I was so sad to learn of the demise of the UC. After my marriage ended and I became the sole parent of two adolescent boys, I began bringing them from Orinda to Berkeley 2 or 3 times a month. We discovered samurai movies together there: Zatoichi, the blind masseur swordsman, was our favorite. One evening I arrived to find a line for tickets clear around the block; the show was 47 Ronin, a samurai epic cherished in Japan. Also saw The Last Waltz and Woodstock there, discovered many rock performers thereby. Wonderful memories of the movies, esp. the audiences, and the ambience. My kids, now in their 40s, dearly remember those times too.
It had, I believe, a verticle marquee saying Elmwood. I used to deliver papers in the area [berkeley Gazette] in the mid-50’s, go in for movies occasionally. Two that I recall were Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, both b&w French movies. I made a little fork thingy out of wire coat hanger that I slid under the Exit door, then twisted it and pulled the door open to sneak in free. I hope I was not the cause of the Elmwood’s demise. The place was a wonderful fixture of the Elmwood neighborhood on College Avenue.
I remember the Moulin Rouge as a rather seedy burlesque house on 8th Street in skid-row Oakland in 1962. I was a student at men-only St. Mary’s College in Moraga; several of us, driven by hormones, would cruise Oakland looking for hookers, and at least once went inside for a burly-Q show. I don’t remember the show as particularly titillating – Tempest Storm was NOT on stage that nite – but I do remember – and cherish – the sort of seamy atmosphere of the theater and the neighborhood. Great stuff!
I was so sad to learn of the demise of the UC. After my marriage ended and I became the sole parent of two adolescent boys, I began bringing them from Orinda to Berkeley 2 or 3 times a month. We discovered samurai movies together there: Zatoichi, the blind masseur swordsman, was our favorite. One evening I arrived to find a line for tickets clear around the block; the show was 47 Ronin, a samurai epic cherished in Japan. Also saw The Last Waltz and Woodstock there, discovered many rock performers thereby. Wonderful memories of the movies, esp. the audiences, and the ambience. My kids, now in their 40s, dearly remember those times too.
It had, I believe, a verticle marquee saying Elmwood. I used to deliver papers in the area [berkeley Gazette] in the mid-50’s, go in for movies occasionally. Two that I recall were Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, both b&w French movies. I made a little fork thingy out of wire coat hanger that I slid under the Exit door, then twisted it and pulled the door open to sneak in free. I hope I was not the cause of the Elmwood’s demise. The place was a wonderful fixture of the Elmwood neighborhood on College Avenue.
I remember the Moulin Rouge as a rather seedy burlesque house on 8th Street in skid-row Oakland in 1962. I was a student at men-only St. Mary’s College in Moraga; several of us, driven by hormones, would cruise Oakland looking for hookers, and at least once went inside for a burly-Q show. I don’t remember the show as particularly titillating – Tempest Storm was NOT on stage that nite – but I do remember – and cherish – the sort of seamy atmosphere of the theater and the neighborhood. Great stuff!