Mann Theatres was a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. ...

that predominantly operated in the western United States, with a heavy concentration of theaters in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. Its

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

was "Where Hollywood goes to the movies".

History

The Mann Theatres chain was named after

Ted Mann Ted Mann (April 16, 1916 – January 15, 2001) was an American businessman involved in the film industry and head of Mann Theatres. In 1973, he purchased the National General Theatre chain and changed the name of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, wh ...

, the founder of the original Minnesota chain. Ted Mann married

Rhonda Fleming Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis; August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was an American film and television actress and singer. She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most glamoro ...

in 1977. In 1973 Mann purchased the theatre division of National General Pictures, which consisted primarily of the original

Fox Theatres Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Co ...

chain. Among the theatres acquired in the transaction was

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chinese ...

, renamed Mann's Chinese Theatre, in addition to several of the prestigious single-screen theaters in the Los Angeles area, including the Fox Village Theater, the Bruin Theater, the National and the

Ogden Theatre The Ogden Theatre is a music venue and former movie theater in Denver, Colorado, United States. Located at 935 E. Colfax Avenue in the neighborhood of Capitol Hill, it was built in 1917 and has a maximum capacity of 1,600 for concerts. It is list ...

, Esquire Theatre, Mayan Theatre, Center Theatre and Aladdin Theatre located in Denver, Colorado.

Subsidiary era

In 1986, Mann Theatres was acquired by the

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...

Gulf and Western Industries Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...

. In 1987,

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

was brought in as a partner. In 1997, Mann Theatres was sold to WestStar, a company backed by the private equity firm

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has over ...

Demise

All the cinemas of Mann Theatres were gradually sold off to other chains. Mann Theatres was a dominant cinema chain across

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, including the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

area. In 2000, Colorado Cinemas Theatres acquired the Mann Theatres locations in Denver.

Carmike Cinemas Carmike Cinemas was a motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United States. The company ...

took over most of the Mann Theatres locations outside of the Denver area. The company ceased operation on December 27, 2011, with the closing of its last property, the Westlake Village Theaters, which was reopened as a Cinépolis.

Technologies

In October 2008 the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre complex in Hollywood was the first 3-D-ready commercial cinema to unveil the installation of Iosono technology, featuring 380 speakers. In April 2009 the Mann Chinese 6 was among the first to present motion-enhanced theatrical films featuring 30 D-BOX motion controlled seats.

References

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External links