Thanks CC for this great ad. It must have been something to see this giant curved Cinemircle screen with curtains in 1958 at the Chinese Theatre. My THS friend Ted Gooding was there and he has told me many stories of the giant curtain when It opened so slow and the sounds of the ocean waves thru the many surround speakers around the Fox Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood CA USA. While the new tall Imax screen now in place is nice, I wish I could have seen the wrap around curve that The Cinemiracle screen produced with all 3 projectors coming from the new downstairs projection booth with mirrors.
The Coliseum Theatre still has the whole top half left where the balcony was, intact above the false ceiling of the store below. I took a tour a few years ago, they keep this part of the old theatre closed off to the public. It just sits there year after year gathering dust seats and all. Someone needs to open the top part for shows and events, it is a large space. I remember as a kid going into this theatre, It had one of the steepest aisles going down to the screen. A big slant when walking to your seat in the dark.
David thanks for the vending photos. How many times with these theater lobby soda machines did just a cup of crushed ice come out and no soda???? Strange you could not take drinks to your seats, what a waste of money. That rug near the machine must have gotten very sticky over time. Where was the cig machine?
I new the last Fox West Coast manager for this great theatre Jack McDougal before they tore her down. Jack had to manage both the Fox Oakland and the Senator just before it closed. A tough old money saving manager Jack was. National General Corp/Fox West Coast loved how he could save money on these old huge movie palaces. I could write a book some day, I may. Thanks Granola for the the early photo. This theatre was not built like the others in downtown Oakland but more up towards going to Berkeley. It was still in the city of Oakland CA.
This new film was filmed mostly in Boston MA not Detroit Mich. While the old news film that is used was shot in Detroit in the 60’s It was a big loss to all the film tech people in the Detroit Mich area that they filmed It way out of town,they lost the needed film work.
Are the theatres at the Flicks small with 100 seats per cinema or is one larger then the other with a bigger screen? Looks like they are the only theatre in the Boise area that get art type films. To bad the other larger cinemas around town with giant screens and more seats don’t book these small type art films also. Some do very well by word of mouth with the seniors or students. Time for Landmark Cinemas to take over some place???
Thanks Richie great to see our friends at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Hollywood advertise they are showing 70mm this week on the giant Cinerama® curved screen in true 70mm film. This is something you won’t see to often. Thanks to Pacific Theatres and Warner Bros!!!!!
Thanks to the former Fox Cinerama Hollywood Portland they still show 70mm film prints from time to time and the screen is as little curved. They need to do a fund raiser or extra fee for screen curtains and color lights for the large downstairs cinema.
The New Mission Theatre Dunkirk 70mm film looked nice, crisp and clear with some of the best stereo surround with base in San Francisco. This is the first time in many years so many 70mm film prints are playing around the SF Bay area. Many shows are sold out this weekend. If your in SF CA try to see It at the Drafthouse New Mission Theatre on Mission ST. One of the few cinemas left in the area that has curtains that work.
This will be the first 70mm film to play the New Mission Theatre in San Francisco starting July 21. Will look great on their large screen. First time ever a 70mm movie film has played a old Mission St movie theatre.
Thanks Lou & Pam for this fine photo. It’s so nice to see some color lights inside a large movie palace. No boring white bulbs but nice red, orange and purple, looks so great. Hope they have a splash of color on the curtains also.
Wow what a photo thanks David. Here you have the new Super Cinerama 70mm film playing at the NYC Warner Cinerama and next door you have a 35mm scope showing of ‘How The West Was Won’ at the Forum that a few months before played at the Cinerama on a curved screen with 3 projectors going. Must have been a big disappointment for someone going to see ‘How The West’ for the first time at the Forum. Now both cinemas are long gone. So nice that we have photos of these great times in NY movie theatre history they will never come back.
A great few days coming up for this THS 2017 conclave in LA CA. Downtown Los Angeles has some of the best movie palaces on one street in the USA. Hollywood still has a few classic theatres that are still open also. A fun week for every movie theatre fan to check out.
To bad the city of SF made all the theatres on Market ST take off their huge neon marquees in the 60’s, trying to make the street signs flat. It now has a old brown plastic flat pigeon stained cheap marquee that just rots in the sun. The rock music crowd that now buys tickets has no idea what the original marquee looked like. Same with the RKO Golden Gate next door around the corner. The GG blade neon signs need a blue, yellow and gold paint job so bad. The Neder folks just painted over everything Brown. At least they did not take down this marquee because It was not directly on Market St, but the current GG owners removed most of the old neon when they brought in expensive road productions.
