Mann National goes dark

What I think was the last single-screen movie house to open in Westwood Village, the Mann National, will close at the end of this week. It's where The Exorcist opened to huge lines and ran what seemed like forever, and same for The Godfather. But the National's owners haven't given it much love since. "Its rather bland exterior belies a large upstairs lobby (which is replete with chandeliers) and an enormous orange-colored auditorium (which boasts a massive screen)," says Cinema Treasures. The news comes from Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells:

The crowds aren't going to Westwood any more. I can let the National go but please don't tell me this is going to happen to Mann's Village also. If this is in the cards [I] don't want to hear about it. The same thing that happened in NYC is slowly [happening] to LA, the single-screen theatres are closing, and what LA will have left will be multiplexes like the Arclight, the Grove, teh[sic] AMC Century City and The Bridge.

The National was used last year for a scene in Zodiac. Mark Ruffalo can't handle watching Dirty Harry and goes out into the lobby for a smoke, and then Jake Gyllenhaal comes up to him and chats him up about the case.

Via Franklin Avenue.