To bad the current people that have this old theatre took down the nice neon marquee. You can still go in and see It was a great little cinema in the 50 and 60’s.
If you see a music event here and sit up stairs you won’t see the stage as most people stand up and block the view. The music is way to loud. Bring ear plugs. They even sell them in the lobby at the Fox Oakland Theatre. The manager needs to check all the people smoking up stairs and have them sit down. They were not smoking cigarette’s. A fire danger and the ushers don’t care. No seats downstairs, you pay a high price and have to stand all during the show. Nice job on all the color lights when they have them on. Hope some day they show some movies on 35mm film or DCP and put in a large screen and get the curtain to work. APE the gang that books the place offers nothing for seniors to enjoy. Check the Fox out and take the Bart train to almost the front door. Don’t forget your ear plugs!!!!
The downstairs RKO#1 curved Cinerama screen was just put in the back of the wide stage and It did not have the impact as the Orpheum Cinerama up the street that had wrap around curtains. Yes SF had two Cinerama type theatres during this time. The upstairs RKO#2 was one of the worst keystone screens ever.
Thanks Dennis for the photo. Did your cinema ever have 70mm film on the screen? Did the screen have the same look as many Showcase theatres hade at that time with no curtains and more of a box set screen back in the wall. Thanks again.
To bad they tore this semi Cinerama type curved screen theatre down a few years ago. Many people tried to save her but the owners wanted to cash out. Thanks so much Texas2 for the memories.
I saw this as a kid at the huge Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland Ca. Steve Reeves was on the giant stage in person opening week. They had up on the marquee ‘Oakland Own’s Steve Reeves In Person’ Mr Mac Dougal the manager went all out with the front 3 sheets and newspaper advertising in Oakland. Thanks CC for this great ad. They even had a MR Hercules contest on stage for local bodybuilder type guys.
I was amazed how large the backstage was. They had room to put a much larger curved type 70mm screen on the massive stage not the flat one they used for all the 70mm roadshow films that played like ‘Sound Of Music’ and ‘The Bible’ (D-150) in a flat semi small Todd-AO 70mm screen. At least the stereo surround sounded good here as they had plenty of surround effect speakers and kept them way up for 6 Ch 70mm mag stereo! SF has torn down so many nice theatres in the past 30 years and now this one is gone. Not even a photo or article in the SF Chronicle this week as I sent them all mine to use. Many older people now went here in the 50’s and 60’s for reserved seat roadshow films.
Thanks CC for this great photo. To bad the city of SF did not keep this huge theatre. Many other cities kept their Fox Theatres. The Shuberts needed to take It over and give some West Coast competition to the Nederlanders.
terrywade
commented about
ROYALon
Jul 15, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Thanks Don for this classic photo. To bad the Nasser family did not keep the neon sign up when they went condo. Some of the front is still in place on Polk St in SF. They could call It the ‘Condos Royal’
Thanks Dallas for the info. It’s so strange how these movie companies way over done how much the screen came out into the audience just like the ads for early CinemaScope® Most of them did not come off the stage like shown. I hope some day someone will come out with a Blue Ray of this ‘Thrillarama’ film like on a Smilebox type DVD curved system. Must of looked great with just one crease in the middle. Thanks again for the demo photo.
Thanks Dallas for the photo. This cinema looks like It was set up to be a D-150, Todd-AO or Cinerama type of curved screen but looks like they went with a semi flat regular screen. The stage and curtains are curved but the screen is not.
It was so sad when Ray Syufy cut the big C21 theatre down the middle to make more money. You could hear all the bass sound from the other side of the wall plus the screen was way smaller and the seats not placed well. It’s all dust now.
This is the best movie theatre in the Reno/Sparks area. Large curved screens and great sound plus a Imax screen. I hope soon they will up grade the surround sound in the large Imax cinema as now they just have two big box speakers in the back corners. The new Imax stereo system has more surround speakers down the side walls. The neon looks so hot at night outside.
Very nice Brenden cinema with huge curved screens and the proper masking that works in this Modesto CA site. Great neon outside and some of the best sound you will ever find in a theatre. The help was over the top and very well trained and the people cleaning screen #16 before I saw a movie this past weekend came out with their brooms and trash cans and thanked everyone for waiting and hope they enjoy the movie. Just another nice touch you won’t find at other big theatre groups these days. Check It out If you are ever in Modesto along with the State Theatre a few blocks away.
A live Ice show on the Roxy stage along with the Fox 35mm movie Titanic what a great presentation that must have been. Thanks CC for the ad. Just before the giant semi curved CinemaScope® screen was put on the huge stage over the ice for the NYC showing of The Robe.
Lets get them to turn on some Red plus Blue,Green & Orange led bulbs to light up this Hollywood showplace at night. Bring back some color neon also. It is now so dark and dull. You can’t even see the footprints much at night. How nice the only fountain on left would look with Blue water flowing.
One of just a few 70mm Todd-AO curved screen theatres in the mid 50’s in the Los Angeles area. Like so many great movie theatres in Southern CA It has been torn down. Thanks Dallas for the photo.
To bad the current people that have this old theatre took down the nice neon marquee. You can still go in and see It was a great little cinema in the 50 and 60’s.
