The architects were Reid Bros. The theatre is now a church. The original facade is intact, as well as the circa 1940 vertical sign and marquee. Many interior features, including chandeliers, mythological figures added to walls in a later remodel, and a number of the fine mahogany doors with etched glass panels, were salvaged, restored, and sold prior to the church conversion.
The architects of the Towne (which opened as the Hester) were Binder and Curtis. Originally the Hester had a simple Spanish Colonial motif. The current facade dates mostly to a post-WWII remodeling, as do portions of the interior. However the proscenium is the 1928 original. The organ was originally in the State-Lake Theatre, Chicago, then spent the 1960s-1980s in the Avenue Theatre, San Francisco, and was installed in the Towne around 1990.
The architects of the Fox (California)were Charles Peter Weeks and William Day. The theatre began life as part of the West Coast Theatre chain, which was soon added to the William Fox empire. The marquee shown in the photo dates from 1957, when the theatre underwent a facade and lobby redecoration, and the name of the theatre was shortened to FOX. Restoration plans call for replication of the original California rectangular marquee and replication of original lightbulb vertical sign, which is one of a number of identical “California” verticals manufactured for the West Coast chain, featuring lightbulb outlining in a California poppy motif.
Also part of the restoration will be a Wurlitzer organ in the auditorium, AND a smaller restored Wurlitzer in the lobby. This will be the first time since demolition of the San Francisco Fox that a Bay Area movie palace will have a lobby organ.
I was privileged to be a tour docent in this theatre at various times from 1991-1993, and took hundreds of fascinated citizens through the building. It was an experience I will always treasure.
The Fox opened in 1923 as the California, an independent theatre built by the local El Pajaro Company. G. Albert Lansburgh was the architect. The towered and tile-roofed facade was added in 1931. Where you see the arched green awning in the photo, there was once a marquee, which went through three incarnations over the years. The interior has some touches of redecoration in the “Skouras Style,” including a bas-relief scene of apple harvesting (a local industry) in the lobby, and painted patterns of swirling leaves and tropical birds on the auditorium sidewalls. However, the rectangular proscenium, the ceiling, and arched organ grilles are original. In the late 1980s, the Pajaro Valley Arts Council presented successful concerts by local cultural groups on the theatre’s refurbished stage, and plans were underway to have the Fox become a performing arts center for the area. However, the 1989 earthquake set these plans back, as the theatre suffered damage, some severe, and although it was ultimately repaired, in the meantime a competing—and less glamorous—plan to build a new facility several blocks away materialized. This took attention away from the Fox. The new performing arts center was built and the Fox was soon triplexed, and once again became a first run film venue.
In Fall 1996 I saw and photographed this theatre, which appeared then as it does in the above photo. It had ceased its longtime use as a Spanish-language movie and live act house, and was being used for church services, like the Fox West Coast nearby. The stagehouse flytower is unusually shaped, and at least at the time of my observation, still had wonderful painted signage in Spanish on it, extolling the virtues of this teatro/cine.
In Fall 1996 I saw the exterior of this theatre, and it still looked exactly as it appears in the above photo except the box office was gone, and the neon tubing was missing from the marquee (though decorative striping was still the same colors as in the photo). The theatre was then being used as a church.
The Vogue was renamed Cinema 7 in the Seventies, why, I do not know since it never had any more than one screen. It was a simple streamline moderne house. It last ran bargain double features, closing circa 1984. Sharp eyes can still see it was once a theatre, though marquee and entrance were replaced by typical mid-Eighties postmodern stuccowork.
To correct one item in the main description: The present Varsity was built from “scratch” and opened in 1927. The “old” Varsity that opened in 1912 was on the opposite side of University Avenue a couple of blocks to the West. The building that housed the “old” Varsity still stands, and has housed a Round Table Pizza and a Baskin and Robbins in recent years.
I was part of a group that, although we lost the battle to keep the Varsity as a theatre, stayed on and fought to have as much of the interior preserved as possible. Some may think that the conversion to a bookstore is awful, but it could have been worse had it not been for our efforts. Originally, the remodeling called for removal of the marquee—to be replaced by a postmodern “shorthand” replica of the original—complete gutting and destruction of the lobby, and destruction of the arched sidewalls of the auditorium, and probably removal of all ceiling ornament. Due to our efforts, all these items were saved and restored.
It should also be stated that even though the auditorium is 6-plexed, and a seventh screen is made out of a lounge area, the lofty lobby alone, with its murals, mezzanine railings, and chandeliers, is a must-see. Some lobby furniture, paintings, and a few wall sconces now have a home at the Oakland Paramount.
Like so many of its UA brethren in the Southern California region, but unlike any others in the Bay Area, this house features the “Unity” and “Artistry” facade panels, but in this case reversed, so as to read, “Artistry” and “Unity.”
