The Palm Theatre is still open and still the only X rated movie theatre on the Peninsula. I used to work at the Palm and I enjoyed it very much. It was a one man operation, the movies were on videotape and shown on the big screen (pic quality actually was good). You sold tickets, did snack bar, and worked the videos. The Palm has an opera style curtain. Chuck Mello, the manager and I tried to work it one time and dust started flying everywhere and the motor wouldn’t turn well. Too expensive to fix. We used to hit a switch and the stage lights would come on to give a intermission effect for a few seconds and when lit, you saw murals on the sides which depicts sort of picasso style drawings. The lobby has beautiful cut glass etchings behind the candy counter and at the drinking fountain. Great loyal patrons went there. I have a great pic of the interior of the auditorium and will post it here when the site allows it.
I used to go to the Fruitvale Theater all the time when I was a kid. Above the arch were murals of cupid angels holding bows, with a pink background with white clouds. The ceiling had a impressive center light fixture that was shaped like a huge dome, with red and blue neon going around it. The curtain on the stage was red, and had a little clock in blue on the left. We would always go to Al’s Chop Suey right across the street for dinner before. The big movies played at the Fox Oakland and Paramount, and usually those ended at the Fruitvale right afterwards and it was always a double bill. It was sad when it caught on fire. I took movies of the inside of it, and it was completely gutted. It had a beautiful mezzanine floor where the restrooms were located, with leather couches and big ashtrays full of sand. I can still smell the fresh popcorn when you walked in.
Going to the Lux in Downtown Oakland in the early 70’s was a treat. It was open all night on the weekends, and had double bills of usually horror movies or kung fu style flicks. Saw “Mark of The Devil” there and they gave us free barf bags. On Saturday nights they had what was called “spino bingo” and it drew large crowds, mostly of a black audience. The snack bar was great you could buy pizza by the slice. They even sold it and all their other concessions (hot dogs were killer) from the outside at a glass window connected to the snack bar. When the lux disappeared, the old downtown feel was gone.
The Palm Theatre is still open and still the only X rated movie theatre on the Peninsula. I used to work at the Palm and I enjoyed it very much. It was a one man operation, the movies were on videotape and shown on the big screen (pic quality actually was good). You sold tickets, did snack bar, and worked the videos. The Palm has an opera style curtain. Chuck Mello, the manager and I tried to work it one time and dust started flying everywhere and the motor wouldn’t turn well. Too expensive to fix. We used to hit a switch and the stage lights would come on to give a intermission effect for a few seconds and when lit, you saw murals on the sides which depicts sort of picasso style drawings. The lobby has beautiful cut glass etchings behind the candy counter and at the drinking fountain. Great loyal patrons went there. I have a great pic of the interior of the auditorium and will post it here when the site allows it.
I used to go to the Fruitvale Theater all the time when I was a kid. Above the arch were murals of cupid angels holding bows, with a pink background with white clouds. The ceiling had a impressive center light fixture that was shaped like a huge dome, with red and blue neon going around it. The curtain on the stage was red, and had a little clock in blue on the left. We would always go to Al’s Chop Suey right across the street for dinner before. The big movies played at the Fox Oakland and Paramount, and usually those ended at the Fruitvale right afterwards and it was always a double bill. It was sad when it caught on fire. I took movies of the inside of it, and it was completely gutted. It had a beautiful mezzanine floor where the restrooms were located, with leather couches and big ashtrays full of sand. I can still smell the fresh popcorn when you walked in.
Going to the Lux in Downtown Oakland in the early 70’s was a treat. It was open all night on the weekends, and had double bills of usually horror movies or kung fu style flicks. Saw “Mark of The Devil” there and they gave us free barf bags. On Saturday nights they had what was called “spino bingo” and it drew large crowds, mostly of a black audience. The snack bar was great you could buy pizza by the slice. They even sold it and all their other concessions (hot dogs were killer) from the outside at a glass window connected to the snack bar. When the lux disappeared, the old downtown feel was gone.