Oriental Theatre
828 SE Grand Avenue,
Portland,
OR
97214
828 SE Grand Avenue,
Portland,
OR
97214
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 30 comments
Before The Dark video is on YOUTUBE
The Oriental Theater was truly a one of a kind. If there are any folk’s that grew up in the Portland area Who remember going to the Oriental for that Saturday afternoon Movie or the concert’s that were given in the mid to later 1960’s On the theater’s might Wurlitzer pipe organ that later was installed In the portland organ grinder pizza parlor from aug 1973 threw Feb 1996. Please share with us, its very important to keep the memories a live Of a very special magical time of a by gone golden era of the movie palaces Of the past………………
It is a unfortunate this theatre is gone. It is a favourite of many who saw it in person and through photographs by those who never did. It was a truly wild theatre architecturally. The problem with the Oriental was its location. It was built in anticipation of a business district that never really developed. I visited Portland again a few years ago and the Oriental’s original location is still something of an odd one given the layout of the area. Numerous theatres suffered from this situation and were the first to be torn down as result.
Well 87 years ago tonight Dec 31 1927 the glorious Oriental Theatre opened. It was a cold rainy windy night. With over 2,000 people in line to get a first look inside this masterpiece one of a kind theatre. With house Organist Glenn Shelley filling the night air with the sweat sounds of the Oriental’s Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ this truly proved to be a night that would be remembered for a very long time. I would also like to point out to folks that the Oriental Theatre’s Wurlitzer Pipe Organ was the very same Theatre Organ that was installed in the Organ Grinder Pizza Parlor that was open from 1973 threw 1996. The Wurlitzer was taken out of the Oriental before the theatre was torn down in early 1970.
It is unbelievable that a theatre of this elaborate beauty would ever be torn down. More majestic and lovely than the famous Chinese in Los Angeles by far. It is in the same league as the 5th Avenue in Seattle. May have been even more spectacular. I never was able to actually see it in person.
There was a film made it 1970 titled Before The Dark. It is all about the Portland Oriental Theatre. A copy of the film was posted on youtube in early July of this year. This film is very rare!! I have been looking for this film for over 5 years and now here it is online!! Be sure to check it out!!
Dec. 31st, 1927 grand opening ad is in the photo section for this theatre.
Dennis Hedberg spent many yrs taking care of the Wurlitzer Pipe Organ in the Oriental. Mr. Hedberg removed the Organ before the Oriental was razed in early 1970. You can find much more info on the Portland Organ Grinder web site were the Organ was installed from 1973 threw 1996. The Oriental Organ was enlarged from it’s original 13pipe ranks to 48 by the time the 1980’s came around. What a masterpiece this Wurlitzer was both serving the Oriental Theatre with it’s 13ranks to it’s time at the Portland Pizza Parlor entertaining folk’s nightly with it’s unmatched magical sound!!
Well it’s dec 31, 2010. If the oriental was still with us she would be turning
83yrs old tonight!! There are still a few ranks of pipes from her wurlitzer
Theatre pipe organ that live on to this day.
The oriental was truly one of a kind. In may & nov of 1967 the oriental theatre
And its mighty wurlitzer theatre pipe organ were out in the spot light when
Mr. George wright played to outstanding concert’s on the oriental’s wurlitzer
Pipe organ. George wright truly one of a kind in theatre organ history playing
At truly one of a kind theatre. If anyone out there was lucky enough to hear
One of these concert’s please share with us the magic of george at the oriental.
The color pic posted by tc is very nice. What I hope to find is a color pic of
The grand lobby with the stairway and both dragons on both sides of the
Stairs.
There is one on the webpage posted by TC (see above) on February 17, 2005.
Is there anyone out there that knows of any color pics of the inside of
The oriental theatre? It sure would be great to see this one of a kind
Theatre in color.
Great pictures and history.
LOST MEMORY! You get my vote for Member of the Year for ALWAYS, and I do mean ALWAYS, coming through with the best photo links. Thanks for being a member here and participating so wonderfully. Keep those ‘Theatre Organ’ photos coming in!
It’s been gone a long 38 years !!
Here is the USC photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2seuo7
Here is a lobby photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yukbay
Here is a 1925 photo of the smoking room from the USC Archive. Suffice to say they don’t build theaters like this anymore:
http://tinyurl.com/r2nde
This gives a bad reputation to Portland Oregon when it comes to preservation. A distinctive theatre like the Oriental should never have been destroyed. It is a cultural and historical loss. Where were Portland’s creative leaders when needed?
It’s quite sad to learn that such beautiful theatre had been demolished to make way for a parking lot.
What a tragic news !
Raymond Lo/12th June,2005
Thanks! That’s what happened.
Up in the corner, where it says “search”, type in “oriental theatre”, be sure to spell it “theatre” rather than “theater”. The first link on the list of links should be to 31 photos of the Portland Oriental.
No pictures came up using that search.
Even more photos at this link:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
type Portland oriental theatre in the search box
first listing will link you to 32 b&w photos
Wow. What a theater. So sad.