When the theatre opened in 1932, it had an organ, a fine Wurlitzer originally installed in the T&D Theatre in Oakland. The organ still exists in private hands, having been removed around the time the house was ‘plexed.
When changed to retail, a later Sixties era theatre facade was removed, revealing yet another Thirties UA facade with the familiar “Unity” and “Artistry” relief panels utilized throughout the region at the time. The facade is as original, save for missing its marquee and vertical sign. The entrance foyer still has a terrazzo and poster cases, and the interior still features fluted gold pilasters along the sidewalls
This theatre dates back to the post-1906 quake rebuilding of San Francisco, although it was later completely redone in Art Deco style, and remained so until its closing. When the intent was for the theatre to become retail space, the lovely Art Deco interior was completely gutted save for the balcony structure. Later, when local opposition stopped the locating of a chain store in the building, a later effort was undertaken to reuse the structure as a live theatre space. The only thing remaining of aesthetic/historical note is the 30s or 40s era sign tower.
The original auditorium is intact, with additional screens (done in period style with Corinthian pilasters lining the walls) next door in an adjacent building.
After an attempt to use the Mayfair as both a live venue and a specialty movie house in the mid-1990s, the theatre closed. A couple of years ago a fire gutted the building. I was last by there in Fall of 2001, and the empty concrete shell of the building was still standing, with marquee, box office, and terrazzo intact.
Long Beach’s ART and LEE theatres are one and the same. It is still operating with art movies. “LEE” is still to be found on the terrazzo sidewalk. The facade and sign still appear as in the photo above (except for the lettering) but the marquee shown here was later replaced with a simple neon-edged wedge, still extant.
From the Late 40s until the 1980s, General Theatrical was the operator, as a triple-feature bargain house for most if not all of those years.
In its restoration, the 1940s neon has been preserved—historic in its own right—along with the original 1904 facade. The combination works well, and calls to mind early 20th century theatres as they looked by mid-century in many of our cities.
To verify my earlier comment: The book, “The Haight Ashbury—A History” which came out in the mid 80s, contains numerous references to the Haight/Straight Theatre, and has several pictures of it inside and out. The exterior matches the photo displayed above, though later the letters were removed from the marquee and vertical sign when renamed the Straight.
The Haight was NOT demolished in 1964. This idea may have been gleaned from one of the recent books on old theatres—I’ve run across this demolition date in print before, but the fact is that the theatre was converted into a rock concert venue around the time of the “Summer of Love” (1967) and eventually renamed the “Straight”. Many of the famous rock bands of that era from San Francisco played there. The main floor was leveled with a parquet surface for dancing. The theatre was pulled down in the 70s. A store now occupies the site.
The classical nude statue in the niche on the facade was saved and installed atop a fountain with a commemorative plaque honoring the theatre, in the courtyard of the hotel that now occupies the site.
The El Rey was built in 1935. Though built principally for movies, the theatre was equipped with a small stage. Norma Jean Baker, before her journey to stardom, emceed a stage presentation there, when she was the Castroville Artichoke Queen. In the early 1980s, the theatre was renamed CINEMA 1, and given an exterior paint job, to try to clean up its image from its previous use as a porn house. It switched to bargain movies, and was only marginally successful. Throughout its operating history, the interior remained surprisingly intact—tropical themed murals, most of the original seating, swagged and tasseled curtains, and moderne light fixtures. After suffering damage in the 1989 earthquake, the theatre did not reopen. A group tried to convert it into a church, and, despite some local opposition, painted the entire interior white! Then they were told by the city that they could not operate a church on Main Street, but the damage had been done. A coffee shop operated briefly in the lobby, but since then, the theatre has remained closed.
The Roosevelt/York was originally built for the Ackerman & Harris chain. The architects were Reid Bros. It became part of the General Theatrical chain in 1931. In the 1980s, it was part of Renaissance Rialto Theatres. The theatre now features a new impressive art deco neon vertical sign reading BRAVA, with deco goddess heads surmounting it.
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.
This was yet another theatre designed by the prolific Reid Bros. It’s style really isn’t Art Deco. It was originally Spanish Colonial, however the later removal of much of the cast ornament on the facade, and the inclusion of a streamlined marquee and vertical sign in later years, along with beautiful etched glass hanging fixtures in the lobby and an allegorical bas relief of a muse holding Greek masks, make much of the overall feel of the place more Deco than anything else.
The Apollo’s original name, Amazon, comes from its location in the Crocker-Amazon District. The theatre has been unused for many years, although the adjacent storefronts in a wing of the same building have kept the property from abandonment. A friend who was inside several years ago said the ornamental plaster of the proscenium and organ grills is all intact.
