7165 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036 | map |
Opened: The building was constructed in 1929 and most likely was originally retail space. In 1934 it was a retail outlet for a winery and then it housed a succession of clubs and restaurants. It perhaps didn't see theatre use until 1949.
The line starting to form for the 2023 Christmas day matinee screenings of "A Night at the Opera" and "The Marx Brothers Go West." Photo: Bill Counter
Phone: 323-938-4038 Website: www.thenewbev.com | on Facebook
As a
theatre it's also been known as the Century, the New Globe, the Ben Bard Playhouse, the
Hollywood Repertory Theatre, the Dahl Theatre, the
Capri/Riviera (a twin film houase), New Yorker Theatre, the Europa, the Eros and the
Beverly Cinema.
Architects: Original architect of the building
is unknown. John P. Edwards and Warren Frazier Overpeck did a 1959
remodeling that made the space into a 200 seat + 100 seat twin
operation.
Seating: 300 as a twin, 401 later as a single screen operation. It's now down to 228.
Recent interior views:
A 2020 house right lobby view by Michelle Groskopf appearing with Brian Raftery's N.Y. Times article "'Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood,' Many Times Over." The article discusses the resurgence of single screen art houses and, in particular, fans watching the film at the New Beverly.
A look toward the screen from "Dark September, or Bright Reflections.." a September 2014 post about the changing of the guard at the New Beverly on the blog "Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule." The author was musing on the departure of Michael Torgan as manager/programmer and the great adventures he had seeing films at the theatre.
Matt Dinan, a manager at the theatre, does a pre-film introduction. It's a 2017 Calvin B. Alagot photo taken for the Jen Yamato's 2017 L.A. Times article "It's like Cheers for movie lovers: An inside look at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema."
A tribute to Burt Reynolds with screenings of "Deliverance" and "Boogie Nights." Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for his February 13, 2019 photo.
Longtime operations manager Jules McLean was featured in Victoria Alejandro's February 2024 LAist article "LA’s New Beverly Cinema And The Magic Of Being 'Always On Film." Thanks to theatre sleuth Donavan S. Moye for spotting the story. The article notes:
"Jules McLean has now been running the New Beverly for 10 years. And her history with Tarantino goes back even further. 'I knew Quentin because we worked at Video Archives together. So we have a long history and friendship,' says McLean. She worked as his personal assistant for years, saying 'one of the things you do for a film director is try to facilitate his dream.' That’s the attitude she brings to the New Beverly. 'I'm facilitating Quentin's dream...'" Jules now manages the Vista Theatre for Quentin as well.
In the booth:
History:
The building dates from 1929. One report notes that it was a candy store and ice cream factory called Gene Colvin's. The end of prohibition changed things. Here in this 1934 view it has become Colvin's Beverly Winery. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection. What is now the Beverly Cinema is on the left.
On the right side there's a poster advertising the shows at the Wiltern. Or rather, Wil-Tern as it was then known. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for including the photo in his Noirish post #20225 about the Beverly. The discussion continues on Tourmaline's Noirish post #20253.
In the late 30s the building became a nightclub called Slapsy Maxie's and hosted many stars. This 1937 photo of the building as Maxie's is from the Jim Heimann collection. It appears with "A Comprehensive History of the New Beverly Cinema," the 2014 article Chris Nichols did for Los Angeles magazine.
A 1942 ad for early nights at the club due to curfew. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one as well as many others appearing here for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
An ad for Jackie Gleason. Billy Reed was a burlesque comic who frequently appeared at the Follies. The ad was another find by Ken McIntyre.
Maxie's moved to larger quarters at 5665 Wilshire in 1943. From the mid 40s onward the New Beverly building hosted a series of restaurants and nightclub operations such as the La Madelon and the La Lafayette.
The building became a legit playhouse known as the Century in 1949. By January 1950 it had became the New Globe Theatre.
A March 1950 ad for "The Banker's Daughter."
The Playgoers Company offered a season of four shows at the Dahl beginning with Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." Thanks to Bruce Kimmel for sharing this October 6, 1957 ad. Monday and Wednesday nights the theatre was home to the Professional Actors Workshop.
The remodel was featured in "One Remodeling - Object: Two Theatres," a three page story starting on page 14 of the Modern Theatre section of the October 19, 1959 issue of Boxoffice. It's on the site Yumpu. Thanks to Joe Vogel for spotting the article. The caption for this photo:
"An old legitimate house in Los Angeles is neatly carved into a pair of small, intimate auditoriums. A 40-foot frontage is sufficient for the two theatres. 22 feet for the Riviera, 15 for the Capri, three for walls."
"A handsome gold inlaid mirror dominates an entire wall of the foyer, and there is gold carpeting on the floor. Entrance to the Capri is at left. The mirror reflects a pair of handsome chandeliers."
"A view of the lobby in the opposite direction...shows the entrance to the Riviera. Street doors are at extreme right and the ladies' restroom is in background at the right"
"Looking back toward the projection room in the Riviera auditorium. Portholes are placed as high as possible, but mirrors are still necessary because of low ceiling. Baffle at rear is partition for lobby."
