Beverly Theater
206 N. Beverly Drive,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90210
206 N. Beverly Drive,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90210
9 people
favorited this theater
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Some interior scenes in “Xanadu” as mentioned in the Overview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdPJ9BtqK7w
1955 photo added courtesy of AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page.
Below website also has multiple images of The Beverly. Copy & paste to view.
https://sites.google.com/site/wilshiremoviepalaces/beverly-theatre
As can be seen in this photo uploaded by Senorsock, the Beverly Theatre’s auditorium kept its East Indian theme even after it had been converted into a retail store. The 1960 renovation pictured in the Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to was, not surprisingly, Midcentury Modern rather than Art Deco, and the major changes were done primarily to the facade and lobby. The boxy black entrance in this photo uploaded by RonP was built when the building was converted to retail use, and replaced the flat modern marquee seen in the Boxoffice article.
It’s very probable that he worked with Rubin also. He was the swing man for many years before taking the full time job after Heber went to the Avco.
Statewide sounds right. It was the Stein family. No, he worked with Heber Amstutz.
BobSe , I think you are thinking of Statewide Theatres. So your father worked with Bernie Rubin at the Beverly Thetare?
My father was one of the projectionists at this theater from the early 1960’s until it closed. I grew up in this theater, literally. It was also where I served most of my apprenticeship as a projectionist, as well as working on the floor as an usher. The first movie I remember seeing there was “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying machines”, the theaters first 70mm presentation after it was remodeled. Before it was owned by Loew’s, it was owned by a small LA circuit called Steinway ( I believe), who purchased the theater from Fox West Coast. Loew’s sold the theater to General Cinema. Notable pictures that were first run, “hard ticket” at the Bev were “Oliver”, “The Bible…in the beginning” and “Young Winston” along with Magnificent Men. it was also the site of the premiere of “That’s Entertainment”.
My first time here was in 1972 or 1973. They were playing the double feature “Casablanca” and “Play It Again, Sam”, and since that just happened to be my first time seeing BOTH films, that was an evening never to be forgotten. Saw “Born Yesterday” there a couple of years later, probably just before the theater closed and became a retail space. I seem to recall it was a lovely place, and I wish I’d frequented it regularly.
I was looking for Loews Beverly Hills. Please tell me that this isn’t what’s happened to it. I’m on the east coast and haven’t been to California since 1978. However, in 1970 I had a Loews pass and went to the opening of “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” there and it was a beautiful theatre at that time. It seems that there’s a conspiracy to demolish all the beautiful theatres in the U.S.
Also the AKA: Fox Beverly Theatre
A.K.A.LOEWS BEVERLY.
That’s not this one.
It was a wonderful theatre. It was equipped for 70MM during the early 60’s. The nearby Warner Beverly Hills Theatre was the true gem in the city, next to the Fox Wilshire Theatre.
I only saw this building when it was the Bank of Leumi. I didn’t know it was a theater until I started hanging out here.
ken mc, your last photo dates from around Dec. 22, 1948.
photo i took in 1992 when it was a bank but still looked amazing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2120615395/
Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/26prlo
I think I remembered what car the clock advertised! Austin-Healy.
Another of my childhood theaters gone. Shameful. I saw Rebel Without A Cause there, The Subterraneans, Strangelove (so much fun to see that postcard someone posted), Umbrellas of Cherbourg, That’s Entertainment, Tom Jones, and heaven knows how many others. In the 50s I was fascinated by the clock near the screen – it advertised some car – like a Renault or some other sports car. The things you remember. In the 60s, my favorite thing was to walk to Bevery Hills, lunch at the Ontra, and then go to the Beverly.
I drove past the site today. The area is fenced off, with several trees planted on the perimeter. There is no sign of any construction. As I had not been in that area since before the demolition, it was a little unsettling to cross Wilshire on Beverly and not see that distinctive building.
The glory days in Westwood ended in 1988, when a young woman was shot and killed in the Village. I used to go to Westwood on weekend nights in the mid 80s, and the Village was packed. Now it is dead. The opening of the Santa Monica promenade took away a lot of business as well.
How time changes everything. Back in the 1970’s & 80’s, Westwood was the center of first run film in Los Angeles. (Along with Hollywood). In those days, the Village, National, Bruin, Avco, Crest,etc would always have one of the highest weekly grosses in LA. Many of those films would play Westwood on an LA exclusive basis and it was important for the film companies to always play Westwood. Now, in 2005, the tide has turned once again where Westwood isn’t the center any longer. The glory days of Westwood are over. The film companies prefer to take the Grove, or Arclight or a run in Santa Monica instead of Westwood. Tomorrow, AMC opens
their NEW 15 plex stadium in Century City. This new complex will be another nail in Westwood’s side.
So, just as Westwood took the business from Beverly Hills in the 1970’s, Century City, Santa Monica, Hollywood and West Hollywood are doing the same to Westwood in 2005.
From the same website. The stripes are a mystery:
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/beverly2.jpg
From yesterdayla.com:
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/beverly1.jpg
The Beverly Theatre like the old Warner Beverly Hills Theatre were not earthquake retrofitted in their later years. That was one of the causes when the Warner was razed to make a parking lot for the Rolex company building in Beverly Hills. Talk about two landmark buildings. The way the Beverly Theatre sat, you could see it when you were coming from the south along Beverly Drive from blocks away. While the Warner Theatre could be seen from the north way past Santa Monica Blvd. also blocks away. The down fall for the Beverly Theatre started in 1963 when Fox West Coast Theatres/National General Theatres dropped the theatre from the chain. And for the next decade and a half the theatre was run by four different chains. It had some good runs of great pictures during that time. But as the market and the city changed like in other posts above. Westwood was becoming the next major market for opening films without any problems from the city and neighborhood like in Beverly Hills. The Warner was the first Beverly Hills theatre to be lost over a decade ago. Good thing Fox decided to build the Fox Wilshire Theatre on the east side of the city. Even in the nearby neighborhood to the east of Beverly Hills the Carthay Circle Theatre could not be saved from the wrecking ball in 1970.