LA CULTURE
The Cinema Whisperer Quentin Tarantino coaxes out the cool in old movie theaters By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t
P rojection on physical film. It really doesn’t get any better, does it? Legendary screenwriter, director, and actor Quentin Tarantino wholeheartedly agrees with you. In 2007 he purchased a Los Angeles land- mark, the 228-seat, single-screen New Beverly Cinema at 7165 Beverly Blvd. And from this location, in 2014, he began operating as the programmer of the theater, continuing a tradition of showing only 35mm films, many of them from his personal collection. “I want the New Beverly to be a bastion for 35mm films,” Tarantino told Do LA (dola.com). “I want it to stand for something. When you see a film on the New Beverly calendar, you don’t have to ask whether it’s going to be shown in DCP or in 35mm. You know it’s playing in 35 because it’s the New Beverly.” To this day, Tarantino has mimicked another long- running programming standard set into motion in 1978 by the cinema’s original owner, Sherman Torgan—a fabu- lous double-feature format. He’s also adhered to a rep- ertory cinema style that showcases predominantly classic and notable older films. While keeping classic revival house traditions, The New Beverly, under Tarantino’s supervision, has created some new customs too. For example, when the cinema re-opened in June 2021 following the real-life horror show that was the pandemic, ultra-eager patrons were blessed with a screening of 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , written, directed, and co-produced by QT. One of these restless cinephiles was actor Giovanni Ribisi ( Boiler Room , Avatar , Sneaky Pete ), who told The Hollywood Reporter ’s Ryan Parker about his personal perceptions of the momentousness of this coming-back- out-into-the-real-world experience. “What better way to celebrate [getting back to life] than coming to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . It’s so easy to start thumbing through your life. But to put your phone down, and to pay attention, and to not have the option to fucking pause the movie, it’s refreshing.” While kudos certainly go to Tarantino for calling moviegoers back from exile and for continuing the cel- ebration of the velvet appeal of 35mm cinematic art at the New Beverly, the old girl herself brought moxie to the equation; she was stuffed with a mouth-watering history. For instance, when she originally opened in 1929, flaunt- ing a Spanish style designed by architects Warren Frazier Overpeck and John P. Edwards, she was, many believe, a candy store… a beer parlor… a vaudeville house… a Jewish Community Center… a porn moviehouse… and possibly a few other things at one time or another.
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ment by Tarantino in July 2021 on Dax Shepard’s Arm- chair Expert podcast. The historic single-screen venue, described by the Los Angeles Conservancy as being lo- cated on Sunset Drive where Sunset Boulevard becomes Hollywood Boulevard, showcases a Spanish Colonial Revival exterior designed by noted theatre architect Lewis A. Smith. Yet, as the Conservancy’s website describes, the Vista’s interior design went in a completely different direction due to the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in Egypt in 1922 while the Vista was being built. “The the- atre’s exterior was too far along in the design phase but the interior plans were still on the drawing board,” the Con- servancy notes. “The result: a Spanish exterior and an Egyptian interior.” And what of her past lives as a venue? Reports have it that the Vista was originally known as Lou Bard Playhouse or Bard’s Hollywood, featuring both vaudeville acts and silent movies. While a historical and vital part of the Los Feliz area, according to the Conservancy, the Vista “is not currently officially designated as a landmark.” For Tarantino’s part, though, he apparently appreci- ates her charm and has envisioned a moviegoing experi- ence at the Vista that will honor her unique personality. As QT told Deadline, “…again: only film. It won’t be a revival house [though]. We’ll show new movies that come out where they give us a film print. It’s not going to be like the New Beverly. The New Beverly has its own vibe.”
Quentin Tarantino
So it’s easy to see whyTarantino was smitten, and why he’s not finished yet. There are many other stunning and historic cinemas capable of pulling out their party shoes if he will only suggest it. One, for instance, is the 400- seat Vista Theatre, according to a purchase announce- 35mm. You know it’s playing in 35 because it’s the New Beverly. ” “ When you see a film on the New Beverly calendar, you don’t have to ask whether it’s going to be shown in DCP or in
thenewbev.com | @newbeverly | vintagecinemas.com/vista
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