Sherman, the owner and operator of the New Beverly Cinema, passed away unexpectedly on July 18th. I'm not one for writing eloquent obituaries, so I'll just tell you the man was loved by a lot of people and his operation, my favorite theater in LA, brought a lot of people much happiness. Happiness at a low cost I might add. That with a sense of community - the place could not be beat and hopefully still can't be beat, though the future of the theater is understandably in jeopardy. You need to go out and see a movie there (today would be a good day since they are showing 3-D pornos)...
The theater went dark following Sherman's death. It was and is a family-run operation. The re-opening was for Grindhouse film festival's July show - The Sinful Dwarf (1973) and Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974), which is by the way one of the first movies I reviewed on this blog. Harry Novak supplied trailers, the dirtiest ones playing before the late film (Sinful Dwarf), not that Castle of Freaks is without its perversions.
Before the movie the audience participated in a mass-dixie cup toast to Sherman with some liquor, perhaps Old English. It was one of the greatest double-features I've been to, energy was high, the movies were exotic, the crowd appreciated how lucky they were to be seeing these films in a theater with the other fans. Thank you Sherman, rest in peace.
I don't matter if you have the DVD or the tape - everything looks better at the New Beverly so get out there!
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