10925 Lindbrook Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90024 |
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Opened: The debut of the National Theatre was March 26, 1970 with "The Boys in the Band." It was a project of National General Corporation, then the operator of the remnants of the Fox West Coast chain. The location was the northeast corner of Lindbrook and Gayley Ave. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007
The opening day ad in the L.A. Times. Thanks to Michael Coate for sharing it from his collection. He included it in a post on the Cinema Tour Facebook page. It also makes an appearance with his post on the Friends of 70mm Facebook page.
The new theatre was featured in a three page article in Boxoffice. Thanks to TJ Edwards for including it on the Cinema Sightlines page about the theatre.
See the Cinema Sightlines page for TJ's discussion about the theatre. Thanks!
The National was acquired by Mann Theatres when they bought the chain and operated by them until 2007. The Mann Westwood 4 was just up Gayley from the National. The
National hosted many record breaking exclusive runs over the years and
was known for its giant screen and terrific 70mm presentations.
Seating: 1,112
Architect: Harold Levitt and Associates
Projectors: Norelco AAII with, originally, Ashcraft Super Core-lite lamps. The boxoffice article refers to the machines as DP75s. But it was just the lamphouse bracket, as seen in the booth photo, that was from a DP75.
Screen size: 26' x 56'
Michael Coate notes that the theatre's longest run was the 26 week engagement of "The Exorcist" in 1974.
Closing:
After Mann closed the theatre April 19, 2007 it reopened and ran as an
independent but closed again on October 7, 2007. Michael Coate notes that "Feast of Love" was the last film to play the theatre.
Status: It was demolished in 2008. Ross Melnick comments:
"I will never stop being angry about the loss of this theater. Was one of my favorite venues. Amazing. Infuriating because there were offers to buy it as a theatre. Wouldn't need much more than new paint, carpet, etc. Could've even been Imaxed. Owner was determined to tear it down. That it sat as a sad empty lot for years like the remains of Carrie's house felt like some karmic justice."
Lobby areas:
Looking out the boxoffice windows. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Thanks to Mark for this photo and the many others appearing here. This is one of nearly a hundred images he has shared on the
Cinema Tour page about the theatre.
Inside the front doors. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Looking toward the stairs. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The view back to the entrance from near the stairs. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The lounge area to the left of the stairs. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The lounge on the right side of the stairs. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The stairs to the lobby's upper level. Thanks to Dennis Mahaney for locating this photo.
He assembled 42 uncredited images for a 2018 post on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page. Thanks to Richard Wojcik for sharing the post on the
Mid Century Modern page in 2022 where it got many comments.
The stair landing. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Looking up. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Up the stairs to the house right entrance to the auditorium. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Another angle on the house right entrance. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
On the upper level looking along the snackbar toward the stairs. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
A snackbar view. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The house left entrance to the auditorium at the end of the bar. The elevator was also in that alcove. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The men's room by flashlight. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Liza and Desi Arnaz, Jr. at the National for the 1973 premiere of "Lost Horizon." Thanks to Cliff Scott Carson for locating the photo.
Auditorium views:
A look in from house left. The auditorium had the fully draped look popular in the 70s. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007. Thanks to Michael Coate for posting it on the
Cinema Tour Facebook page.
Along the front curtain. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
A view revealing more of the front lighting cove. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Looking to the booth. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
Looking in as the curtain opens. Photo: Mark Campbell - 2007
The screen revealed. Thanks to Mark Campbell for this 2007 photo and the many others here on the page. Head to the page about
the National on
Cinema Tour for nearly a hundred of his photos plus others by Adam Martin and Scott Neff.
In the booth:
Gerald Knowles manning the booth in 1970. It's the photo that appeared with the Boxoffice article reproduced near the top of the page.
A 1994 booth view from Thomas Hauerslev appearing with "Construction of the Phillips 'All Purpose' projector DP70," an article on his terrific site In70mm.com.
More exterior views:
1970 - "Boys in the Band," the theatre's opening attraction. It's a shot by an unknown photographer that appeared with the Boxoffice article about the new theatre.
1973 - The National on March 6 for the world premiere engagement of "Lost Horizon." Thanks to Cliff Scott Carson for sharing the photo.
1973 - In the lower left the National
is running "The Last of Sheila," a June release with Dyan Cannon,
Richard Benjamin, James Mason and James Coburn. The UA Westwood, later known as the Mann Festival, is over
on the right. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the image when it was for
sale online.
1973 - The crowd for "The Exorcist," a December 26 opening. Thanks to Stephen Russo for the post for the private Facebook group
Mid Century Modern Los Angeles. Provenance of the photo is unknown.
1973 - A detail from the photo above of the line for "The Exorcist." This version was a post from Alison Martino on her Facebook page
Vintage Los Angeles. Gregg Sultan did
a repost on VLA with a curious version of the history of Westwood's decline as his caption.
1973 - A promotional shot of Linda Blair outside the National that was used by Warner Bros. Thanks to Rick Taylor for locating it for a post about "The Exorcist" on the Facebook group
Lost Angeles.
1974 - We don't get very many cartoons about movie theatres. One that comes to mind is the New Yorker cartoon with the little girl in the rotunda of the Roxy saying "Mommy, does God live here?" Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing this one about the National's run of "The Exorcist" with the private Facebook group
Photos of Los Angeles. Robert Valding notes that this was an ad that the National ran in the L.A. Times.
