The Cinerama Dome is now closed. Correction: this single screen movie theater, a longtime Hollywood staple, is not entirely shuttered, as the building was declared a historical landmark by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1998. Right now, though, Decurion Corp., which owns the Cinerama Dome, the Cinerama exhibition process, the Pacific Theater chain that runs the Dome and the Arclight Cinemas that surround it, has announced that as of April 12 it will be shuttering all its venues.
Los Angeles has of course divested itself of quite a few of its cinematic landmarks over the past two decades. Speaking as a long
time LA resident, and prolific moviegoer, I can vividly recall the La Brea Avenue situated 1930s relic the Showcase (formerly the Gordon); Westwood’s Taj Mahal-sized National (featured in ZODIAC); the vintage Santa Monica based two-plex the NuWilshire; the Fairfax Cinemas (a.k.a. “the theater where arthouse films go to die”); the tiny but classy Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. owned Westside Pavilion Cinemas; and the much-missed Century Plaza Cinemas, a swank mini-multiplex that was a bit like the Arclight before there was an Arclight. All are gone now, so I guess it was inevitable that the Cinerama Dome, which survived an attempted closure in the late 90s (Pacific wanted to transform it into a multiplex, a goal that, with the construction of the surrounding Arclight, it partially achieved), would have its day in 2021.
Regarding the Hollywood Arclight Cinemas that as of 2002 have flanked the Cinerama Dome, I say good riddance. The Arclight’s presence detracted mightily from the sight of the Dome, which for much of its existence stood alone on Sunset Boulevard, surrounded only by a vast parking lot (apparently a popular drug dealing/imbibing spot, as chronicled by Brett Easton Ellis in LESS THAN ZERO). Beyond that the Arclight, while being a nice enough venue with state-of-the-art decor and exhibition, always seemed like much ado about very little. Fancy it (and the other Arclight venues in El Segundo, Santa Monica and Sherman Oaks) may have been, but the opulent layout couldn’t hope to improve upon the quality of the movies it played—whereas every movie I’ve viewed at the Cinerama Dome has been enhanced by appearing therein.
The Dome is a one-of-a-kind structure, being the world’s only concrete geodesic dome. Upon its construction in 1963 it was intended as the first of a wave of domed theaters showcasing the Cinerama process. The forerunner of Cinemascope, Imax and other widescreen processes, Cinerama was marked by widescreen exhibition accomplished via three synchronized projectors (although the Cinerama Dome, ironically enough, didn’t actually install the three projection system until 2002) and an 86 foot curved screen. A reported 600 such domes were set to be built over the next two years, which, needless to say, didn’t occur, with most of those that did make it to fruition now demolished.
The Dome’s 1960s design, which remains largely unchanged, was always one of its main selling points. The unique seating arrangement that gave the auditorium a simultaneously vast and intimate feel was another, as was the mind-boggling sight of the domed ceiling. Then there was that amazing curved screen.
The Cinerama Dome’s screen was said to have once been the largest in the world, and it’s certainly the largest I’ve ever encountered. Not every movie I saw there made for a good fit with that screen (1995’s DESPERADO was a glaring example), but for those films that really utilized the widescreen process to the fullest, such as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and APOCALYPSE NOW, both of which were given multiple revivals in the Dome (revivals I usually always made it point to see), the experience was breathtaking.
It’s no wonder the theater has long been a popular venue for movie premieres. Or that Quentin Tarantino got quite upset upon learning that his 70mm lensed THE HATEFUL EIGHT wouldn’t be showing at the Dome—although he did manage to get ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD to play there, and even gave the theater a cameo in the film.
The first movie I saw at the Dome was HEAVY METAL in August of 1981 (also the first R-rated movie I ever viewed in a theater). Over the following years I returned to experience QUEST FOR FIRE (1981), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), E.T. (1982), THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982), GOOD MORNING VIETNAM (1987), WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT! (1988) and THE DOORS (1991). The experience was always a memorable one, even when the movies themselves failed to measure up. It was a shock viewing BRAINSTORM (1983) on cable television, as it had seemed quite a mindblower when I caught it at the Dome yet downright lousy on a small screen. A mid-1994 Cinerama Dome revival of TOMMY (1975), on the other hand, gave me a new appreciation for a film that up until then I’d never much cared for.
Only time will tell what happens with the Cinerama Dome. I understand that, historical landmark or not, it can still be razed, although doing so won’t be easy. There’s a good chance some deep pocketed individual or corporation might step in and rescue it, much like Quentin Tarantino did with the New Beverly Cinema and Netflix with Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater. So to all you deep-pocketed movie lovers in the mood to purchase a mighty unique historical venue, I say please take heed.