Mann Tarzana West Valley 9
18632 Ventura Boulevard,
Tarzana,
CA
91356
18632 Ventura Boulevard,
Tarzana,
CA
91356
3 people
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The theater is mentioned numerous times in Quentin Tarantino’s book “Cinema Speculation.” He writes about seeing “The Wild Bunch” and “Deliverance” there; when the theater, as he writes, was called the Tarzana Six Movies.
Circa 1985 photo of then facade, different from Overview photo.
http://www.leagle.com/decision/19872223828F2d1395_12000/THEEE%20MOVIES%20OF%20TARZANA%20v.%20PACIFIC%20THEATRES,%20INC.
1987 lawsuit Theee Movies of Tarzana vs. Pacific Theatres
It’s nice to see the comments as my friends & I spent most of our childhood at this theatre…. And at all the little spots on the boulevard (Ventura Blvd) that made this a great little neighborhood in Hollywood’s backyard in the 70s & 80s; Party Peddler, a lá Popcorn, Brown Center Deli, La Fiesta, Tiempo Records, Eggshell restaurant, Fabs, Beas Bakery, Sambo’s & The Pantry Shelf etc It did open in 1974… The Leftons were indeed some of the same owners that owned the Pan Pacific on Beverly near what is now The Grove and the PepperTree, a second run multi screen in Northridge. Despite the best efforts of all those who invested so much it was allowed to spiral downhill like a runaway train until the smallest screen (theatre 6) had threadbare screen & curtains and I could hardly stand to see a movie there distracted by the disrepair. The lobby card collages & the sprint car video game as well as the smokey and the bandit pinball machines were soooo cool back in the day. It was loosing money before they did their deal with Mann’s…. And while MVW sued Pacific for keeping first-runs too long & destroying their business…. that really wasn’t it at all. Ventura was hopping in those days and you had to drive for miles to Sherman Oaks in one direction or Woodland Hills in the other. They just didn’t care anymore about the experience they gave the neighborhood so we stopped caring back… and it became HAUNTED!
So cool to see comments mentioning the very movies I saw there as well. Morgan Fairchild’s Seduction! Good lord that was a while ago! Most significantly I remember the original Halloween at this theatre in 1978 and I was too chicken to go in and even peek which I regret so much now. I remember seeing Xanadu here, Rollerboogie. Remember Heaven’s Gate playing there, even Howard The Duck coincidentally another bomb. C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man. Saw Can’t Buy Me Love! Jump way ahead to Rocky IV in the later 80’s, what a night of douche bags that audience! Good lord. Lethal Weapon 2… I miss this theatre. Snuck in the back door many times and always theatre hopped—actually got kicked out once, an usher followed me into the theatre as I sat down! Miss the comfortable theatres and seating. I still drive by to this day and never not mention or acknowledge what was once there ;( RIP!
Re the 1975 ad in ken mc’s above post:
When you called the theatre’s answering machine, the voice did indeed enthusiatically chime, “Thank you for calling Theeeeeee Movies of Tarzana!” With ample parking in back, this was a swell neighborhood multi to see drive-in-type stuff like “Tentacles,” “Damien-Omen II,” the giant rat epic “Deadly Eyes,” Morgan Fairchild in"The Seduction" and Walter Hill’s “The Driver,” not to mention “The Howling,” “The Terminator” and “Missing in Action.” Once I saw actor Henry Silva leaving a matinee. And does anyone remember the collage of one-sheets on the ceiling? In the good ol' days of neighborhood theatres, such an eye-catching touch of showmanship is part of what gave Movies of Tarzana its charm.
Here is an April 1975 ad from the Van Nuys News:
http://tinyurl.com/44v2w8
It was called Movies of Tarzana in September 1974. Six screens at that time.
I frequently went to this theater in the late 1980s, as this was the closest Mann Theater while I was attending nearby California State University, Northridge. This was important because the university sold discount tickets to Mann Theaters. Mann Tarzana West Valley was never too crowded when compared to the options such as the Mann Theaters in Westwood.
The Movies was sold to Mann Theatres and they reopened the theatre on Dec. 17th, 1982.
Was this known as the Cinema Showcase at some time in the mid-1990s?
Mann Valley West AKA The Movies Of Tarzana started out as a supermarket in the 70’s. The Movies was owned by the same people who ran the Pan Pacific Theater in Hollywood. In the early 80’s The Movies was sold to Mann Theaters. Mann did a renovation during the mid 90’s and added three more screens to make it nine.
I live in the area and I only found out last Sunday afternoon that it was closed when coming back from a meeting. It was rather a shock because in addition to working locally, I used to work across the street, so it was a familiar site and I’d sometimes go there to catch a film after work. That was almost two years ago.
Long before Mann Theatres took over operating this theatre it was known as the Movies of Tarzana.