Thanks CC for this hot ad. To bad It did not play at the Egyptian Theatre down the street. As the Chinese was a Fox West Coast Theatre. They got all the Fox CinemaScope® films. Must have looked great on the Chinese semi curved Magic Mirror CinemaScope® screen with stereophonic sound. To think 4 years later (1958) they took the screen out and put in a huge curved Cinemiracle screen in.
Once someone removes the wall down the middle and brings in a better large screen and sound system this will be a great place to see a movie or live music event in the future. Tired in need of remodel work all the Landmark cinemas in Berkeley/Albany they lease will have some competition If the Oaks re opens again and fixed up. I have some friends with $$ that may be interested and may take a look this week.
The big AMC remodel job is almost over at the Metreon Theatre in San Francisco. One of the worst changes is the removal of the dark blue cove lights in the long hall. AMC replaced them with bright ugly white LED lights that shine in your face when you walk around to go into your auditoriums. They trashed about 50% of the nice large candy counter display popcorn and drink signs in the lobby. They did make a big change in the Dolby Cinema #13 for the better after my last visit 6 months ago and reduced the red lights on the aisles so they don’t shine on the curved Dolby Vision® screen on the bottom corners. I did enjoy the new Pirates movie in Imax 3-D in their only Imax screen in the building even though they had a 10 minutes delay at the start at a 12:45 mat because of a chiller problem in the Imax projectors. The people that do these remodel jobs for AMC have no showmanship, at least they could have put in multi color LED lights so the manager could change to what ever color he wanted in the lobby halls but now we are stuck with boring no class white bright lights.
Thanks JZ for the photos. Nice old SF Bay Area DI still run by the Syufy family brothers under the name West Wind. Looks like one of the screens is the original large scope type.
To bad they were in a rush to tear down the large screen tower. You can see were they added a CinemaScope® wing on the sides in the early 50’s. The lot is still in place used for a flea market and hospital parking.
Thanks CC for this great ad. It must have been something to see this giant curved Cinemircle screen with curtains in 1958 at the Chinese Theatre. My THS friend Ted Gooding was there and he has told me many stories of the giant curtain when It opened so slow and the sounds of the ocean waves thru the many surround speakers around the Fox Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood CA USA. While the new tall Imax screen now in place is nice, I wish I could have seen the wrap around curve that The Cinemiracle screen produced with all 3 projectors coming from the new downstairs projection booth with mirrors.
Some one needs to re open this theatre as the Berkeley college area and East Bay are under screened. Good place for Drafthouse Cinemas to open?????
The Coliseum Theatre still has the whole top half left where the balcony was, intact above the false ceiling of the store below. I took a tour a few years ago, they keep this part of the old theatre closed off to the public. It just sits there year after year gathering dust seats and all. Someone needs to open the top part for shows and events, it is a large space. I remember as a kid going into this theatre, It had one of the steepest aisles going down to the screen. A big slant when walking to your seat in the dark.
David thanks for the vending photos. How many times with these theater lobby soda machines did just a cup of crushed ice come out and no soda???? Strange you could not take drinks to your seats, what a waste of money. That rug near the machine must have gotten very sticky over time. Where was the cig machine?
I new the last Fox West Coast manager for this great theatre Jack McDougal before they tore her down. Jack had to manage both the Fox Oakland and the Senator just before it closed. A tough old money saving manager Jack was. National General Corp/Fox West Coast loved how he could save money on these old huge movie palaces. I could write a book some day, I may. Thanks Granola for the the early photo. This theatre was not built like the others in downtown Oakland but more up towards going to Berkeley. It was still in the city of Oakland CA.
This new film was filmed mostly in Boston MA not Detroit Mich. While the old news film that is used was shot in Detroit in the 60’s It was a big loss to all the film tech people in the Detroit Mich area that they filmed It way out of town,they lost the needed film work.
Looks like a electric neon type fire or was the marquee even on? Hope they can save the main theatre.
Are the theatres at the Flicks small with 100 seats per cinema or is one larger then the other with a bigger screen? Looks like they are the only theatre in the Boise area that get art type films. To bad the other larger cinemas around town with giant screens and more seats don’t book these small type art films also. Some do very well by word of mouth with the seniors or students. Time for Landmark Cinemas to take over some place???
Thanks Richie great to see our friends at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Hollywood advertise they are showing 70mm this week on the giant Cinerama® curved screen in true 70mm film. This is something you won’t see to often. Thanks to Pacific Theatres and Warner Bros!!!!!
