Thanks Rudy for this photo. It was always fun landing at the airport In San Francisco at night and watch what was playing at this old Syufy Drive In. The airplanes came very close to the screen towers overhead. I wonder If they ever showed the film ‘Airport’? I don’t think It was built when the'High & Mighty' was released.
Thanks David for this great classic 1957 CinemaScope® photo of the Fox West Coast Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Hollywood USA. Taken just before they put in the neon dragon marquee that is now gone.
The curtains as of the first week in Dec 2016 are broke and Landmark won’t fix them. The neon marquee has many letters and light bars off and not working. Seems Landmark does not care to fix anything at this time. They blame It on the city of Santa Cruz that owns the Del Mar, Landmark just pays the lease each month. Soon nothing will light up when all the neon goes out.
Thanks Ken what a great curved screen this was in Bristol. I wish more USA movie circuits would put in larger screens with a deep curve plus add curtains that work. Bring back some showmanship.
Visited this cinema today and they are busy putting in the new recliners in about half of the cinema’s at one end of the building. Cinema #13 (the largest screen non Imax in the theatre) is being turned into SF’s fist Dolby Vision Cinema. They removed the small candy counter they never used in front of the new Dolby Cinema entrance. Go visit in the next few weeks to see the old worn seats before they are removed in cinemas #7-#12. Be ready for noisy hammering going on during your movie from the next door cinemas they are working on. Many people left and got a refund! They need to put a sign up in the lobby on the remodel noise going on. Once a former Loews/Sony large complex theatre the seating will be way reduced by the larger seats at the SF Metreon. Same old problem in Cinema#7 and most of the spaces, the red aisle lights shine on the bottom right and left part of the curved screen. At least AMC still has masking that moves not like Cinemark/Century that keeps everything open with boring white screen shown. Things hope to ready with the new seats in some auditoriums by Christmas. They have turned up the sound I think to drown out all the hammering. Bring the workers in at night to do the work please.
Kevin***Is this cinema new? Did It replace the Century Domes in Sacramento ?I’d hope that they would have put in blue lights on the side of this nice semi curved XD Theatre not old boring white strip lights. Thanks for the photos. Seems no one at Century/CineMark has any clue about effect color lights these days.
Turns out after doing some more investigation the Cinerama Warnors had a metal gate surrounding the outer boxoffice area but the vandals shot out the boxoffice glass with a gun thru the gate. Bullet holes are still in parts of the glass that did not shatter. They may have to put in something on the gate to prevent more bullet danger in the future.
In this day you need to roll down a metal gate at night and put cameras up in front of this former classic Cinerama theatre like the Warnors. Same with the neon It all needs to have a plastic cover over the neon glass tubes. At least they did not get inside?
Thanks Gran for the photo. This great neon marquee for the long gone Capitol was used in many Golden State Theatres, United California Theatres and then UA Theatres in the 40’s and 50’s. They just changed the neon letters with a different theatre name in each city. Theatre DelMar in Santa Cruz CA has one almost just like this one and It lights up every night with flashing semi working color neon.
Thanks Gran for the nice photo. I am so glad the Hawaii Theatre has some blue lights up top. So many old cinemas when they turn them into performing art theatres rip out all the color bulbs and just put in white lights. This must look great during a performance If they keep them lit. Thanks again.
Thanks to the Syufy brothers for keeping this little movie gem in the West Portal SF neighborhood still going strong. The downstairs larger cinema is the best.
Was just at the Chinese Theatre Hollywood this past week. To bad the fountain on the left is not working and not lit up. The whole courtyard needs come color lights. Like put in some orange lights to light up the main pagoda above the door. Same inside years ago many color lights were used before the movie and when a movie was on. Now everything is turned off. No nice blue/red bulbs under the balcony. A little color is on the main light in the ceiling and a red light on the side but everything goes dark when the movie starts. Looks like they just have boring white led’s in most of the ceiling lights. You would think after spending all the money to put in a semi large curved Imax screen with curtains and install new seats plus dig down with a new slope you can’t see the screen If someone sits in front of you that is tall or If they lean forward,the image is semi blocked. Someone did not do the proper measurements when they put in the seating rows. The best thing about the place is the stereo sound with speakers up in the ceiling now. I liked the smaller cinemas in the back, two of them are a very good size with nice curved screens. Like so many theatres they don’t bother to close the curtains these days in the back cinemas.
So sad year after year the old Warner Cinerama Theatre sits empty and locked all up. You would think Pacific Theatres the Forman family would get something going for the tourists who visit Hollywood each year and just walk past the place with money to spend on entertainment in their pocket. Time for the Shuberts to buy the place and give some competition to the same old shows that play down the street at the old RKO Pantages Theatre run by the Neds.
It’s such a shame like so many torn down SF theatres they did not leave the giant red Royal neon sign on the front of the building when they turned the cinema into condos.
They needed to put some Blue LED lights in the ceiling. What will all the party people do when It starts to rain outside on the patio? Outside patio needs some sort of waterfall/fountain feature with a Moroccan look and color lights. Is this new space were the old apartment was that they tried to kick out the long time senior renter?
Thanks Gran for this classic photo. This theatre would have been a easy set up for Cinerama in 1953 as the side area is ready for the large curved screen!!!
Great photo David just before CinemaScope® & Cinerama® hit NYC.
Thanks Rudy for this photo. It was always fun landing at the airport In San Francisco at night and watch what was playing at this old Syufy Drive In. The airplanes came very close to the screen towers overhead. I wonder If they ever showed the film ‘Airport’? I don’t think It was built when the'High & Mighty' was released.
Thanks David for this great classic 1957 CinemaScope® photo of the Fox West Coast Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Hollywood USA. Taken just before they put in the neon dragon marquee that is now gone.
