California Theatre

I would love to hear what long time ex-manager, Jim Scurlock would have to say about the current operation of this theatre. During the time he was there, it was operated by National General Theatres, later, Mann. It remained a first class house during the NGT days. Mann let it go to pot, does'nt look much better now.

Next time you go complain that the curtains don’t work. Wait till you hear what the manager tells you. I don’t understand why they put in such a small screen in the downstairs part. The manager says it’s because they had to move the screen up during the seismic work. It can still be enlarged on the sides. The projector is in a strange area below the old balcony. The lens looks plastic not a good image. Landmark won’t spend any $ to fix the curtains or put in a larger screen. I remember seeing with my parents in the 50’s a double bill of The King & I with Anastasia when it was a big single screen house with 4 track stereo on a huge curved cinemascope screen. No wonder people are staying home and watching Dvd’s. The California needs to bring back that showmanship experience. At least they do have some nice lights up on the side walls in the upstairs twin and use red and blue bulbs.Someone must be awake still at the CAL. With all the students going to school at UC this is a hot spot for good movies.

Went to an opening night after a remodel in either 1934or 35. Lovely theatre, steep balcony, excellent projection. Floyd Wright[not Geo] played the organ there for a couple of years then he went to the Golden Gate.I,myself, installed an RCA sound system{PG 142] for FWC about 1948-9 replacing the old Western Electric[ERPI] set that was there.

The kids in my West Berkeley neighborhood on Acton St. south of University went to the California often in the early 60’s. During the summer they had matinees that one could attend for a few soda bottle caps. I recall seeing The Lost World and Journey to the Center of the Earth on one such double bill. There were mimeographed programs for the matinees and I would love to find one. I’ve been looking for over 15 years. btw I can see the marquee from my office window.

The original architect of the T&D/California was Albert W. Cornelius.

I also saw “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Act 1, “Return of the King” at the Grand Lake, and “Eternal Sunshine…” at the California – twice. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the audio or video at any of these shows, in fact the Grand Lake and California offered dazzling presentation.

Is it possible that PaulF might want to see an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, or bone up on cutting edge uses of cinematography.

This theatre is one of some 200 that could be described as “Skouras-ized For Showmanship” which is the title of the ANNUAL of 1987 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America. In the late 1930s through the 1950s, there occurred on the west coast of the United States a phenomenon known as the ‘Skouras style’ in recognition of the oversight of the Skouras brothers in their management of several cinema chains. They employed a designer by the name of Carl G. Moeller to render their cinemas/theatres in a new style best described as ‘Art Moderne meets Streamlined Rococo.’ The then new availability of aluminum sheeting at low cost was the principal material difference to this style allowing for sweeping, 3-dimensional shapes of scrolls to adorn walls and facades in an expression that would have been much more expensive and not at all the same in plaster. With the use of hand tinted and etched aluminum forms, the designers could make ornaments in mass production that allowed much greater economies of scale. The ANNUAL also shows in its 44 pages how some 20 theatres were good examples of this combining of aluminum forms with sweeping draperies heavily hung with large tassels, and with box offices and facades richly treated with neon within the aluminum forms. Few of these examples survive today, but it was a glorious era while it lasted, and this collection of crisp b/w photos is a fitting epitaph by the late Preston Kaufmann.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either “Marquee” or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link “PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List” and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The “Marquee” magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall (‘portrait’) format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long (‘landscape’) format, and are anywhere from 26 to 44 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to lend it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]

Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.

Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at:
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)

Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM—4PM, CT)

I recently saw The Sound of Music sing a long at the California. I liked what landmark did with the theatre. The California was a Fox West Coast/National General Theatres house for many years. I saw the Odd Couple here back in 1967 when it was still a single screen. The California boasts the largest screen in Berkeley but it is much smaller than the screen that use to be in this theatre. It would be nice if Landmark would restore the lighting in the ceilings and the curtain in front of the screen. The staff at this theatre loves working there and we had a long discussion of its history and when it was a single screen.brucec

The California was built in 1914 and was originally called the T&D Theater (not to be confused with Oakland’s T&D) prior to its 1930’s renovation into its present-day exterior and name.

About a week ago, my wife and I stopped by the newly reopened Cal, and had a nice chat in the lobby with the manager (who, we were interested to learn, was—like us—recently married in a vintage theatre, but I digress). The lobby has lushly patterned new carpet, everything is repainted, including the Skouras-era ceiling embellishments in gold, and the concession counter has been nicely refurbished. An aesthetic bonus is the golden ceiling rosette which was revealed to be hidden above a dropped ceiling when the concession area was extended and renovated. It dates from an earlier decorative scheme, and originally formed part of the balcony soffit. A nice contemporary alabaster-like hanging fixture has been suspended from this feature for a nice look.

The only negative thing about the recent seismic work that I can see is the removal of the old brick stage fly tower, which now negates the future use of the house for stage shows someday. As the theatre never had much in the way of lobby space, perhaps this would never have been an issue anyway.

As of Spring 2002, the California is well into a massive seismic retrofit. Steel columns have been added to the exterior sidewalls. Where it has been necessary to remove portions of the brick walls, great care has been taken to replace them in like manner.