If you see a music event here and sit up stairs you won’t see the stage as most people stand up and block the view. The music is way to loud. Bring ear plugs. They even sell them in the lobby at the Fox Oakland Theatre. The manager needs to check all the people smoking up stairs and have them sit down. They were not smoking cigarette’s. A fire danger and the ushers don’t care. No seats downstairs, you pay a high price and have to stand all during the show. Nice job on all the color lights when they have them on. Hope some day they show some movies on 35mm film or DCP and put in a large screen and get the curtain to work. APE the gang that books the place offers nothing for seniors to enjoy. Check the Fox out and take the Bart train to almost the front door. Don’t forget your ear plugs!!!!
The downstairs RKO#1 curved Cinerama screen was just put in the back of the wide stage and It did not have the impact as the Orpheum Cinerama up the street that had wrap around curtains. Yes SF had two Cinerama type theatres during this time. The upstairs RKO#2 was one of the worst keystone screens ever.
Thanks Dennis for the photo. Did your cinema ever have 70mm film on the screen? Did the screen have the same look as many Showcase theatres hade at that time with no curtains and more of a box set screen back in the wall. Thanks again.
To bad they tore this semi Cinerama type curved screen theatre down a few years ago. Many people tried to save her but the owners wanted to cash out. Thanks so much Texas2 for the memories.
I saw this as a kid at the huge Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland Ca. Steve Reeves was on the giant stage in person opening week. They had up on the marquee ‘Oakland Own’s Steve Reeves In Person’ Mr Mac Dougal the manager went all out with the front 3 sheets and newspaper advertising in Oakland. Thanks CC for this great ad. They even had a MR Hercules contest on stage for local bodybuilder type guys.
I was amazed how large the backstage was. They had room to put a much larger curved type 70mm screen on the massive stage not the flat one they used for all the 70mm roadshow films that played like ‘Sound Of Music’ and ‘The Bible’ (D-150) in a flat semi small Todd-AO 70mm screen. At least the stereo surround sounded good here as they had plenty of surround effect speakers and kept them way up for 6 Ch 70mm mag stereo! SF has torn down so many nice theatres in the past 30 years and now this one is gone. Not even a photo or article in the SF Chronicle this week as I sent them all mine to use. Many older people now went here in the 50’s and 60’s for reserved seat roadshow films.
It is now being worked on to bring It open again as a bar/club with arcade games.
Thanks CC for this great photo. To bad the city of SF did not keep this huge theatre. Many other cities kept their Fox Theatres. The Shuberts needed to take It over and give some West Coast competition to the Nederlanders.
Thanks Don for this classic photo. To bad the Nasser family did not keep the neon sign up when they went condo. Some of the front is still in place on Polk St in SF. They could call It the ‘Condos Royal’
Thanks Dallas for the info. It’s so strange how these movie companies way over done how much the screen came out into the audience just like the ads for early CinemaScope® Most of them did not come off the stage like shown. I hope some day someone will come out with a Blue Ray of this ‘Thrillarama’ film like on a Smilebox type DVD curved system. Must of looked great with just one crease in the middle. Thanks again for the demo photo.
Thanks Dallas for the photo. This cinema looks like It was set up to be a D-150, Todd-AO or Cinerama type of curved screen but looks like they went with a semi flat regular screen. The stage and curtains are curved but the screen is not.
Let’s hope this nice old movie theatre opens It’s doors again for a new generation to enjoy.
It was so sad when Ray Syufy cut the big C21 theatre down the middle to make more money. You could hear all the bass sound from the other side of the wall plus the screen was way smaller and the seats not placed well. It’s all dust now.
This is the best movie theatre in the Reno/Sparks area. Large curved screens and great sound plus a Imax screen. I hope soon they will up grade the surround sound in the large Imax cinema as now they just have two big box speakers in the back corners. The new Imax stereo system has more surround speakers down the side walls. The neon looks so hot at night outside.
This theatre now has a for sale sign outside. Great marquee still left and the place needs to turned back to a single theatre again.
Great neon marquee. They just had a big night with the movie Purple Rain with a live show also on stage.
It is now called the Century and used for rentals.
Very nice Brenden cinema with huge curved screens and the proper masking that works in this Modesto CA site. Great neon outside and some of the best sound you will ever find in a theatre. The help was over the top and very well trained and the people cleaning screen #16 before I saw a movie this past weekend came out with their brooms and trash cans and thanked everyone for waiting and hope they enjoy the movie. Just another nice touch you won’t find at other big theatre groups these days. Check It out If you are ever in Modesto along with the State Theatre a few blocks away.
Looks like a nice cinema and I like the blue lights above. Thank Granola for the photo. Do the blue lights stay on during a film?
Thanks T. I wonder If the mid waterfall curtain section raised up?
A live Ice show on the Roxy stage along with the Fox 35mm movie Titanic what a great presentation that must have been. Thanks CC for the ad. Just before the giant semi curved CinemaScope® screen was put on the huge stage over the ice for the NYC showing of The Robe.
Lets hope they will bring back the Wurlitzer pipe organ?
Lets get them to turn on some Red plus Blue,Green & Orange led bulbs to light up this Hollywood showplace at night. Bring back some color neon also. It is now so dark and dull. You can’t even see the footprints much at night. How nice the only fountain on left would look with Blue water flowing.
One of just a few 70mm Todd-AO curved screen theatres in the mid 50’s in the Los Angeles area. Like so many great movie theatres in Southern CA It has been torn down. Thanks Dallas for the photo.