At left: "The Capri auditorium. Building two theatres in a 40-foot wide building presented severe space restrictions. Here, the floor ramp was eliminated and the screen located high so exit door could be placed beneath at left. Has 100 seats." At right: "In the Riviera theatre the floor ramp continues up to the screen location, and the exit is through the side wall. The screens extend from wall to wall in both theatres, and the gold theme is repeated in closure curtains. Has 200 seats."
Before and after floorplans as well as a section from the Boxoffice article. The article noted that they used Simplex projectors and sound gear along with Ashcraft lamps. Note the periscope system illustrated in the bottom drawing. They discussed the "Bounce Light" System:
A 1962 Times listing with the two screens shown as the "Riviera-Capri" and the "Capri-Riviera." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this.
Another photo of the theatre as the Capri and the Riviera comes from, of all places, "The Beverly Hillbillies." It's seen in "Jed's Dilemma," episode 17 of the first season that aired January 16, 1963. The statues in front "by courtesy of the Beverly Hills Movie Museum" are identified by Aunt Pearl as Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, and William S. Hart. Many thanks to Eitan Alexander for spotting the theatre and getting the screenshots.
By 1964 it had become the Europa Theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this May 1965 ad for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page.
This April 1966 Europa ad appeared in the Los Angeles Free Press. It's on the site Ad Sausage in a collection of articles by Roger Delfont analyzing the film ads that appeared in that paper. He also has a nice discussion of the history of the theatre.
A 1977 ad as the Beverly Club Cinema that was located by Ken McIntyre for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
That porno chapter ended in 1977. In 1978 the Beverly was leased to Sherman
Torgan and his partners who reopened with an artie double feature policy
which survives today. Their first bill was "Streetcar Named Desire"
and "Last Tango in Paris."
A undated view of the New Beverly during some facade repairs. It's a photo by filmmaker and cinematographer Gary Graver. He took many photos of single screen theatres. More can be seen on his compilations on You Tube: "Second Run - part 1" and "Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photo.
A 2017 Calvin B. Alagot photo that appears with Jen Yamato's 2017 L.A. Times article "It's like Cheers for movie lovers: An inside look at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema."
A photo by Michelle Groskopf appearing with Brian Raftery's February 2020 N.Y. Times article "'Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood,' Many Times Over."
Shut down due to the virus. It's a Kate Warren photo appearing with "Hollywood Beacons in the Night," an April 23, 2020 New York Times story by Brooks Barnes featuring a dozen shots of closed historic theatres in L.A. Barnes offers a nice capsule summary of what the decades have wrought for each of the theatres he surveys. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting the story.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the New Beverly. Especially noteworthy is the fine research
done by Joe Vogel.
The New Beverly is one of a number of revival venues discussed in Mark Olsen's 2017 L.A. Times article "A film festival every night: The new ecology of the old-movie scene in L.A." See "A Comprehensive History of the New Beverly Cinema," a fine 2014 article Chris Nichols did for Los Angeles magazine. The L.A. Weekly had an October 2014 story on Quentin Tarantino and his programming of the New Beverly: "Quentin Tarantino on the New Beverly: "If People Come, Fine. If They Don't, F..."
In
September 2014 Tarantino, who had purchased the building in 2007,
announced that he was going to, for a period anyway, manage the
operation himself. He noted that he wanted to add a 6 channel sound
system and a 16mm projector. More of the programming now comes from his
own library. L.A. Weekly had a September 2014 interview with him "After 7 years as owner, I wanted to make it mine.." where he discussed his plans. Curbed L.A. also picked up the story.
A June 2014 post on The Wrap
discussed the Beverly's purchase of digital equipment not long before
Mr. Tarantino issued a diatribe in Cannes favoring the continued use of
film. Tarantino had purchased the building to keep it from
becoming a Supercuts. But even for several years before the purchase,
he had been subsidizing the New Beverly's operations to the tune of
about $5,000 per month. Michael Torgan, son of the man who first started
repertory programming at the theatre in 1978, had continued to operate
the business into 2014.
See the Hollywood Reporter 2010 story: "Quentin Tarantino Saves L.A. Theatre." The blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule had a 2010 post about improvements at the theatre after Mr. Tarantino purchased the building. Wikipedia has a nice article on the New Beverly which includes a history of the building and its operators. Yelp has over 200 photos of the theatre.
Victoria Alejandro's February 2024 LAist article "LA’s New Beverly Cinema And The Magic Of Being 'Always On Film'" is a fine profile of the theatre. Thanks to theatre sleuth Donavan S. Moye for spotting the story.
See our page on this site about various other 16mm Revival Houses that had opened between 1940 and 1975.
The other Beverly Theatres: Don't confuse this venue with the Beverly Theatre in Beverly Hills (now demolished) or the Warner Beverly Hills (also demolished) which was known as "The Beverly" in its last years as a rock concert venue.
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