Mann drops its curtains

The Mann Festival Theater, located at 10887 Lindbrook Drive, closed recently following a long history in Westwood Village.

The theater first opened in 1970, featuring a small screen that attracted movie buffs from around Los Angeles.

The theater was built in a buildling that was among Westwood’s first businesses, according to the Cinema Treasures Web site. It was originally a Ralph’s supermarket, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Phillip Evangelatos, a West Los Angeles resident, said he was shocked when he found out the Mann Festival theater was closing.

“I remember the lines for movies like The Exorcist in the ’70s, or Jurassic Park and Animal House. Watching movies was an experience that involved so many people. It was almost like sporting events,” Evangelatos said.

Drew Morton, a cinema and media studies UCLA graduate student, expressed similar disappointment at the news.

“I understand economic factors no doubt led to the closing. After all, the theaters lacked the ability to show several films at once,” he said.

However, Howard Suber, a professor in the School of Theater, Film, and Television, said that this is a local issue as opposed to a reflection of the present economic condition.

“Stand-alone, single-screen theaters have become increasingly like the drive-in theater: a remnant of prior eras, financially unfeasible in the current marketplace, and not the places you feel excited about going to,” Huber said.

The Mann on Lindbrook is among an increasing number of vacant properties showing up in the village. Strings of outlets that were previously occupied now exhibit “For Sale” or “For Rent” signs along Westwood Boulevard.

“The closing of the Festival Theater seems to be a part of the overall deterioration of the area in our time of economic recession,” said Marie Yeseta, a recent UCLA alumna.

“I’m sad to see Westwood business slowing down,” she added.