cinelog.org

Following up on the Brookhurst post the other day, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the Brookhurst Loge.

 

Opened on February 18, 1970, with a screening of “Oliver!”, the Loge was intended as a luxury, “adults only”, option for patrons of the Brookhurst Theatre. The theatre featured a small, level auditorium (i.e. loge seating), with oversized seats, that brought to mind a private screening room. While run by the operators of the Brookhurst Theatre and located next door to the larger theatre, the Loge always maintained an independent concession stand and box office, along with separate film booking. The basic concept was to provide movie goers with a more serious, “adult”, environment for watching films (initially charging a higher ticket price for the service).

Following the Brookhurst Theatre’s quading, in the early 90’s, the luxury, “adults only”, concept was dropped and the Loge was operated as the theatre’s fifth auditorium (reflected in the Theatre’s early 90’s marquee and newspaper listings as the Brookhurst 5). Unfortunately, as the Brookhurst’s popularity continued to slide, the Loge was shut down in 1996 and converted in to a beauty school shortly thereafter. Today, the exterior of the former Brookhurst Loge has changed little from it’s days as a cinema; the poster cases remain intact, now advertising the beauty school’s literature, rather than upcoming films. However, the interior bares little resemblance to what was once there and few realize the building was ever utilized for film.

 

While the Brookhurst Loge was ultimately a failed venture, the concept was somewhat ahead of it’s time, when one looks at the number of cinemas attempting a similar idea in today’s market. Just this past year, Anaheim’s Garden Walk Theatre opened with a set of “adults only” auditoriums and a number of other chains have begun to experiment with the idea around the country; most notably the “Gold Class” cinema chain which operates their theatres entirely on this admission approach. These modern cinemas have included bars and additional luxury services in their operations, but the general idea remains the same.

 

Separated by nearly forty years, today’s theatre goers and operators apparently continue to have the same concerns as their predecessors. Whether this revived concept will succeed, meeting adult movie goers’ alleged needs, or simply prove to be a fruitless effort/gimmick again, remains to be seen.