> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# In effort to save Aero theater, owner looks to neighborhood
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/in-effort-to-save-aero-theater-owner-looks-to-neighborhood/
- Published: 2002-08-14T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:38:14.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Entertainment, Montana, #archive-import

*Aero theater hosts dinner and a movie to attract viewers*

Saving the Aero movie theater is a simple equation to its owner Chris Allen.

“The neighborhood theater is the place to be,” he said. “And as long as we continue to give people a reason to show up, we plan on being here.”

The Aero is in a race against time to raise enough money to stay in its Montana Avenue location. A fundraiser last month raised nearly $40,000 but the theater still owes its landlords $20,000 in back rent.

Failure to pay off all of its outstanding debts by the beginning of September will be the end of the Aero, a World War II-era movie house that used play around-the-clock films for military plane manufacturer Donald Douglas employees.

“There is some sense of urgency,” Allen said. “If the checks aren’t there, the theater will go dark.”

Allen said the theater has always struggled financially, but over the last several years, fewer and fewer people have come through the doors, while the rent has remained the same. As other forms of entertainment move into the area, there are just too many other things for people to do, he said.

James Rosenfeld, the Aero’s landlord, said through an assistant that as a matter of policy he does not comment on stories regarding the theater or any possible tenants lined up to take its place.

But paying the back rent still won’t give Allen any guarantees on running the theater in the future, since he operates on a month-to-month lease.

However, due to the overwhelming success of the first fundraiser, Allen has scheduled a second event on Aug. 21 that will feature a screening of the silver-screen classic “Casablanca” with wine and food provided by Wolfgang Puck Cafe.

If the second fundraiser is successful — and the theater is still running pictures — Allen said he will host a similar event once a month. The events would all feature classic movies and catering from local restaurants.

“It would definitely be a new thing for us,” he said. “We usually just run the films, but these events have really worked. People came out and had a really good time.”

Allen also is proposing to re-run classic children’s movies and cartoons on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

“A lot of people want the theater to be there but they want it to show things they want to see,” Allen said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to make going to a movie a fun experience all over again.”

> “We’re trying to make going to a movie a fun experience all over again.” — — CHRIS ALLEN Owner of the Aero

For more information about how to help save the Aero theater, call (310) 395-0144.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081402-02_04.jpg)

theater owner Chris Allen. (Photo: File photo Aero)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 14, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081402.pdf?ref=smdp.com)