Century 21
3161 Olsen Drive,
San Jose,
CA
95117
3161 Olsen Drive,
San Jose,
CA
95117
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 55 comments
Folks, The Century 21, 22, and 23 domes will soon meet their demise. Those three cinemas sit on land owned by those who own the Winchester Mystery House. Ray Syufy signed a 50 year lease on the land in 1962 and went on to build and open Century 21 in 1963. That original lease expires in 2012. The families that own and operate WMH have already signed lease agreements with development firms to develop another boutique retail establishment to take the place of the theaters. Now is the time to act if you wish to save the last of these unique historical cinemas.
The Drive-Ins have Technalight and the Solano in Concord has one digital screen.
Syufy MANAGES the Domes. Decisions about their maintenance and upkeep don’t necessarily come from California if you catch my drift.
The managers there at the location care very much about their theatres but there’s only so much you can do when you’re not quite a Cinemark and not quite a Century.
They run the film projector bulb so low at the #21 theatre you can’t see the picture in a dark part. No showmanship anymore, Don’t bother to close the drapes. They are trying to save money on new bulbs, that’s why they don’t have 3-D or digital in the #21 Dome Theatre or #22 next door. The Syufy Century brothers still run this place in 2011 and didn’t sell to CineMark. I think they have a long lease on the land under the Domes. Come on guys how about turning up the projection light and bring back the large curved screen. Put in one of the new Imax curved screens or give it a new name like Syufy EX. The larger the better but you need to light It up. Id hate to think what a West Wind Drive In that the Syufys run under this new name. Has anyone gone, is the light good on a outdoor screen. They still run many Drive Inn’s on the West Coast thank god.
“2001” played so long at the Century 21 that we must have seen it ten times. After it closed, “Woodstock”, was shown forever. I’ll never forget how the theater was filled with pot smoke for every showing of Woodstock. The entire audience was always stoned from 2nd hand smoke.
My friends and I were regulars at the Century 21 all through high school.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of November 30, 1964, announced that Syufy’s Century 21 in San Jose had opened on Tuesday, November 24. A seating capacity of 950 was given.
I guess that if I am old enough to attend the opening week of 2001 that I can be forgiven for forgetting the year. Thanks for the correction Michael.
Minor correction regarding your date (of course, you may have intended to type an “8” and keyed in a “9” by mistake). Whatever the case, I’ll take this opportunity to mention a “2001” article I wrote a few years ago that detailed its original release, the San Jose details of which were included.
23 July 1968 … San Jose, CA, USA: Century 21 [88 weeks]
A bit of trivia for you that I think appropriate for this page: San Jose’s Century 21 run of “2001” was the longest, continuous, single-theater run of the film in the U.S. (The duration of the engagements in Los Angeles and San Francisco were longer but they included a moveover to a different theater during the course their runs.)
I will never forget seeing 2001 the week of its release in 1969. The Century 21 still had its curved screen and the place was jammed. My date and I wound up sitting very close to the screen —– if I remember right we were actually within the arch of the screen. 70MM never looked so good. It was a transforming experience for me in the way I look at film. Great memory!
I’m grateful that the Winchester 21, 22 and 23 are still in operation, and am thankful for that non-transferable lease as I suspect it may be one of the few things preventing Cinemark from taking a bulldozer to these amazing theatres and replacing them with one of their shoebox 24-screen cineplexes.
John — Bill Tannehill passed away a number of years back.
Id love to see the curtains working again. They don’t close them lack of showmanship by the Syufy brothers. The curve from the big screen they had is gone. To bad they didn’t keep it in at least for the 21 Dome. The Syufy people need to do a big 70mm week at the Century 21.
hey does anyone know if Bill Tannehill, still the Manager, Marl and Bill the best two in the World, there children grew up in the Theatre Business
I saw many wonderful films at the Century Dome Theatres on Winchester in the early 1970’s. Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo & Juliet and Godfather One are a few that come to mind. A few girlfriends, my sisters and I went there to see American Graffiti, a nostalgic movie directed by the largely unknown George Lucas. The story, set in the 1950s, featured lots of teens and their hot cars. My friend Yolanda Garcia had a white, 1950’s 4 door Chevy that she and her father had just restored – and she drove it from her home in Sunnyvale to meet us at the theatre. We were surprised to find that Yolanda’s car was identical to the one Ron Howard drove around in the film. So after the film, we cruised the parking lot doing donuts, me “hanging a B.A.” (for Bare Ass) out of a window in the back seat. I’d like to think I was paying tribute to the theme of architecture in the round, but at the time, I was only showing off the ability to keep my ass-ets in the air in a spinning car while all of us laughed our heads off. The stunt inspired multiple carloads of boys to follow us (for hours) from the parking lot all around San Jose and Campbell, they, trying in vain, to get the old Chevy full of wild girls to pull over. Opportunities to party were numerous in those days, but we were not interested in stopping for any of them. Luckily Yolanda had a tankfull of cheap gas and a lead foot. Boy did my own kids have it rough when they were teens; Mom knew (almost) all the tricks! Speaking of Moms, my own often took my sisters and myself out for burgers, fries or fantastic o'rings and real chocolate milkshakes right down the street at Bob’s Big Boy after the movies. Good times! I still cringe at the sound of spoons scraping the sides of the tall, cold, metal “glasses” those shakes were served in.