The architects were Reid Bros. The theatre is now a church. The original facade is intact, as well as the circa 1940 vertical sign and marquee. Many interior features, including chandeliers, mythological figures added to walls in a later remodel, and a number of the fine mahogany doors with etched glass panels, were salvaged, restored, and sold prior to the church conversion.
The architects of the Towne (which opened as the Hester) were Binder and Curtis. Originally the Hester had a simple Spanish Colonial motif. The current facade dates mostly to a post-WWII remodeling, as do portions of the interior. However the proscenium is the 1928 original. The organ was originally in the State-Lake Theatre, Chicago, then spent the 1960s-1980s in the Avenue Theatre, San Francisco, and was installed in the Towne around 1990.
The architects of the Fox (California)were Charles Peter Weeks and William Day. The theatre began life as part of the West Coast Theatre chain, which was soon added to the William Fox empire. The marquee shown in the photo dates from 1957, when the theatre underwent a facade and lobby redecoration, and the name of the theatre was shortened to FOX. Restoration plans call for replication of the original California rectangular marquee and replication of original lightbulb vertical sign, which is one of a number of identical “California” verticals manufactured for the West Coast chain, featuring lightbulb outlining in a California poppy motif.
Also part of the restoration will be a Wurlitzer organ in the auditorium, AND a smaller restored Wurlitzer in the lobby. This will be the first time since demolition of the San Francisco Fox that a Bay Area movie palace will have a lobby organ.
I was privileged to be a tour docent in this theatre at various times from 1991-1993, and took hundreds of fascinated citizens through the building. It was an experience I will always treasure.
The Fox opened in 1923 as the California, an independent theatre built by the local El Pajaro Company. G. Albert Lansburgh was the architect. The towered and tile-roofed facade was added in 1931. Where you see the arched green awning in the photo, there was once a marquee, which went through three incarnations over the years. The interior has some touches of redecoration in the “Skouras Style,” including a bas-relief scene of apple harvesting (a local industry) in the lobby, and painted patterns of swirling leaves and tropical birds on the auditorium sidewalls. However, the rectangular proscenium, the ceiling, and arched organ grilles are original. In the late 1980s, the Pajaro Valley Arts Council presented successful concerts by local cultural groups on the theatre’s refurbished stage, and plans were underway to have the Fox become a performing arts center for the area. However, the 1989 earthquake set these plans back, as the theatre suffered damage, some severe, and although it was ultimately repaired, in the meantime a competing—and less glamorous—plan to build a new facility several blocks away materialized. This took attention away from the Fox. The new performing arts center was built and the Fox was soon triplexed, and once again became a first run film venue.
In Fall 1996 I saw and photographed this theatre, which appeared then as it does in the above photo. It had ceased its longtime use as a Spanish-language movie and live act house, and was being used for church services, like the Fox West Coast nearby. The stagehouse flytower is unusually shaped, and at least at the time of my observation, still had wonderful painted signage in Spanish on it, extolling the virtues of this teatro/cine.
In Fall 1996 I saw the exterior of this theatre, and it still looked exactly as it appears in the above photo except the box office was gone, and the neon tubing was missing from the marquee (though decorative striping was still the same colors as in the photo). The theatre was then being used as a church.
The Vogue was renamed Cinema 7 in the Seventies, why, I do not know since it never had any more than one screen. It was a simple streamline moderne house. It last ran bargain double features, closing circa 1984. Sharp eyes can still see it was once a theatre, though marquee and entrance were replaced by typical mid-Eighties postmodern stuccowork.
To correct one item in the main description: The present Varsity was built from “scratch” and opened in 1927. The “old” Varsity that opened in 1912 was on the opposite side of University Avenue a couple of blocks to the West. The building that housed the “old” Varsity still stands, and has housed a Round Table Pizza and a Baskin and Robbins in recent years.
I was part of a group that, although we lost the battle to keep the Varsity as a theatre, stayed on and fought to have as much of the interior preserved as possible. Some may think that the conversion to a bookstore is awful, but it could have been worse had it not been for our efforts. Originally, the remodeling called for removal of the marquee—to be replaced by a postmodern “shorthand” replica of the original—complete gutting and destruction of the lobby, and destruction of the arched sidewalls of the auditorium, and probably removal of all ceiling ornament. Due to our efforts, all these items were saved and restored.
It should also be stated that even though the auditorium is 6-plexed, and a seventh screen is made out of a lounge area, the lofty lobby alone, with its murals, mezzanine railings, and chandeliers, is a must-see. Some lobby furniture, paintings, and a few wall sconces now have a home at the Oakland Paramount.
Like so many of its UA brethren in the Southern California region, but unlike any others in the Bay Area, this house features the “Unity” and “Artistry” facade panels, but in this case reversed, so as to read, “Artistry” and “Unity.”
