Vagabond Theater

Between 1975 and '85 Tom Cooper ran the venerable mid-city Vagabond Theater on Wilshire Boulevard, presenting in repertory a treasure trove of movies from Hollywood's Golden Era. After a six-year absence he is back at the Vagabond, which he reopens today with a timely retrospective in honor of Frank Capra, who died Sept. 3. The 18-film series commences with "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Arsenic and Old Lace."

Once one of Los Angeles' premiere art theaters, the mid-city Vagabond on Wilshire Boulevard near Carondelet Street has in recent years been host to nostalgic Hollywood double features and even a long-running 3-D festival. Many have tried to revive the Vagabond, but Ron Lockyer and Eric Nelson, who have been operating the theater since Oct. 1, have a better chance than their predecessors.

Once one of Los Angeles' premiere art theaters, the mid-city Vagabond on Wilshire Boulevard near Carondelet Street has in recent years been host to nostalgic Hollywood double features and even a long-running 3-D festival. Many have tried to revive the Vagabond, but Ron Lockyer and Eric Nelson, who have been operating the theater since Oct. 1, have a better chance than their predecessors.

Between 1975 and '85 Tom Cooper ran the venerable mid-city Vagabond Theater on Wilshire Boulevard, presenting in repertory a treasure trove of movies from Hollywood's Golden Era. After a six-year absence he is back at the Vagabond, which he reopens today with a timely retrospective in honor of Frank Capra, who died Sept. 3. The 18-film series commences with "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Arsenic and Old Lace."

"A Farewell Tribute to Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth" will reopen the Vagabond Theater next Friday. One of Los Angeles' pioneer art and repertory theaters, the Vagabond, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., has been refurbished by veteran exhibitor Louis Federici after having been closed more than a year.

The Vagabond Theater, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., one of the city's oldest specialty film theaters, has reopened with a double feature composed of "Woodstock" (1970), the Oscar-winning documentary of the landmark rock festival, and "Quadrophenia" (1979), which combines drama--a seaside clash between Mods and Rockers--with rock music inspired by the Who; it marked the screen debut of Sting. Information: (213) 387-1659.

. . . Going Hollywood? Footballer-turned-thespian Brian Bosworth--a.k.a. "The Boz"--has legally changed his last name to Boz worth. . . . Jay Leno will provide the voice of the title character in a redubbed, camped-up version of the '50s B-film "Hideous Sun Demon"--now called "What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon?" It debuts at the Vagabond Theater on Wednesday. . . .

The 3-D Film Festival, originally due to end Thursday at the Vagabond Theater, has been extended through Sept. 6. Thereafter, the producers hope to continue showing such pictures at the venue indefinitely, making the Vagabond perhaps the first, full-time 3-D film theater anywhere.

The Vagabond Theater on Wilshire Boulevard is presenting through Saturday Gloria Swanson's 1928 silent version of "Sadie Thompson" along with "Sunset Boulevard." One of the finest of the late silents yet long unavailable, "Sadie Thompson" has for years been missing its final reel. Two years ago Kino International underwrote a restoration, supervised by Dennis Doros, in which production stills were used to fill out the missing footage. Having left Paramount for United Artists, Swanson was determined to put her clotheshorse days behind her. It was director Raoul Walsh's inspired idea that Swanson should do a screen version of "Rain," a legendary portrayal of the shady lady stranded in Pago Pago, based on a Somerset Maugham short story.

Care for a little murder with your latte? Or how about soup and salad with a little adultery and two-timing on the side? That's the idea behind Tales, a cafe-bookshop that provides a lot more than just a coffee buzz. The shop specializes in short stories--plenty of anthologies are for sale here, but no novels.

"A Farewell Tribute to Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth" will reopen the Vagabond Theater next Friday. One of Los Angeles' pioneer art and repertory theaters, the Vagabond, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., has been refurbished by veteran exhibitor Louis Federici after having been closed more than a year.

Russ Meyer, a master of sexploitation filmmaking who was called "king of the nudies" or "King Leer" for such soft-core pornography classics as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and "Vixen," has died. He was 82. Meyer, who also directed the major studio release "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," died Saturday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, according to his company, RM Films International Inc. Spokeswoman Janice Cowart said Meyer had suffered from dementia and died of complications of pneumonia.

Martin Scorsese hasn't forgotten the valuable lessons he learned from those who served as his mentors at the beginning of his filmmaking career. Well-guarded industry doors flew open when his protege, 31-year-old writer-director Katherine Lindberg, mentioned that "Martin" told her to call. "Rain," the first feature film by Lind- berg, the first graduate recipient of the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Fellowship established at New York University, premiered at the recent Sundance Film Festival.