Happy 75th birthday, Laemmle Theatres!

Film
At arts·meme, we love movie theaters and none has sustained us better over the past two decades than the wonderful seven-location art-house chain Laemmle Theatres. Over the next week, the Laemmles are celebrating a significant birthday, with great screenings and charitable donations. Two of the screenings here, Monday, December 16, Noho Seven, North Hollywood: Wim ...

Fare-thee-well, Laemmle Sunset Five, and thanks for the memory

Architecture & Design · Film
A happy announcement couched in some sad news: Laemmle Theatres will open a new seven-screen complex in North Hollywood, alas, concurrent to the closure of Sunset 5 after almost 20 years of operation. From the Laemmle folk, It is with deep regret that we announce that Laemmle will be ending its operation of the Sunset ...

Uncle Carl Laemmle’s two-bit boxed lunch 1

Film
From the get-go — for Universal Pictures that would be 1909 — film industry pioneer “Uncle” Carl Laemmle, a keen entrepreneur, allowed visitors on film sets. In the early days of Los Angeles film making, shooting took place in open air. Who needed lights? Indoor production came later. To accommodate curiosity seekers, Laemmle erected a ...

Jewish prince of Hollywood 1

Film
What can I, a mere mortal, possibly add to the legend of Irving Thalberg, Hollywood’s “boy wonder” producer who helped transform American movie making from a haphazard endeavor into a real industry; indeed a mass-market, fantasy production line. Starting as a secretary to “Uncle” Carl Laemmle at the tender age of 20, Thalberg earned stripes at Universal by bossing ...