Cinéma Mac-Mahon, Art Deco movie theater in 17th arrondissement, France
Cinéma Mac-Mahon is a movie theater in the 17th arrondissement of Paris featuring white stone walls and geometric Art Deco decorative elements. The single screening room with 137 seats sits near Place de l'Étoile and displays a modern facade that defines the building's exterior appearance.
Opened in 1938 at 5 avenue Mac-Mahon, the cinema specialised after the Liberation in American films banned during the Occupation. In 1987 Axel Brücker took it over for twenty years, turning it into a venue for festivals and previews and reviving Mac-Mahon Distribution, which reissued classics such as Gigi and Ben-Hur. The Bolloré group bought it in 2000 and carried out major renovation work, installing a TV control room and a stage on jacks in 2005.
The cinema's regulars were nicknamed "mac-mahoniens", a term coined by Philippe Bouvard for the cinephile circle around Michel Mourlet, Pierre Rissient and Bertrand Tavernier. They championed Raoul Walsh, Otto Preminger, Joseph Losey and Fritz Lang as a "carré d'as" and held that everything lies in the mise en scène. Mourlet's manifesto appeared in Cahiers du cinéma in August 1959.
The theater has just one screening room, so check the program beforehand to see what is currently showing. Its location near Place de l'Étoile makes it easily accessible by public transit and offers nearby parking options.
The cinema's regulars of the 1950s were nicknamed "mac-mahoniens", a term coined by Philippe Bouvard. They championed Raoul Walsh, Otto Preminger, Joseph Losey and Fritz Lang as a "carré d'as", and Michel Mourlet set out their creed in the Cahiers du cinéma in August 1959. Jean-Luc Godard shot part of À bout de souffle here.
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