The auditorium portion of the building was constructed out of a genuine Quonset structure, following a nationwide trend after World War II of using Quonsets to build inexpensive movie theatres. Very few survive today. One such example is in Boulder Creek, CA (long since closed as a theatre and now housing a pizza restaurant and other businesses) and another is the Rio in Monte Rio, CA and is still showing movies.
Another name change: The nightclub operation is now called Abyss, and has been for more than a year now.
I have recently discovered that when this theatre opened circa 1926, it was called New Strand. This is because there was indeed an “old” nickelodeon style Strand in the building next door, two storefronts up. It had a simple front, with arched entrance and a leaded glass transom reading STRAND. This may have been a renaming of the 1911 Empire Theatre, but I cannot confirm this at present. The building still stands with completely remodeled facades, and the former location of the “old” Strand is now Fibbar MaGee’s Irish Pub.
Vince Pierce: You manager was very lucky. I have heard several stories of people stepping off the catwalks in theatre attics and falling partially or completely through. It is usually not pretty, as the metal mesh sandwiched in the layer of plaster does awful things to the person as they rip through it. The pastor who rather unsuccessfully tried to maintain a church in the since-demolished Broadway (Encore) Theatre in Burlingame did this, but was relatively unharmed, but the ceiling had to have major work, which was done very carefully by expert plasterers. I have been told that in 1927, as the seats were being installed in the California Theatre in San Jose, a workman stepped off the attic catwalk and went completely through the decorated ceiling, landing on the main floor seat standards which had just been installed immediately forward of the balcony overhang on the Auditorium Right side of the theatre. It is said that he survived the night, bent and broken over the seat standards, but died the next day. I am told that until the ceiling was repainted in the late 1970s, the repair to the ceiling could be faintly discerned. I am also told that some people who sat in that area as late as the 1970s experienced odd occurrances, including having their clothes tugged-at down near the floor by unseen hands. As the floor of the California’s auditorium was completely dug away for new basement dressing rooms and a change in rake during its 2000-2004 renovation and restoration, I can only speculate as to whether this phenomenon may still happen.
So, to repeat, your manager was indeed fortunate.
As a Board member of THSA, I have gotten the chance to see sample printed pages of this wonderful re-publication. It is going to be First Class.
I’ve made my contribution to this project, how about YOU?
The Towne Theatre in San Jose California, built in 1925 as the Hester, has been operating as an Indian triplex for several years now. It was San Jose’s first movie theatre outside the downtown, eventually became an art theatre, then went to porn, then back to art/indie/foreign/rep (and occasional silents with a salvaged Wurlitzer organ) in 1990, was soon triplexed, carried on until a little after the new Millenium, then went to the current policy. There is talk, however, of diversifying programming to have some art film fare once again from time-to-time while keeping the Bollywood.
This theater was earlier known at the Premier, a name which it still had by 1930. I long ago discovered one reference to its original name being Strand. During the silent era, it was equipped with a photoplayer instrument. I do not know the brand or type.
Is there any Egyptian decor in the auditoriums?
I am very impressed by the faded bits of color on the cornice of the facade. In actual Egyptian temples where color survives on the exteriors, this is exactly what you see, and it is typically the red and blue pigments which have survived the ages best. Someone did their homework!
It is so gratifying to see Long Beach’s last operating historic movie theatre (and nearly the last one standing) so beautifully restored, updated, cared for, and promoted. With relatives in southern California, hopefully I can manage a trip to the Art one of these days. All the movie palaces that graced downtown Long Beach are gone, but at least this wonderful little gem remains.
Wow—last year I did some simple Moorish decorative painting in the home theatre of a brand new $5 million Tuscan style house in Los Altos, in the Bay Area. The theatre seats maybe 20. For this Californian to hear that the largest movie palace ever built in Chicago (and one of the ten largest ever built in the nation) has been sold for only $3.2 Million…just boggles my mind. Granted, millions will have to be put into it, but still.