1974 - A look at the National from Richard Wojcik's collection appearing as a post on the Facebook page
Vintage Los Angeles. Note the art for "Phantom of the Paradise" on the sidewall.
1981 - The line for "Raiders of the Lost Arc" in June. Thanks to Michael Coate for sharing the photo on Facebook.
1984 - A Los Angeles Times shot of a line for "Beverly Hills Cop." It's a photo by Craig T. Matthew on
Calisphere from the UCLA Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives.
1989 - "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" in May. Thanks to Michael Coate for sharing this from his collection. He included it with posts on the
Cinema Tour Facebook page and on the
Friends of 70mm page. It's a photo by Matthias Daub that appeared in the Daily Bruin.
1989 - Thanks to Richard DuVal for sharing his "Licence To Kill" photo on the
Westwood in the 70s and 80s Facebook page. The post also included shots of posters in Hollywood advertising the film. And thanks to Royce Mathew for the color correction. Richard also posted his "Licence" shots on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
1991 - "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was a December release. Thanks to Richard DuVal for locating this shot to include in a post about the theatre on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
1992 - Thanks to Richard DuVal for sharing his "Single White Female" photo. It's one he posted in 2021 on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
1998 - "Lost In Space." It's a Richard DuVal photo, one of three he shared in a post for the private Facebook group
Westwood and the Westside.
2003 - Richard Donner's "Timeline," based on a novel by Michael Crichton. Thanks to Richard DuVal for sharing this shot, as well as another from this engagement, as a post on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
2005 - "Saw II" was playing at the time of this photo by German photographer Martin. It appeared on his now vanished website You-Are-Here.com.
2006 - "Poseidon," a May 12 release, playing the National. Thanks to Richard DuVal for sharing his photo in a 2023 post on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page, where he also includes a shot of the film on the marquee at the Bruin.
He comments about the use of the Bruin as a moveover house: "I believe the movie opened at the National then moved to the Bruin. This happened on occasion when the larger theater wanted to 'bump' an underperforming film or vice versa. If a movie had legs and was only booked for a short window at the larger theater, then it was moved to the Bruin from either the Village or National Theater to play out its run. Same thing happened with 'The DaVinci Code,' 'Quantum of Solace,' 'Skyfall,' ''No Time to Die,' 'Dune' (2021) and 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.'"
2006 - "The DaVinci Code" was a May 19 release. Thanks to Richard DuVal for sharing his photo in another 2023 post about the theatre on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
2007 - A "Music and Lyrics" shot by an unknown photographer. Thanks to Dennis Mahaney for including the photo in a 2018 post on the
Cinema Treasures Facebook page.
2007 - Thanks to Mark Campbell for this photo, a post on Cinema Treasures. He commented: "04/19/2007 - Final night under Mann. Last film they played was 'Shooter,' a move-over from The Bruin."
2007 - A R.I.P. view added as a post for the private Facebook group Mid Century Modern Los Angeles by Alison Martino.
70mm runs at the National: Thanks to Michael Coate for compiling this list and sharing it in a post on the
Friends of 70mm Facebook page.
THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH (1972)
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1973)
LOST HORIZON (1973 - never confirmed as 70mm)
2001 (1974)
THE WIND AND THE LION (1975)
LUCKY LADY (1975)
CAMELOT/HELLO, DOLLY! (1976)
THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
SUPERMAN (1978)
HURRICANE (1979)
THE EXORCIST (1979)
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
TRON (1982)
ALTERED STATES (1982)
THE ROAD WARRIOR (1983)
KRULL (1983)
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1983)
BRAINSTORM (1983)
GREYSTOKE (1984)
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)
THE GOONIES (1985)
EXPLORERS (1985)
THE BLACK CAULDRON (1985)
YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES (1985)
TOP GUN (1986)
THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)
EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987)
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)
BLACK RAIN (1989)
LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989)
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
DAYS OF THUNDER (1990)
THE ROOKIE (1990)
STAR TREK VI (1991)
PATRIOT GAMES (1992)
CLIFFHANGER (1993)
TITANIC (1998)
The National in the Movies:
We
get a shot of Mark Ruffalo coming out of the auditorium after a police
briefing in David
Fincher's "Zodiac" (Paramount, 2007). The theatre is a stand-in for the
Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco, where the film is set.
Jake
Gyllenhaal, playing the Chronicle cartoonist who wrote the book the
film is based on, accosts Mark Ruffalo on the lobby's lower level.
Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the theatre in the film.
An
auditorium view from "Zodiac." The film also stars Chloë Sevigny,
Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas and many
more. See the
Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies
post for more shots of the National, one of the Warner Grand in San
Pedro (standing in for SF's Avenue Theatre), and a shot done on Broadway
where the Castro Theatre has
magically appeared.
More
information: Many National Theatre fans have posted their laments
(and notes about the great movies they saw there) on
Cinema Treasures. And if you want photos -- especially lots of demolition views, there are over 250 to look at.
The Cinema Tour page, along with lots of photos, has a nice history of the theatre. Curbed L.A. ran a story titled "Westwood Woe: Love Letters To Demolished Mann Theatre."
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