Long live old friends, the Domes, Mom and big Bob, too!
~ Marina Andriola, Campbell High, Class of ‘73.
Vincent G. Raney was the architect for all Century Theatres built from 1964 through the early 1990’s. He also built a number of Catholic churches in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The 21 is a unique dome design compared to domes that followed. The lobby and projection booth are significantly larger than the other theatres. Also, much of the building is made with concrete, including the walls of the projection booth.
FYI: In the summer of 2005 Century Theatres put themselves up for sale and they were acquired in 2006 by Cinemark of Plano, TX for what is rumored to be approx $1 billion in cash & stock. However, the lease for the land that the Century 21, 22, and 23 theatres sit on is non-transferable. Until they can get the deal worked out, they are called Winchester Theatres and are still owned by Syufy Enterprises (the parent of what was Century Theatres)—but booked by Cinemark.
Hello all, I am a photographer and painter who has become fascinated by these domed structures. Growing up in San Jose, these were the theatres I had always gone to see films and I didn’t realize how much the buildings really meant to me until recently. I am trying to learn as much about the design of these theatres, the architects, and their vernacular. If anyone can give me any information on their history I would greatly appreciate it.
thanks, Marty
I worked for Century Theatres for 13 years and still have good friends working in their coporate office.
The Sanatana Row theaters are small theatres and are not “Century Theatres,” but “Cine Arts” an arts division of Century—I don’t think the entire SR complex seats 1000. The domes are too big to play art films and SR is their answer.
The talk now for “The Block” (Century 21-23) is a remodel similar to what was done with the Cinerama Dome in LA—a large complex built around one of the domes (I would suspect the 21, as it is almost completely concrete and tearing that down would be quite an udertaking).
However, there was talk that Century was going to be sold this summer, so everything is probably on hold now.
Hello all,
I was proud to be a manager for Syufy(Century Theatres)for about 15 years. The Century 22 was my home for 5 of them. Century 22 is the sister and next door to the 21 and the difference being 2 additional screens, each seating 600. The 21 and 22(A screen) share many of the same characteristics. Each seating aprox 1020, sound systems, projection equiptment and sometimes even staff.
I have been away from the theatre business for around 10 years now and funny enough now I have a company that provides a product to the studios that make the films. Any film that is worth seeing I will drive the 2hours to see it in a theatre that has always put presentation as a top priority.
The 21 and 22 theatres have a very rich history, we all even beleived that Sara herself visited every now and then in spirit.
These theatres offer more than just a trip to the movies but an experience. Opening night for a movie like Star Wars, Star Trek and even Dracular always provided the movie goer with more than just an average trip to the show. Imagine sitting next to a Klingon watching Star Trek or someone with those 2" perly whites munching on popcorn during Dracula.
Many a stars regulary visit these theatres, some making the 22 as home for premier screenings.
I miss those days and think of them often. I feel good about being a part of what these theatres represent to many of you.
R.Howard
i don’t see that much time these theaters will be open due to the new theater in santana row
My mom worked in group sales for the Century Theatres back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Seating capacity was 900+ in the yet-to-be-duplexed theatres. While this may seem huge to some, it is still far fewer seats than the 1700+ available in the Fox (now California) and other theatres downtown. I never found anything appealing about the Centuries. They immediately appeared to be cheap, especially with the sound of walking on a plywood surface when getting to your seat. I think maybe the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood would offer a better interior but I have never been in that one so I’m only speculating. Still, Century 21 filled a large void in San Jose when it was built. Until then, it was a major family event to drive to San Francisco’s Orpheum theatre to see anything in Cinerama, so regardless of how anyone feels about their architecture, these theatres eliminated a major inconvenience for Cinerama viewers not only in San Jose but also residents of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties!
Fantastic! Can’t wait to see the photos. Just don’t get caught with the camera inside the theatre. They might think you’re trying to pirate the movie!!
(Update, see previous post by me.) I’m going back to my home town for the first time in six years, next month. Visiting these theatres is high on my list of must-do’s. I’m going to see whatever is playing in the one remaining full dome theater (Shrek, I hope, so the kids can go too). I got a digital camera for Xmas and will be taking plenty of pictures of this theater for my website, and I’ll provide those photos to this website too. Check out my site at http://thebrunners.net/ after June 12th, 2004.
I was born and raised in San Jose, lived there 1965-1992 and I have very fond memories of this cinema. I saw Alien, all three Back to the Futures, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi there to name a just few. We used to go the the Denny’s right out in front afterward for milkshakes and onion rings. I remember waiting in lines that stetched out to the end of the parking lot for some movies. I’m hoping to find some more photos of the interior to show to my kids, they don’t believe me when I tell them how big it is.
puke
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion — even if we beg to differ. :)
what a horrible comment, I hope Michael gets erased by the owners of this site.