To respond to the May 2007 comment by brett421 a few posts above: On the marquee of the multiplex at Universal Citywalk, there is a salvaged and resused neon plume which looks exactly like the one which once graced the middle of the Fox Venice marquee. I believe it is the original from the Fox. I saw it at Citywalk in 1998. As that complex contains numerous vintage pieces of neon from the Museum of Neon Art, I suspect this to be the case.
Just from the above photo alone, I am impelled to say “HOORAY!” I am so happy to see a rich authentic High Deco color scheme being applied to the original ornament. Kudos to the Wilshire Beverly Hills management for doing this.
The Theatre Historical Society 2008 Conclave Tour got to tour the Fox Oakland two weeks ago. There is still much work being done, but I must stress that the decorative painting work—indeed the whole restoration—is absolutely first-rate, and sticks to the orgiinal opulance of the 1920s Hindu/Islamic fantasy that is the interior of this showplace. The effect is breathtaking.
I most heartily encourage anyone who likes the Skouras style to buy that Annual (1987) from Theatre Historical Society mentioned above. It’s a wonderful documentation of the style, with many photos and fine analysis/written documentation. It’s worth every penny.
I understand some, though not all, of the interior survives. Here’s hoping that which survives will be retained and restored. There was once some very fanciful ornamental detailing in this theatre—mysterious and temple-like, which borrowed motifs from, among other things, the Lion Gate of the ancient city of Mycenae in Greece.
Driving into Corvallis for the first time last year, my wife and I had a hearty laugh as we spotted the vertical sign of the 1920s era Whiteside Theatre, with the sign of the Darkside Cinema across the street. It’s a great photo op for anyone visiting the town.
I have heard of several theatres which have chosen “Cinema Paradiso” as the last film to show before they close, a very apt choice. In my local area, one such theatre that did so was the Varsity in Palo Alto, when it closed in 1994. Since it was closing on a Saturday, they ran one last screening of “Rocky Horror…” at Midnight (thus technically being the last movie shown) before shutting off the projectors for good. The Varsity has been a Borders bookstore ever since, though most of the exterior and many features of the interior were retained in the conversion.
It’s been many months now since a visit to the recreated Royal facade subsequent to the one mentioned in my last post. At this last visit I beheld the facade complete, except for the marquee. All scaffolding was down, and yes indeed, they have made a perfect copy of Pflueger’s metal facade, with a rich bronze finish on all the metal, and red-orange and gold cathedral glass in the false window in the center. It looks so perfectly High Deco and of another time it’s almost hard to believe. They did it right! I only wish they had kept the terrazzo sidewalk that went out to the pavement, even though it had been added later, probably during A.A. Cantin’s remodel of the entrance and marquee. As for the marquee, I have little to report except that at the time of this last viewing, more framework had been added to it, and it hinted at a fine deco design. Sometime soon, I hope to get up there to see the whole thing in its completed state, and will do another post. I’m still hoping they incorporated some neon.
It should be noted that in ken mc’s 2005 post linking to photos of the Egyptian, there are three which are of other theaters. There is one exterior shot of the Egyptian in Long Beach, and the last photo is of its interior. There is one other interior shot of some other Egyptian (maybe Pasadena?) also. The corbelled proscenium and sunburst ceiling grille of Grauman’s were imitated many, many times in subsequent Egyptian style movie palaces. The sunburst grille even appears on a small scale in Oakland’s Parkway Theatre, still extant and running movies.
The painted scene on the wall behind the usherettes in the photo linked to the previous post was restored and can still be enjoyed today. It is on the left wall of the courtyard just before the pillared portico. What is interesting about it is that this is the only scene in the whole building which was completely copied from an actual piece of Pharaonic art, although with some artistic license. The original piece is considerably smaller, and is carved on a slab of stone. It was done during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 18th Dynasty—he was an ancestor of Tutankhamun—and depicts Thutmose twice in the company of the gods Horus and Set. The heiroglyphs are all legible to those who can read such things and include, in cartouches, the name Thutmose, and the name Menkheperra, the latter a ceremonial name given to him on his accession to the throne. It is the name which has the scarab in it. Other heiroglyphs include the common titles “Lord of the Two Lands,” “Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt,” “Living eternally,” etc.
