Last picture show in Long Beach?

Long Beach appears to have lost its movie theater.

Long Beach Cinemas abruptly closed last week with no explanation. Representatives of Philips International, which has operated the movie house since 2002, didn't respond to requests for comment this week. Long Beach officials also haven't been able to find out the reason for the closure.

"When we called we were told, 'No comment, speak to the bank,' " said City Manager Charles T. Theofan. He added that city officials were investigating whether Philips had encountered financial problems.

The four-screen theater has served much of the South Shore in western Nassau since a 2005 arson fire closed the Oceanside Twin. There also are no movie houses in the Five Towns. Without the theater on East Park Avenue at Long Beach Road, residents of the seaside city wanting to see the latest flicks nearby must travel to Rockville Centre, where one of two cinemas has closed, or to Valley Stream, Lynbrook or Baldwin.

Philips, based in Manhattan, is one of the metropolitan area's largest real estate developers. Its portfolio includes more than 200 office, condominium and retail properties in seven states.

Among the company's nearly 30 holdings on Long Island are Bellmore Shopping Center, Philips Plaza in Lynbrook, Uniondale Shopping Center, Riverhead Plaza and Deer Cross Commons in Deer Park.

In 1989, company executive Philip Pilevsky joined two other developers in a joint venture with the Cineplex Odeon chain to purchase four movie houses in Suffolk. A decade or so later, he bought the Long Beach theater, which had been shuttered.

Pilevsky expanded the former Lido Theater by demolishing an adjacent store. The site has been home to a movie house since the 1920s, according to Carole Shahda Geraci of the Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society.

Long Beach Cinemas appeared to be busy until last week, when the names of movies being shown were removed from the marquee and posters for coming attractions were taken down. There also was no notice in the darkened box office telling patrons of the shutdown.

"It appears to be closed, but we don't know why," said Michael J. Kerr, president of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.

George Ennis, co-founder of a local film festival bearing his name, said he called the theater's manager last week after seeing the empty marquee and locked doors. Ennis, a Long Beach resident, had scheduled a festival for later this month at the theater.

"The manager told me the owners came in and said, 'We're wrapping up things here,' " Ennis said. "He thought they had come to talk about renovations, but within a few hours everything was closed."

The manager did not respond to a voice-mail message.