![\"The](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/IMG_8504-e1722019683170.jpg\")
<\/a>The Fox Westwood Village, the day before it closed. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one of both theatres at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n
As a major part of my initial year in this city, they\u2019ve meant a lot to me to this day! Every time I saw a film in one of them in the past couple of decades, I marveled that, in these days of banal multiplexes, these two gorgeous structures were still going, perhaps not \u201cstrong,\u201d but still standing. I often felt like a Norma Desmond-era movie star just entering them.<\/p>\n
Being that they both opened in the 1930s, (the Fox Village Opened in 1931 followed by the Bruin in 1937,) I can only imagine how glamorous all the premieres were at these stunning movie houses. Even in modern times, there were many premieres at both, but it seemed mainly at the Village. Occasionally when I\u2019d be driving through there for one reason or another, (usually to pick-up food from one of the many eateries in the area,) I\u2019d see one taking place. I had even been to a couple of openings there myself.<\/p>\n
And now, incredibly sadly, they both closed on July 25, just two days before my anniversary with LA! I celebrate that milestone most years with a drive down the coast a bit, as I did that very first day, then up through Westwood to 501 *Gayley Avenue where I first landed as a teen. So the end of this major era is extra poignant to me. * [Note: In a strange bit of irony, when I tried to go to that building to take my yearly picture in front of it last week, the same day that I took the pix of the movie theatres, Gayley Avenue was also closed!!! Temporarily, of course, for construction. But, as frustrating as it was to have my anniversary celebration attempt thwarted, the synchronicity of my most special street in Westwood being closed, as well as the theatres, made me chuckle.]<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Bruin, the day before it closed. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
My first job here, (yes, I did<\/em> have actual employment before the long journey of being a \u201cmedia personality,\u201d first with my TV show and now this e-zine,) was as the \u201chot dog girl\u201d at Stan\u2019s Corner Shop in Westwood, which was catty-corner to\u2014you guessed it\u2014the Fox and Bruin movie theaters. I was so fortunate to get to look at their beauty every day. They were so majestic; we didn\u2019t have anything so grand in either my native Brooklyn or the more upscale Manhattan.<\/p>\n And, the best<\/em> part of those days was that, as a young worker in Westwood Village, I quickly became friends with many others who were employed in that small area, especially on that one block. So I got to see every movie in these two places free<\/em>! It really was the best of times.<\/p>\n As the years passed, the Fox and Bruin were still my favorite film venues. And then when I started seeing Mr. X, we occasionally enjoyed a five-movie day, and that often included one or two in those houses.<\/p>\n The front of the Bruin the day before it closed. Notice the picture of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine on the left. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n As Screen Actors Guild screenings came into play for me, whenever there was a choice of venue, I chose these two. Just even waiting on line to get in still felt special to me, like I was home.<\/p>\n And walking into them made me feel positively regal! There are no other movie house experiences like those two in the rest of Los Angeles; I always felt like Margot Robbie\u2019s character, Sharon Tate, must have in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood<\/em>, even though I wasn\u2019t there to see myself<\/em> in a motion picture, as she was. (But a girl can always hope!)<\/p>\n The last film I saw at either of them was 2019\u2019s Knives Out<\/em> before it even came out. It was a SAG screening, with free popcorn and soda, and all the stars speaking after. What a happy memory to close-out this long era on.<\/p>\n<\/a>