Okay—since we’ve got a little levity going here…Perhaps the four columns have some sort of mytical significance…like old churches having three entrances symbolizing the Trinity. Okay…maybe not.
But seriously, the standardization of theater designs goes way back into exhibition history, sort of an architectural corporate branding, if you will. Warner Bros. made “templates” for several standardized art deco theater designs of established seating capacities to be built throughout the country. Had the Depression not occurred, these plans may have been carried out fully. As it is, Warner theaters of the late 20s and early 30s did tend toward an overall look, once art deco “high style” became the norm. Loew’s in the 1930s had a specific style of vertical sign, seen all over the world from Cleveland to Cairo. RKO had a specific look to their marquees and verticals of the 30s. Fox West Coast planned a chain of prefabricated theaters after WWII, which would have likely proliferated, were it not for TV. As it was, only the prototype—Long Beach’s Crest—was built, though one was almost built in San Jose. And let’s not forget others in the LA area, where United Artists Theatres had those standardized facades with the incised relief figures of Unity and Artistry which appeared on a bunch of theaters there, plus one in the Bay Area (Berkeley, still operated by Regal as a 7-plex).
Background on the name Luxor: Is an anglicization of the Arabic “Al Uqsor,” meaning, “The Castle.” This is in reference to the ruins of a Roman legion fortress, which, at the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th Century, were still standing around the already very ancient temple built there in Pharaonic times by Amenhotep III, Rameses II, and others. Later, the town which existed there took on the name. Since is is easily pronounced by Westerners, and perhaps due to its similarity to things bringing to mind “luxury,” is has been a popular name to associate with Egyptian things.
The auditorium portion of the building was constructed out of a genuine Quonset structure, following a nationwide trend after World War II of using Quonsets to build inexpensive movie theatres. Very few survive today. One such example is in Boulder Creek, CA (long since closed as a theatre and now housing a pizza restaurant and other businesses) and another is the Rio in Monte Rio, CA and is still showing movies.
Another name change: The nightclub operation is now called Abyss, and has been for more than a year now.
I have recently discovered that when this theatre opened circa 1926, it was called New Strand. This is because there was indeed an “old” nickelodeon style Strand in the building next door, two storefronts up. It had a simple front, with arched entrance and a leaded glass transom reading STRAND. This may have been a renaming of the 1911 Empire Theatre, but I cannot confirm this at present. The building still stands with completely remodeled facades, and the former location of the “old” Strand is now Fibbar MaGee’s Irish Pub.
Vince Pierce: You manager was very lucky. I have heard several stories of people stepping off the catwalks in theatre attics and falling partially or completely through. It is usually not pretty, as the metal mesh sandwiched in the layer of plaster does awful things to the person as they rip through it. The pastor who rather unsuccessfully tried to maintain a church in the since-demolished Broadway (Encore) Theatre in Burlingame did this, but was relatively unharmed, but the ceiling had to have major work, which was done very carefully by expert plasterers. I have been told that in 1927, as the seats were being installed in the California Theatre in San Jose, a workman stepped off the attic catwalk and went completely through the decorated ceiling, landing on the main floor seat standards which had just been installed immediately forward of the balcony overhang on the Auditorium Right side of the theatre. It is said that he survived the night, bent and broken over the seat standards, but died the next day. I am told that until the ceiling was repainted in the late 1970s, the repair to the ceiling could be faintly discerned. I am also told that some people who sat in that area as late as the 1970s experienced odd occurrances, including having their clothes tugged-at down near the floor by unseen hands. As the floor of the California’s auditorium was completely dug away for new basement dressing rooms and a change in rake during its 2000-2004 renovation and restoration, I can only speculate as to whether this phenomenon may still happen.
So, to repeat, your manager was indeed fortunate.
