’s necessary.
To remphasize the point of my post in question: I merely raised an issue about the film titles that you claim were shown there in the year 1977. I am also from St. Louis. Yes, my factual info is spotty since I was a child during the era in question. But I still have my childhood memories – of which I distinctly remember “The Bird” having obtained a reputation for featuring the aforementioned “schlocky, exploitation fare” at the theatre.
I also rely on childhood factoids from my family members who shared personal stories of my tiny tot years here watching Blaxploitation & Kung Fu flicks (1972 through its 1977 closing). I’ve heard stories about me almost breaking my neck trying to imitate my older cousins during intermissions of kung fu movies along with nervous aunts trying to cover my eyes during nude scenes in Blaxploitation flicks. There’s a photo online of The Bird’s marquee circa 1974 that supports my memory of these flicks.
The theatres I mentioned are where I personally saw many of the 1977 films mentioned. I cannot – and DID NOT! – speak about the films of the 1960’s that you mentioned. I believe that the good people you mentioned did see the flicks that you cited and have those great memories. Once again, I only raised a question about the films from 1977. Nothing more, nothing less.
I did not mean to offend.
I was planning to respond to that diatribe…but JAlex’s posting of the final 3 weeks of film schedules at The Bird said it all. :)
For the record – my comments about “schlocky, exploitation fare” were directed towards the films you said showed there – NOT TOWARDS ANY SPECIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE SURROUNDING AREA.
Oops…Chuck did it again. :)
I saw everything from mainstream (Saturday Night Fever) to Blaxploitation (Coffy, J.D.’s Revenge), to even a way out triple feature consisting of one of those Bruce Li (remember him – the Bruce Lee knockoff who they pushed after Lee died!) kung fu flicks and 2 hardcore prison movies.
The one thing I DON’T remember seeing during the Weherenberg era: PORN.
In a nutshell, Pagedale was considered The City (St. Louis code word for “The Hood”) so whatever that particular demographic wanted to see, they got it.
Disney owns ABC.
Score a major one for DeAnza (all 4 D/I’s featuring this presentation are owned by DeAnza Land & Leisure Corp – who has spent the last few years massively remodeling and upgrading their existing drive-ins)!
I only wish they were showing double features and some flicks that are a bit more “drive-in-ish.” “Viva Las Vegas” & “Bonnie & Clyde” get a pass, but “Lolita” & “To Catch A Thief” kinda don’t fit the whole drive-in-movie vibe.
If Landmark somehow ends up with this theatre, I will never attend it again. Period. Mark Cuban will run it like he runs his sorry @$$ed baskeball team.
Oops…my Laker horns are showing! :)
Allow me to defend this RunPee concept (as me and my film club staff are currently working on partnership oppportunities with the founder/creator of the site). RunPee DOES NOT – in any way, shape, or form – encourage or entice viewers to pop open their Blackberries & IPhones to chat/text/Tweet/etc during a movie. Instead, it merely seeks to alert moviegoers of the best time to make a run for the restroom during any given film without missing any key/major plot details. Period.
I, personally, make my pit stop as soon as I step into the theatre…but everybody ain’t like me. Besides…those 32 ounce sodas have a nasty habit of creeping up on folks midway through a flick.
I think they’re just using this as a means to break into the LA market – if and when they decide to build a whole new theatre in or around the Center, they want first dibs. They have no business taking over this place. I said it before – I said it again: Beverly Center should either be a Regency discount house or put out of it’s misery outright!
Glad you corrected yourself on my behalf. I only posted that it had been closed. I had no idea who was gonna pick the place up. I was hoping it was Regency (makes all the sense in the world!) but, alas, Rave is the winner.
What in the world are they gonna do with this place? I went to a Rave in Las Vegas once. The place was drowning in a sea of VERY! LOUD! NEON GREEN & ORANGE! Can’t really see that color scheme working out over there…let alone the aforementioned issues with projection/sound/etc. We will see.
Simple answer: Regency should give Fairfax back to Laemmle (which still won’t solve the nightmare of trying to park there – which I would guess is 75% of that theatre’s struggles) and take Beverly Center 13 as a discount house. 13 screens of flicks at $3.00 a pop in the middle of a recession would surely make the cash strapped movie fanatics of LA truly glad.
On behalf of every movie fan who remembers their favorite, long lost theater of their childhood, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Not to be a hater, but I question the validity of the 1977 titles listed being shown at “The Bird.” Holiday Drive-In, yes. Airway Drive-In. Even the St. Ann 4 Screen D/I, yes. But “The Rescuers” at the Thunderbird, I doubt very seriously, as by the time “The Bird” was closed, they’d switched to schlocky, exploitation fare.
Good to see IAMMMMW back at the Dome again. I’ve already seen it there and had an awesome time. I’m holding my breath for “This Is Cinerama” since I haven’t seen that yet.
“Lawrence” would be nice for the September downtime, too.
Didn’t TDK open July 18th last year?
Took my film club to see Harry Potter on 7/18 (Saturday night 7:00 PM show). House was 80% or so full. A couple of guys had never been here before – needless to say, the sound/screen/picture/decor blew them away.
AMC dropped the Loews moniker from this theatre’s name a while ago. LA Times ads along with AMC’s ad lists it as “AMC Citywalk 19 with IMAX.”
One word: TECHNALIGHT! Provides the clearest images ever projected on a drive-in screen. It literally saved all the remaining drive-ins in Southern California from fading away.
http://www.technalight.com/english.html
Anybody seen Transformers 2 at the Dome yet?
Does anyone have any interior photos of this theatre – specifically ones with the auditorium/screen?
I signed it.
Are there any interior shots of this theatre available online?
Nice pic of “the good old days.” Wish they took another (or wider) shot to let us see what was showing on Screen 4.
I took a girl to see this movie on opening weekend in Long Beach at the newly opened (at the time) Edwards Long Beach 26. The lights in the auditorium came on right as the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Darth Maul fight started. We all got our money back. Coolness.
About that girl: 10 years, 2 wedding bands and 2 kids later, she’s still on my arm. I can never say that George Lucas didn’t give me nothing!