14.4.10

Le Brady

Many of what used to smaller or bigger movie theatres have during the latest decades been replaced by supermarkets, McDonald's and other activities. Here are some examples.
There are a few which have survived. I have made a post about one of the more remarkable ones, with an interesting history since 1928, with lampposts designed by Jean Cocteau… Studio 28. Another one is the Ciné 13, belonging to director and producer Claude Lelouch, however not only showing films, but also producing theatre plays. Both these are modest in size and you can find them in the Montmartre area.
This is about a third one, Le Brady, which is situated on Boulevard de Strasbourg (see map below). Since the 50’s, it used to be a theatre specialized in horror films, but has since 1994 been taken over by another film director, screenwriter and producer, Jean-Pierre Mocky. He has been very productive since the 60’s with some 50 films, sometimes also acting. He is perhaps not abroad among the most famous French film makers and far from all his films have been big commercial successes, but some have, and many of the local actors have loved to work with him, like Bourvil, Michel Serrault, Francis Blanche, Fernandel, Michel Simon, … but also Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve…

Mocky used to mainly show his own films in this theatre, but today the choice is mixed. Actually, there are different films, maybe ten, shown alternatively in two small studios, of which one seats only 40, the one I went to (three seats occupied).

29 comments:

krystyna said...

We see
Culture becoming displaced by the business today. What a pity.

Thank you Peter for sharing!

krystyna said...

Thank you Peter for your kind visit. You're right
this tragedy in Poland has brought to the world what happened in Katyn 70 years ago.

Take care!

Catherine said...

I love these kinds of places - tiny independent arthouse cinemas are such a dying breed - thanks for letting me know there are still a few around...

Simony said...

Peter, are you competing with Carol on who can find more red in Paris??? Or it's just my impression?? ha ha ha...

Parisbreakfasts said...

What a beautiful little theater...I love the spider web effect on the windows...

Vagabonde said...

C’est dommage que tous ces cinémas soient fermés. Quand j’habitais à Paris il y avait un cinéma rue Rochechouart, après la rue Condorcet, il s’appelait le Roxy. J’ai cherché sur Yahoo France, mais le seul cinéma Roxy se trouve à St Pierre de la Réunion! Je me rappèle aussi quand je n’avais pas cours j’allais dans un petit cinéma, je ne suis pas sûre, peut-être près de la rue Champollion, à gauche du Boul Mich. Il a dû fermer aussi.

Thérèse said...

Too bad they are disappearing... such great souvenirs.
Thanks for all these great pictures Peter.

claude said...

C'est triste tous ces petits ou grands cinémas qui ferment.
Mocky a réussi à sauver le Brady, mais pour combien de temps encore.
Hier soir, j'ai regardé "un drôle de paroissien". Pour tout te dire, je n'aime pas trop le ciné de Mocky, mais j'ai regardé à cause de Bourvil.

joanna said...

We still have a few here I do not go to the big movie houses any more only live theater or the small cinemas--

I do love that building of Cine 13 and the intimacy inside the two cinemas. lots of red gives a warm glow -- and the red chairs look so inviting.

Nice to know and where they are located --

Joanny

Adam said...

I've never been to this one despite it being not too far from my place.

I don't think Paris can complain about the number of arthouse cinemas left in the city - we are still incredibly spoiled! The fact of the matter is that before TV and video/DVD, there was probably a cinema every 500 metres or so, and that is of course completely unsubstainable!

I think we should also point out that perhaps the oldest cinema in Paris, Le Luxour at Barbès, has been saved and is currently being renovated.

SusuPetal said...

Same happens here, the small movies vanish and big chains replace them. So you see only the same movies in every theater.

I try to remember what was the movie theater I was in when I visited Paris. It was very small and it showed films with no dubbing, with subtitles. At that time it was hard to find movies without dubbing into French.
I don't understand dubbing. In countries where people can't read, I understand the meaning of dubbing, but not otherwise.

hpy said...

Ces petites salles ont un charme qu'on ne trouve pas dans les grands complexes.

arabesque said...

i haven't heard of this before, certainly an interesting read, of course, to tell you the truth,
i don't really watch horror flicks, i'm scared of them. ^-^

Unknown said...

Very interesting post, Peter! I miss watching movies in big theaters in Lisbon... Gladly there still are some small ones because I refuse doing so in the uncharacteristic popcorn smelling shopping malls!

Cergie said...

Ce ne sont pas seulement les thêatre ou les cinémas qui sont remplacés par des enseignes qui en réalité sont des chaînes. a Conflans Ste Honorine une boucherie à la façade classée est devenue une agence immobilière ; à Nantes Patrick a cherché en vain le boulanger qui faisait de délicieuses brioches aux pommes, devenu peut être un kebab ou un magasin de fringues, cela ne m'a pas marquée, sinon que les brioches on ne peut plus en acheter.
Les petites salles c'est sympa, cela permet de varier l'offre et de la faire durer plus longtemps.

BLOGitse said...

I love small, old fashion theaters with thick red velvet curtains...
I do not like those new entertainment centers where people are eating and rustling candy papers all the time...

Thanks for sharing!

BLOGitse

delphinium said...

et bien ce genre de cinémas est quand même plus sympathique que les grandes galeries qui ne diffusent que les films à la mode, que tout le monde va voir et dans lesquelles on mange du pop-corn très mauvais. :-)
3 personnes quand tu y es allé? très intime comme ambiance. J'espère que celui qui s'endort ne réveille pas tous les autres avec ses ronflements. Je t'embrasse

Starman said...

I'm sure I've passed this cinema several times on my walks up Blvd de Strasbourg to Gare de l'Est.

Jeanie said...

Oh, Peter! Fewer things float my boat more than theatre architecture and to see older theatres preserved and still in use makes me smile! I must share this with some other fans!

Shionge said...

I hope the not too many commercial businesses take over all these historical buildings/shops....otherwise Paris will loose its flavour and that's not nice.

Parisbreakfasts said...

what a preponderance of R E D ! ! !
Hmmmm...

Mo said...

There is another small theatre near St Michel.(live theatre) I used to go for my French. Do you know it?

Cezar and Léia said...

Studio 28 is so charming!
Bonjour dear Peter,
Please forgive me, I'm late again and this awful "jetlag"that seems never stop, I'm surprise this time because my bio clock looks completely crazy yet! :)

Thanks for the good news, I'm really waiting for a beautiful weekend with Sun!

I think I prefer these nice and cozy ciné - theatre.
Great collages!
hugs
Léia

Corine said...

I will have to stop by Le Brady. Brady is my maiden name, so my family would love a pic of me in "our" theater ;)

James said...

Very interesting post Peter. I've often wondered what happened to the old Paris movie theaters and if there were some left.

Mona said...

those theaters look so different from what we have in India! They look cute!

Virginia said...

P
Ciné 13... I think I've photograhed that lovely window above it and seem to remember the seats are very comfortable there! :)
V

Catherine said...

Tree seats occupied !!! Who ? Where ? I don't see any. Do you make people stand up and hide themselves to take the picture Peter ? :-)

Trotter said...

Have never seen this one? Still much to discover in Paris... ;)