Thanks to the former Fox Cinerama Hollywood Portland they still show 70mm film prints from time to time and the screen is as little curved. They need to do a fund raiser or extra fee for screen curtains and color lights for the large downstairs cinema.
Thanks TG great old photo. And to think the theatre in Oakland is still growing strong today with 70mm film showing this week.
The New Mission Theatre Dunkirk 70mm film looked nice, crisp and clear with some of the best stereo surround with base in San Francisco. This is the first time in many years so many 70mm film prints are playing around the SF Bay area. Many shows are sold out this weekend. If your in SF CA try to see It at the Drafthouse New Mission Theatre on Mission ST. One of the few cinemas left in the area that has curtains that work.
This will be the first 70mm film to play the New Mission Theatre in San Francisco starting July 21. Will look great on their large screen. First time ever a 70mm movie film has played a old Mission St movie theatre.
Thanks Lou & Pam for this fine photo. It’s so nice to see some color lights inside a large movie palace. No boring white bulbs but nice red, orange and purple, looks so great. Hope they have a splash of color on the curtains also.
Wow what a photo thanks David. Here you have the new Super Cinerama 70mm film playing at the NYC Warner Cinerama and next door you have a 35mm scope showing of ‘How The West Was Won’ at the Forum that a few months before played at the Cinerama on a curved screen with 3 projectors going. Must have been a big disappointment for someone going to see ‘How The West’ for the first time at the Forum. Now both cinemas are long gone. So nice that we have photos of these great times in NY movie theatre history they will never come back.
A great cinema that had 70mm roadshow projection then they split It up to make more $ then It went downhill fast.
Thanks Elmo for this classic 60’s movie ad. Must have been a very long show with all these acts plus two films.
A great few days coming up for this THS 2017 conclave in LA CA. Downtown Los Angeles has some of the best movie palaces on one street in the USA. Hollywood still has a few classic theatres that are still open also. A fun week for every movie theatre fan to check out.
Great article I must try to check this theatre out. Do they have curtains that work? Long live 35mm film!!!!
To bad the city of SF made all the theatres on Market ST take off their huge neon marquees in the 60’s, trying to make the street signs flat. It now has a old brown plastic flat pigeon stained cheap marquee that just rots in the sun. The rock music crowd that now buys tickets has no idea what the original marquee looked like. Same with the RKO Golden Gate next door around the corner. The GG blade neon signs need a blue, yellow and gold paint job so bad. The Neder folks just painted over everything Brown. At least they did not take down this marquee because It was not directly on Market St, but the current GG owners removed most of the old neon when they brought in expensive road productions.
Thanks CC for this hot ad. To bad It did not play at the Egyptian Theatre down the street. As the Chinese was a Fox West Coast Theatre. They got all the Fox CinemaScope® films. Must have looked great on the Chinese semi curved Magic Mirror CinemaScope® screen with stereophonic sound. To think 4 years later (1958) they took the screen out and put in a huge curved Cinemiracle screen in.
Once someone removes the wall down the middle and brings in a better large screen and sound system this will be a great place to see a movie or live music event in the future. Tired in need of remodel work all the Landmark cinemas in Berkeley/Albany they lease will have some competition If the Oaks re opens again and fixed up. I have some friends with $$ that may be interested and may take a look this week.
The big AMC remodel job is almost over at the Metreon Theatre in San Francisco. One of the worst changes is the removal of the dark blue cove lights in the long hall. AMC replaced them with bright ugly white LED lights that shine in your face when you walk around to go into your auditoriums. They trashed about 50% of the nice large candy counter display popcorn and drink signs in the lobby. They did make a big change in the Dolby Cinema #13 for the better after my last visit 6 months ago and reduced the red lights on the aisles so they don’t shine on the curved Dolby Vision® screen on the bottom corners. I did enjoy the new Pirates movie in Imax 3-D in their only Imax screen in the building even though they had a 10 minutes delay at the start at a 12:45 mat because of a chiller problem in the Imax projectors. The people that do these remodel jobs for AMC have no showmanship, at least they could have put in multi color LED lights so the manager could change to what ever color he wanted in the lobby halls but now we are stuck with boring no class white bright lights.
Thanks JZ for the photos. Nice old SF Bay Area DI still run by the Syufy family brothers under the name West Wind. Looks like one of the screens is the original large scope type.
To bad they were in a rush to tear down the large screen tower. You can see were they added a CinemaScope® wing on the sides in the early 50’s. The lot is still in place used for a flea market and hospital parking.