10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City (Los Angeles), CA 90067 | map |
The mall opened in 1964. Chris Nichols comments in "Celebrating 60 Years of the Century City Shopping Center," his 2024 story for L.A. Magazine:
"New York developer William Zeckendorf teamed up with Alcoa aluminum to purchase the old 20th Century Fox backlot and transform it into a new ‘city within a city.’ They called on L.A.'s biggest architectural firm Welton Becket and Associates for a master plan. Becket had designed downtown’s Music Center, the Pan Pacific Auditorium, and the Capitol Records building in Hollywood.
"Construction began in 1961 on the first towers and the Becket firm soon moved their offices there. A new Broadway department store anchored the 15-acre mall which also had Silverwoods, a men's clothing store and a Mayfair Market, all with the novelty of underground parking. It opened on October 8th with a charity fundraiser for Children’s Hospital."
The original theatre: AMC Century 14
Opened: October 9, 1987. It was on the north end of the mall at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Century Park West. Michael Coate comments about the earlier soft opening:
An October 9 L.A. Times ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.
The theatre had two snackbars plus an espresso stand. Trey Callaway comments:
"That theater had a special coffee/snack bar that was separate from concessions – and that sold the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. They were individually wrapped and called 'Million Dollar Cookies.' I have never seen them again and still crave them to this day."
Cinema Treasures contributor Fieldight notes:
"Btw this was the EASIEST theatre to sneak into in its day. The exit was at the bottom of a long flight of stairs and you just walked back up those stairs when people were exiting and made a bee line to the bathroom."
Seating: 3,800. Jeff Arellano notes that the four largest houses sat about 450 each and the other nine each sat about 200. Chris Utley comments:
"The old 14 was one of my favorites. It was always strategic trying to get tickets for one of the big left side auditoriums. Seeing anything on the right side with the 9 center divided shoebox rooms was immediate buzzkill."
Projection: Evidently five auditoria were 70mm equipped. Michael Coate comments:
"According to Dolby’s install records, five screens here were equipped with a CP200 and 70mm projection. I believe this is the most 70mm in one complex in Los Angeles city and county. Closest venue with as many or more 70mm in a complex was the Cinedome in adjacent Orange County.
"The AMC Century 14 was among the handful of theaters that was equipped with Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the 1990-1991 precursor to the contemporary digital sound formats."
A 1988 plan of the center from the site Mall Hall of Fame. The Marketplace had replaced a restaurant called Century House. What's seen here in the center as The Broadway is now Bloomingdale's. The Bullock's location was later a Macy's and is now a Nordstrom store.
Bookings: Greg Laughlin comments:
"It took a few years for Century City to book films day and date with Westwood. Once the studios recognized the area (along with Santa Monica) as a separate zone, the product came and business took off. By the early 90s, Century City began to outgross Westwood which led to the eventual demise of Westwood Village as a moviegoing destination."
Michael Coate adds more to the story:
"When this and the Universal City 18 opened in 1987, movie-going Angelenos will recall the studios shrunk the area’s booking zones and created new zones to accommodate AMC Century 14 opening everything day-and-date with Westwood and Universal booking day-and-date with Hollywood. While this created more convenience and less distance to travel for many, I think ultimately it eroded some of the appeal of Hollywood and Westwood. Factor in the digital sound and stadium-seating trends a few years later and one can easily see how Westwood and Hollywood lost their 'moviegoing destination' status.
Closing: December 13, 2005. The new theatre opened the next day.
Looking south toward the new theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
The replacement theatre: AMC Century City 15
Opened: December 14, 2005. We're on the mall's Level 2 looking south. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Website: amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/los-angeles/amc-century-city-15
Seating: 2,548. It's a three-level complex at the back of the mall. Theatres 1 to 8, including houses branded as Imax and AMC Prime, are on level 1. Level 2 has the main entrance, ticketing and a lounge with a bar. Escalators on that level go down to the lower theatres or up to level 3 for theatres 9 to 15, including the Dolby Vision auditorium, #14. #15 is the largest theatre in the complex, seating 300 using conventional theatre seats.
Architects: STK Architects. See their website: www.stkinc.com
More information: See the Cinema Treasures pages about the AMC Century 14 and the replacement AMC Century City 15. Cinema Tour has a page about the Century 14 with nineteen 2005 photos from Jeff Arellano.
See Alison Martino's "Memories of the Old Century City Mall" on Alison's Time Machine. Alison located an early 4 minute Century City promotional film from Periscope Films.
A 1976 Julius Shulman photo in the collection of the Getty Research Institute. It's one that Chris Nichols includes in "Celebrating 60 Years of the Century City Shopping Center," his October 2024 story for L.A. Magazine.
Nearby once upon a time: Century Plaza Theatres | Shubert Theatre |
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The 1986 rendering of a building that looks like a big barn is not actually the old AMC location, that building was the old food court. The original AMC was next to it, on the far left of that image. One corner of the AMC is just barely visible in the rendering.
ReplyDeleteRight. As you can see from the page, images of the 1987 theatre are few and far between.
DeleteApologies, there was a typo in my previous comment. I meant the far right of the image is the old AMC, not the left.
DeleteYes. I found a better version of that rendering -- with signage on the theatre building, but again just getting a sliver of it on the far right. Also added -- plan of the center as it was in 1988. Thanks for the nudge on this!
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