As a Board member of THSA, I have gotten the chance to see sample printed pages of this wonderful re-publication. It is going to be First Class.
I’ve made my contribution to this project, how about YOU?
The Santa Clara was originally called the Casa Grande, when built in the 1920s.
The Towne Theatre in San Jose California, built in 1925 as the Hester, has been operating as an Indian triplex for several years now. It was San Jose’s first movie theatre outside the downtown, eventually became an art theatre, then went to porn, then back to art/indie/foreign/rep (and occasional silents with a salvaged Wurlitzer organ) in 1990, was soon triplexed, carried on until a little after the new Millenium, then went to the current policy. There is talk, however, of diversifying programming to have some art film fare once again from time-to-time while keeping the Bollywood.
The building still stands. It is built of wood and has long been turned to other uses.
This theater was earlier known at the Premier, a name which it still had by 1930. I long ago discovered one reference to its original name being Strand. During the silent era, it was equipped with a photoplayer instrument. I do not know the brand or type.
Is there any Egyptian decor in the auditoriums?
I am very impressed by the faded bits of color on the cornice of the facade. In actual Egyptian temples where color survives on the exteriors, this is exactly what you see, and it is typically the red and blue pigments which have survived the ages best. Someone did their homework!
It is so gratifying to see Long Beach’s last operating historic movie theatre (and nearly the last one standing) so beautifully restored, updated, cared for, and promoted. With relatives in southern California, hopefully I can manage a trip to the Art one of these days. All the movie palaces that graced downtown Long Beach are gone, but at least this wonderful little gem remains.
Wow—last year I did some simple Moorish decorative painting in the home theatre of a brand new $5 million Tuscan style house in Los Altos, in the Bay Area. The theatre seats maybe 20. For this Californian to hear that the largest movie palace ever built in Chicago (and one of the ten largest ever built in the nation) has been sold for only $3.2 Million…just boggles my mind. Granted, millions will have to be put into it, but still.
Apologies: In the first sentence of my above post, the non-word “resused” is supposed to be the word REUSED.
To respond to the May 2007 comment by brett421 a few posts above: On the marquee of the multiplex at Universal Citywalk, there is a salvaged and resused neon plume which looks exactly like the one which once graced the middle of the Fox Venice marquee. I believe it is the original from the Fox. I saw it at Citywalk in 1998. As that complex contains numerous vintage pieces of neon from the Museum of Neon Art, I suspect this to be the case.
Just from the above photo alone, I am impelled to say “HOORAY!” I am so happy to see a rich authentic High Deco color scheme being applied to the original ornament. Kudos to the Wilshire Beverly Hills management for doing this.
The Theatre Historical Society 2008 Conclave Tour got to tour the Fox Oakland two weeks ago. There is still much work being done, but I must stress that the decorative painting work—indeed the whole restoration—is absolutely first-rate, and sticks to the orgiinal opulance of the 1920s Hindu/Islamic fantasy that is the interior of this showplace. The effect is breathtaking.
I most heartily encourage anyone who likes the Skouras style to buy that Annual (1987) from Theatre Historical Society mentioned above. It’s a wonderful documentation of the style, with many photos and fine analysis/written documentation. It’s worth every penny.
I understand some, though not all, of the interior survives. Here’s hoping that which survives will be retained and restored. There was once some very fanciful ornamental detailing in this theatre—mysterious and temple-like, which borrowed motifs from, among other things, the Lion Gate of the ancient city of Mycenae in Greece.
Driving into Corvallis for the first time last year, my wife and I had a hearty laugh as we spotted the vertical sign of the 1920s era Whiteside Theatre, with the sign of the Darkside Cinema across the street. It’s a great photo op for anyone visiting the town.
I have heard of several theatres which have chosen “Cinema Paradiso” as the last film to show before they close, a very apt choice. In my local area, one such theatre that did so was the Varsity in Palo Alto, when it closed in 1994. Since it was closing on a Saturday, they ran one last screening of “Rocky Horror…” at Midnight (thus technically being the last movie shown) before shutting off the projectors for good. The Varsity has been a Borders bookstore ever since, though most of the exterior and many features of the interior were retained in the conversion.
