Only in Theaters
As much as I’ve grown tired of being in the movie exhibition industry after 20+ years, I’ll admit that there have been times when I think I would enjoy owning a movie theatre. Setting my own programming, being able to provide context and commentary for the films I show. It’s that romantic idea of being THE destination for film lovers, and presenting an art form we love that leads a lot of cinephiles to working at a movie theatre at least once in their lives. But the industry is not for the faint of heart, and that’s something that comes through clearly in Raphael Sbarge’s documentary, which looks at the pivotal past few years of one of LA’s premiere theatre chains.
I have never been to Los Angeles. That seems like an oversight, but the truth is, I’ve never been able to afford to take a trip out. But I do want to go, and I’m sure I’ll make it out there, at some point, if only to see a movie at some of the famous theatres in the city. I think I will add a Laemmle Theaters to that list. Family owned and operated for over 80 years, there’s always been a Laemmle in the movie business. But with the proliferation of streaming, and less of an appetite for art house cinema, in the moviegoing public, the current owners- Max and his son, Greg- have some difficult decisions to make moving forward. This is all before COVID, and the unprecedented mass closure of movie theatres across the world.
On the soundtrack, we hear how Sbarge- even after beginning to make “Only in Theaters”- struggled to figure out what the story he wanted to tell was when he began to interview Greg Laemmle. Honestly, even if it had just been about the family and its history in the industry, I would have been down for this film, even if it had just been a short film. But when Greg reveals that- because of the downturn in attendance, selling the chain is on the table, the tension in the film increases. One of the reasons I value the Plaza Theatre (and now, the re-opened Tara) in Atlanta as independently-run theatres is that the experiences they sell is not about having the most elaborate menu or the most up-to-date technology or seating, but giving audiences a chance to return to the golden days of movie watching, whether it’s for a current release or a repertory viewing, without 20 minutes of ads you get tired of and with an audience that respects the experience for others. This is part of what we get the sense of with Laemmle Theaters, that it fills a particular type of moviewatching experience you do not expect from the major chains. But audience appetites are not necessarily for the type of experience Laemmle gives us, and that’s part of the problem; because of streaming, we can rent a classic movie or art house film in our homes for a fraction of the price. That makes Greg’s ultimate decision not to sell, to keep his family’s foothold in the industry intact, an admirable risk. It’s not on him that a pandemic no one in the industry could have foreseen would challenge his choice.
“Only in Theaters” is a film that celebrates cinema the way the Laemmle family has presented cinema for 80 years. It also shows what a challenge the industry faces moving forward. This is actually the second documentary I’ve seen on the subject this year, and both of them have value by the way they deal with separate modes of moviewatching. If “Only in Theaters” lingers longer, it’s only because it is about the type of moviegoing we all have fond memories of, and as such, can identify with perfectly.
