Art
Theater has long history with CSULB
By Christine Adamo
On-line Forty-Niner
Perched
in front of the KiWe café, 28-year
resident Larry McCoy takes a guess as to
the reason for the staying power of the
Art Theater across the way, at 205 E. 4th
St.
“You just can’t help but keep coming back,”
McCoy said, adding,“Long Beach is like a
magnet.”
Theater Owner Howard Linn hopes that’s exactly
what the public will continue to do. He
goes the distance to ensure that the art
house films he screens are timely, in demand
and worth your moving-going dollars.
Linn originally bought The Art Theater in
1973 in partnership with four Cal State
Long Beach faculty members. He is now the
sole owner.
“It was in dreadful shape,” Linn said, reflecting
back to a time when he served as director
of the Long Beach Film Society on campus.
Steve Hubbard, a film and electronic arts
professor at CSULB, said Linn is a friend
of the student community. Hubbard taught
the department’s “Theatrical Film Symposium”
while the on-campus theater was closed for
renovation at Linn’s landmark theater on
Fourth Street between 1976 and 1979.
According to Hubbard, the university had
trouble finding an interim theatrical setting
in which to screen movies for students on
Monday nights.
“[Linn] was accommodating and receptive,”
Hubbard said. “He was an independent theater
owner willing to work with the university.”
In its 77 years, the single-screen theater
has survived a handful of owners, changes
in genre, box office build-out and sound
system upgrades. Yet, according to
Linn, the marquee and overall look have
remained virtually unchanged.
Patronage is generated through limited print,
and mostly word-of-mouth, advertising. Linn
chooses not to generate a mailing list or
post a Web site. He instead draws customers
in with his ability to sniff out what he
calls “the next break out hit.”
“It’s like making a bet on a horse race,”
he quipped. “You never know whether the
next film you show will or won’t be a people
pleaser.”
Linn runs each movie in response to demand.
“Amelie,” nominated for five Academy Awards,
was The Art Theater’s longest screening
ever; running for 12 weeks. Linn also expects
success for “Mostly Martha,” now showing,
and “The Last Kiss,” an upcoming Italian
film.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a 10-year
veteran of The Art Theater, and 2001’s “Hedwig
and the Angry Inch” are midnight favorites.
Accompanying stage shows and costumes are
optional.
“Notorious C.H.O.,” with comedienne Margaret
Cho, may join the cult ranks after its run
a few weeks from now. Korean mothers
will also be optional.
Though Linn delights in keeping the venue’s
week-to-week activity a mystery, all you
really have to do is call the box office
at (562) 438-5435 for synopses, show times,
and pricing information read aloud by Linn.
The call is worth that alone.
Student and senior discounts apply. Members
of the armed forces are admitted free when
they present a current ID.
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