When the theatre opened in 1932, it had an organ, a fine Wurlitzer originally installed in the T&D Theatre in Oakland. The organ still exists in private hands, having been removed around the time the house was ‘plexed.
When changed to retail, a later Sixties era theatre facade was removed, revealing yet another Thirties UA facade with the familiar “Unity” and “Artistry” relief panels utilized throughout the region at the time. The facade is as original, save for missing its marquee and vertical sign. The entrance foyer still has a terrazzo and poster cases, and the interior still features fluted gold pilasters along the sidewalls
This theatre dates back to the post-1906 quake rebuilding of San Francisco, although it was later completely redone in Art Deco style, and remained so until its closing. When the intent was for the theatre to become retail space, the lovely Art Deco interior was completely gutted save for the balcony structure. Later, when local opposition stopped the locating of a chain store in the building, a later effort was undertaken to reuse the structure as a live theatre space. The only thing remaining of aesthetic/historical note is the 30s or 40s era sign tower.
The original auditorium is intact, with additional screens (done in period style with Corinthian pilasters lining the walls) next door in an adjacent building.
After an attempt to use the Mayfair as both a live venue and a specialty movie house in the mid-1990s, the theatre closed. A couple of years ago a fire gutted the building. I was last by there in Fall of 2001, and the empty concrete shell of the building was still standing, with marquee, box office, and terrazzo intact.
Long Beach’s ART and LEE theatres are one and the same. It is still operating with art movies. “LEE” is still to be found on the terrazzo sidewalk. The facade and sign still appear as in the photo above (except for the lettering) but the marquee shown here was later replaced with a simple neon-edged wedge, still extant.
Architect was William Binder.
From the Late 40s until the 1980s, General Theatrical was the operator, as a triple-feature bargain house for most if not all of those years.
In its restoration, the 1940s neon has been preserved—historic in its own right—along with the original 1904 facade. The combination works well, and calls to mind early 20th century theatres as they looked by mid-century in many of our cities.
To verify my earlier comment: The book, “The Haight Ashbury—A History” which came out in the mid 80s, contains numerous references to the Haight/Straight Theatre, and has several pictures of it inside and out. The exterior matches the photo displayed above, though later the letters were removed from the marquee and vertical sign when renamed the Straight.
The Haight was NOT demolished in 1964. This idea may have been gleaned from one of the recent books on old theatres—I’ve run across this demolition date in print before, but the fact is that the theatre was converted into a rock concert venue around the time of the “Summer of Love” (1967) and eventually renamed the “Straight”. Many of the famous rock bands of that era from San Francisco played there. The main floor was leveled with a parquet surface for dancing. The theatre was pulled down in the 70s. A store now occupies the site.
The classical nude statue in the niche on the facade was saved and installed atop a fountain with a commemorative plaque honoring the theatre, in the courtyard of the hotel that now occupies the site.
The El Rey was built in 1935. Though built principally for movies, the theatre was equipped with a small stage. Norma Jean Baker, before her journey to stardom, emceed a stage presentation there, when she was the Castroville Artichoke Queen. In the early 1980s, the theatre was renamed CINEMA 1, and given an exterior paint job, to try to clean up its image from its previous use as a porn house. It switched to bargain movies, and was only marginally successful. Throughout its operating history, the interior remained surprisingly intact—tropical themed murals, most of the original seating, swagged and tasseled curtains, and moderne light fixtures. After suffering damage in the 1989 earthquake, the theatre did not reopen. A group tried to convert it into a church, and, despite some local opposition, painted the entire interior white! Then they were told by the city that they could not operate a church on Main Street, but the damage had been done. A coffee shop operated briefly in the lobby, but since then, the theatre has remained closed.
The Roosevelt/York was originally built for the Ackerman & Harris chain. The architects were Reid Bros. It became part of the General Theatrical chain in 1931. In the 1980s, it was part of Renaissance Rialto Theatres. The theatre now features a new impressive art deco neon vertical sign reading BRAVA, with deco goddess heads surmounting it.
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.
This was yet another theatre designed by the prolific Reid Bros. It’s style really isn’t Art Deco. It was originally Spanish Colonial, however the later removal of much of the cast ornament on the facade, and the inclusion of a streamlined marquee and vertical sign in later years, along with beautiful etched glass hanging fixtures in the lobby and an allegorical bas relief of a muse holding Greek masks, make much of the overall feel of the place more Deco than anything else.
The Apollo’s original name, Amazon, comes from its location in the Crocker-Amazon District. The theatre has been unused for many years, although the adjacent storefronts in a wing of the same building have kept the property from abandonment. A friend who was inside several years ago said the ornamental plaster of the proscenium and organ grills is all intact.