The curtains as of the first week in Dec 2016 are broke and Landmark won’t fix them. The neon marquee has many letters and light bars off and not working. Seems Landmark does not care to fix anything at this time. They blame It on the city of Santa Cruz that owns the Del Mar, Landmark just pays the lease each month. Soon nothing will light up when all the neon goes out.
Thanks Ken what a great curved screen this was in Bristol. I wish more USA movie circuits would put in larger screens with a deep curve plus add curtains that work. Bring back some showmanship.
Visited this cinema today and they are busy putting in the new recliners in about half of the cinema’s at one end of the building. Cinema #13 (the largest screen non Imax in the theatre) is being turned into SF’s fist Dolby Vision Cinema. They removed the small candy counter they never used in front of the new Dolby Cinema entrance. Go visit in the next few weeks to see the old worn seats before they are removed in cinemas #7-#12. Be ready for noisy hammering going on during your movie from the next door cinemas they are working on. Many people left and got a refund! They need to put a sign up in the lobby on the remodel noise going on. Once a former Loews/Sony large complex theatre the seating will be way reduced by the larger seats at the SF Metreon. Same old problem in Cinema#7 and most of the spaces, the red aisle lights shine on the bottom right and left part of the curved screen. At least AMC still has masking that moves not like Cinemark/Century that keeps everything open with boring white screen shown. Things hope to ready with the new seats in some auditoriums by Christmas. They have turned up the sound I think to drown out all the hammering. Bring the workers in at night to do the work please.
Kevin***Is this cinema new? Did It replace the Century Domes in Sacramento ?I’d hope that they would have put in blue lights on the side of this nice semi curved XD Theatre not old boring white strip lights. Thanks for the photos. Seems no one at Century/CineMark has any clue about effect color lights these days.
$75,000 is a good price to have all that work done with the front and marquee. In California the work would run about $300,000 dollars plus!!
Thanks Gran for the photo. I like the CinemaScope® curved extension wings.
Turns out after doing some more investigation the Cinerama Warnors had a metal gate surrounding the outer boxoffice area but the vandals shot out the boxoffice glass with a gun thru the gate. Bullet holes are still in parts of the glass that did not shatter. They may have to put in something on the gate to prevent more bullet danger in the future.
It’s so sad this once 70mm Todd-AO roadshow theatre in SF just sits empty year after year.
In this day you need to roll down a metal gate at night and put cameras up in front of this former classic Cinerama theatre like the Warnors. Same with the neon It all needs to have a plastic cover over the neon glass tubes. At least they did not get inside?
Thanks Pred, so nice to see a theatre chain put in GREEN seats not like the same black or red seats you see in every cinema in the USA.
Thanks Gran for the photo. This great neon marquee for the long gone Capitol was used in many Golden State Theatres, United California Theatres and then UA Theatres in the 40’s and 50’s. They just changed the neon letters with a different theatre name in each city. Theatre DelMar in Santa Cruz CA has one almost just like this one and It lights up every night with flashing semi working color neon.
Thanks Gran for the nice photo. I am so glad the Hawaii Theatre has some blue lights up top. So many old cinemas when they turn them into performing art theatres rip out all the color bulbs and just put in white lights. This must look great during a performance If they keep them lit. Thanks again.
Thanks to the Syufy brothers for keeping this little movie gem in the West Portal SF neighborhood still going strong. The downstairs larger cinema is the best.
Looks like a nice double screen but scope movies may not look so wide. To bad they did not make a wider screen.
Was just at the Chinese Theatre Hollywood this past week. To bad the fountain on the left is not working and not lit up. The whole courtyard needs come color lights. Like put in some orange lights to light up the main pagoda above the door. Same inside years ago many color lights were used before the movie and when a movie was on. Now everything is turned off. No nice blue/red bulbs under the balcony. A little color is on the main light in the ceiling and a red light on the side but everything goes dark when the movie starts. Looks like they just have boring white led’s in most of the ceiling lights. You would think after spending all the money to put in a semi large curved Imax screen with curtains and install new seats plus dig down with a new slope you can’t see the screen If someone sits in front of you that is tall or If they lean forward,the image is semi blocked. Someone did not do the proper measurements when they put in the seating rows. The best thing about the place is the stereo sound with speakers up in the ceiling now. I liked the smaller cinemas in the back, two of them are a very good size with nice curved screens. Like so many theatres they don’t bother to close the curtains these days in the back cinemas.
So sad year after year the old Warner Cinerama Theatre sits empty and locked all up. You would think Pacific Theatres the Forman family would get something going for the tourists who visit Hollywood each year and just walk past the place with money to spend on entertainment in their pocket. Time for the Shuberts to buy the place and give some competition to the same old shows that play down the street at the old RKO Pantages Theatre run by the Neds.
Thanks Bruce for the photo. Looks like this old Hollywood theatre will be open again. I never thought I’d see the day when the Ritz would show movies.
Good luck Tim on your Brooklyn opening. This brand new cinema will be a great new venture in movie entertainment for the NY area!
It’s such a shame like so many torn down SF theatres they did not leave the giant red Royal neon sign on the front of the building when they turned the cinema into condos.
Soon to open as a new bar/club after being closed for many years.
They needed to put some Blue LED lights in the ceiling. What will all the party people do when It starts to rain outside on the patio? Outside patio needs some sort of waterfall/fountain feature with a Moroccan look and color lights. Is this new space were the old apartment was that they tried to kick out the long time senior renter?
Thanks Gran for this classic photo. This theatre would have been a easy set up for Cinerama in 1953 as the side area is ready for the large curved screen!!!