It’s been many months now since a visit to the recreated Royal facade subsequent to the one mentioned in my last post. At this last visit I beheld the facade complete, except for the marquee. All scaffolding was down, and yes indeed, they have made a perfect copy of Pflueger’s metal facade, with a rich bronze finish on all the metal, and red-orange and gold cathedral glass in the false window in the center. It looks so perfectly High Deco and of another time it’s almost hard to believe. They did it right! I only wish they had kept the terrazzo sidewalk that went out to the pavement, even though it had been added later, probably during A.A. Cantin’s remodel of the entrance and marquee. As for the marquee, I have little to report except that at the time of this last viewing, more framework had been added to it, and it hinted at a fine deco design. Sometime soon, I hope to get up there to see the whole thing in its completed state, and will do another post. I’m still hoping they incorporated some neon.
It should be noted that in ken mc’s 2005 post linking to photos of the Egyptian, there are three which are of other theaters. There is one exterior shot of the Egyptian in Long Beach, and the last photo is of its interior. There is one other interior shot of some other Egyptian (maybe Pasadena?) also. The corbelled proscenium and sunburst ceiling grille of Grauman’s were imitated many, many times in subsequent Egyptian style movie palaces. The sunburst grille even appears on a small scale in Oakland’s Parkway Theatre, still extant and running movies.
The painted scene on the wall behind the usherettes in the photo linked to the previous post was restored and can still be enjoyed today. It is on the left wall of the courtyard just before the pillared portico. What is interesting about it is that this is the only scene in the whole building which was completely copied from an actual piece of Pharaonic art, although with some artistic license. The original piece is considerably smaller, and is carved on a slab of stone. It was done during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 18th Dynasty—he was an ancestor of Tutankhamun—and depicts Thutmose twice in the company of the gods Horus and Set. The heiroglyphs are all legible to those who can read such things and include, in cartouches, the name Thutmose, and the name Menkheperra, the latter a ceremonial name given to him on his accession to the throne. It is the name which has the scarab in it. Other heiroglyphs include the common titles “Lord of the Two Lands,” “Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt,” “Living eternally,” etc.
sigh one proofreads and proofreads…and STILL stuff sneaks by. In the first line, that word is supposed to be “mystical.”
Okay—since we’ve got a little levity going here…Perhaps the four columns have some sort of mytical significance…like old churches having three entrances symbolizing the Trinity. Okay…maybe not.
But seriously, the standardization of theater designs goes way back into exhibition history, sort of an architectural corporate branding, if you will. Warner Bros. made “templates” for several standardized art deco theater designs of established seating capacities to be built throughout the country. Had the Depression not occurred, these plans may have been carried out fully. As it is, Warner theaters of the late 20s and early 30s did tend toward an overall look, once art deco “high style” became the norm. Loew’s in the 1930s had a specific style of vertical sign, seen all over the world from Cleveland to Cairo. RKO had a specific look to their marquees and verticals of the 30s. Fox West Coast planned a chain of prefabricated theaters after WWII, which would have likely proliferated, were it not for TV. As it was, only the prototype—Long Beach’s Crest—was built, though one was almost built in San Jose. And let’s not forget others in the LA area, where United Artists Theatres had those standardized facades with the incised relief figures of Unity and Artistry which appeared on a bunch of theaters there, plus one in the Bay Area (Berkeley, still operated by Regal as a 7-plex).
Background on the name Luxor: Is an anglicization of the Arabic “Al Uqsor,” meaning, “The Castle.” This is in reference to the ruins of a Roman legion fortress, which, at the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th Century, were still standing around the already very ancient temple built there in Pharaonic times by Amenhotep III, Rameses II, and others. Later, the town which existed there took on the name. Since is is easily pronounced by Westerners, and perhaps due to its similarity to things bringing to mind “luxury,” is has been a popular name to associate with Egyptian things.