Laemmle Royal Independent Cinema: $7 Tuesdays in West LA

On Tuesdays, every film at the Laemmle Royal costs $7. The independent cinema at 11523 Santa Monica Blvd in West Los Angeles, between Butler and Colby avenues, is the flagship of a family circuit that has screened foreign, documentary and art house titles since 1938. The rest of the week, a regular adult ticket is $14 Monday through Thursday and $17 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

The Royal was built in 1924 and first opened as the Tivoli. Laemmle took it over in January 1972 and moved the company's business office into the space above the auditorium, where it has stayed ever since. That means the people choosing which films play across the circuit work one floor above the screen. With 600 seats in a single room, the Royal is one of the last single-screen theaters still running daily shows in Southern California.

The company itself dates to 1938, when Kurt and Max Laemmle, nephews of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle, went into exhibition. Robert Laemmle and his son Greg run it today. The stated mission is to show quality film without regard to genre or provenance, and the circuit says it serves more than a million patrons a year. Its Sneaks Club gives over 60,000 members early looks at films that lack big-studio marketing budgets.

The program skews toward festival documentaries, international dramas and restorations, and filmmakers show up often. Writer-director Noah Segan will take questions after the 7:30 pm show of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York on Thursday, October 22. On Sunday, October 25, Pawel Pawlikowski joins a Q&A after the 5:00 pm screening of Fatherland, and the co-directors of The Great Experiment appear after the 11:00 am show that same morning.

Some titles this week ask for commitment. The documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part II - Exile is split into two programs, Chapters 1-3 at 192 minutes with a 7:00 pm start and Chapters 4-5 at 164 minutes starting at 1:30 pm, and both end their run on Thursday. Lighter options sit beside them, including Unzipped, the 73-minute Isaac Mizrahi fashion documentary, and the 130-minute Queens for a Day. Laemmle flags special engagements with an SP symbol, and those carry their own pricing.

Pricing changes with the day and the clock. Monday through Thursday, adults pay $14, while children 11 and under, seniors 62 and over and military with ID pay $11, and any film starting before 6 pm is an $11 bargain show. On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays, adults pay $17 and the discounted groups pay $14, with the $14 bargain price before 2 pm and the student rate valid only for films starting after 6 pm.

Two deals beat everything else. Tuesday is $7 for all films, which makes it the obvious night to catch something you are curious about but not sure of. Senior Weekdays drop the price to $8 for patrons 62 and over at any show starting before 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Neither discount applies to special engagements. Thursday brings a third perk: Premiere Card holders get a free medium popcorn with paid admission, as long as the card is active with a balance.

The $8 senior price makes weekday afternoons a natural fit for retirees, and the evening Q&A nights are where you meet directors who flew in for a one-week booking. The honest advice is to skip a full-price Saturday night unless a filmmaker is appearing. The same film costs $10 less on a Tuesday, and a 600-seat room means you can usually choose your row. For the long two-part documentaries, pick an early start so you are not driving home past midnight.

If the screening you want has passed, the circuit's Monica Film Center in Santa Monica is a short drive west and is worth checking for the same title. Remember that the Royal is a single screen, so if a show is canceled or sells out, there is no second auditorium to switch into. In that case check what the Monica Film Center has starting within the hour rather than waiting in the lobby for a later show.

From the 405, exit at Santa Monica Blvd and head west for five blocks, and the theater appears on the right. Laemmle recommends the two city lots, one on Colby just south of Santa Monica Blvd and one on Butler just north of it, which charge $1 per hour. Some spaces are 2-hour spots and others 4-hour, so match the space to the film's running time before a three-hour documentary.

The rule that catches newcomers: there is no parking on Santa Monica Blvd between 4 pm and 7 pm, Monday through Friday, because the curb becomes a tow-away zone during those hours. Without a car, Metro buses 4 and 704 and Big Blue Bus line 1 run along Santa Monica Blvd and stop near the theater. Complimentary assistive listening devices are available at the box office with a driver's license or state ID held as a deposit.

Laemmle's own list of nearby spots starts right next door with Churros Calientes, an easy pre-show sugar fix. Farther along Santa Monica Blvd, the theater suggests Nook Bistro, the Oaxacan restaurant Juquila, California Roll Factory and Javan for Persian food. A few blocks east, Sawtelle Boulevard's Japantown strip has enough ramen, curry and dessert shops to fill a gap between two shows, which makes it the easy choice for a late bite after an evening show.

Because the Royal's programming leans toward films that open in only a handful of American cities, the lobby one-sheets are worth a look before you leave. Laemmle also runs NoHo 7 in North Hollywood, Glendale, Town Center 5 in Encino, Newhall and Claremont 5, so a title that leaves the Royal can still be playing elsewhere on the circuit's calendar.

Address: 11523 Santa Monica Blvd, West Los Angeles, CA 90025, between Butler and Colby. Tickets Monday to Thursday: $14 adults, $11 children, seniors and military, $11 before 6 pm. Friday to Sunday and holidays: $17 adults, $14 children, seniors, students after 6 pm and military, $14 before 2 pm. Tuesday: $7 for all films. Senior Weekdays: $8 before 6 pm. Special engagements are priced separately.

Accessible seating and restrooms are available. Showtimes are posted daily on laemmle.com, and clicking any blue showtime opens ticket purchase. Ask the Karpo APP which Royal screening fits after work and where to park on Butler or Colby, and it will plan the evening around the 4 pm to 7 pm tow-away window.