Save the Fine Arts Cinema, Berkeley, CA

Jack Foley

           The Cinema Theater was built by Edward Landberg in late 1961. Landberg had invented repertory cinema in the United States, and, with his then wife Pauline Kael, he offered extraordinarily high-quality programming at a reasonable price. The Cinema was part of a little complex of theaters: the Guild, the Studio, and the Cinema. The Guild and the Studio were little more than converted stores. (One friend of mine referred to the Studio as “the rat trap”--but regularly attended its programs.) The Cinema, on the other hand, was built by Landberg to be a real theater--a place which could compete with theaters showing only first-run films. Those of us who were present for the “sixties in Berkeley” remember those theaters--and particularly the spacious, comfortable Cinema--with great affection.

           I wrote this letter in the hope that the Cinema will be preserved:

           I have been involved in the arts community in Berkeley for many years. I have coordinated many arts events in the city and I currently host "Cover to Cover," a long-running radio show on Berkeley station KPFA.

           In addition, for a time in the sixties, I worked for Ed Landberg at the Cinema/Guild. I am, like many people of my generation--born 1940--a die-hard film buff, and it was a genuine thrill to be working for Mr. Landberg. After World War II ended, it suddenly became possible to see foreign films, and Mr. Landberg showed them in abundance, always offering careful program notes. American films--sometimes legendary ones--were shown at the Cinema/Guild too. My wife and I went to those theaters often, and we learned an extraordinary amount both about film and American culture in the pleasantest and most encouraging of circumstances. When I went to work for Mr. Landberg, I was already a fan of his theaters.

           At the present time, it seems, history is in question in all sorts of ways. I sometimes think we are lucky if the amnesiac young people of our acquaintance can remember anything beyond the past year.

           It is often remarked that film is "the art form of the twentieth century." Whether or not that is strictly true, film is surely one of the most important of our art forms, and it carries with it an immense sense of the burden of history: Gore Vidal says we are constantly "screening history." In founding the Cinema/Guild, Mr. Landberg made a great contribution to the culture of the city of Berkeley, and the Fine Arts Theater (formerly the Cinema) is one of his most important legacies. For the young, and indeed for ourselves, we need visible reminders of what it meant and still means to live in this place. It would be a shame if the theater were torn down for any reason. Giving the theater the status of "historical landmark"--which is in fact what it is--would be a wonderful way of recognizing that culture is not merely "in the head" but has a physical and civic dimension. Mr. Landberg's theater has the same kind of importance as Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Book Store in San Francisco, recently declared an historical landmark. The city of Berkeley would be displaying considerable wisdom in granting the Fine Arts Theater the status of historical landmark as well. Please “save the Fine Arts Cinema.”

For further information contact Save the Cinema

Jack Foley