From the Motion Picture Herald, May 12, 1956, p. 8: “Plans for building a new theatre in Livermore, Calif., to be called the Vine, have been announced by L.S. Hamm of the newly formed Southern Alameda Theatres Corporation. Designed by Gus Santacono, the 1000-seat theatre will be operated by Roy Cooper Theatres.
From Motion Picture Herald, May 12, 1956, p. 8: “The Valley drive-in theatre at Pleasanton, Calif., was recently enlarged and modernized by Westside Theatres, Inc. The project included the addition of three ramps, a wider screen tower, and a new playground and snack bar.”
Rare news footage from KPIX Channel 5 (San Francisco) covering the first San Francisco Erotic Film Festival at the Presidio, 12/2/1970. Link below courtesy of the Bay Area Television Archive.
https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190447
The San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive has rare film. Included is a KRON Channel 4 report from 5/30/1978 on the drive-in and the controversy surrounding its adult films. It can be viewed at https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/229236
More information about the Showcase, and a picture of its exterior, can be found on the Claycord Online Museum at
http://claycord.com/2016/01/05/claycord-online-museum-a-bar-in-the-sunvalley-mall-a-porn-theatre-a-motel/
From the “Hayward Daily Review” I found the following information. The Dublin Cinema’s second and third screens opened on Friday, June 2, 1972. Screen #2 featured Woody Allen’s “Play it Again, Sam” and Screen #3 had Shirley Maclaine’s “The Possession of Joe Delaney.” For some time after, Screens 2 and 3 featured PG and R-rated films, while the larger #1 auditorium ran Disney movies and other family fare (Disney’s “$1,000,000 Duck” and “The Biscuit Eater” played that weekend on the #1 screen).
The Vine opened on 12/26/1956. The following listing was in that afternoon’s Oakland Tribune movie section:
California’s Newest! Most Modern! Gala Opening!
Tonight! Doors open at 5:45 P.M.
1000 Panoramic View Seats
Rocking Chair Loges
Stereophonic Sound!
Giant Screen!
Ample Free Parking…Year Round Air Conditioning!
Landscaped Patio Area!
The Vine opened with “You Can’t Run Away From It” starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon, and “7th Cavalry” with Randolph Scott.
The last time the State appears in movie listings is the 12/22/1956 edition of the Oakland Tribune. “Rebel in Town” with John Payne and Ruth Roman and “The Search for Bridey Murphy” starring Teresa Wright were the attractions. The new Vine Theater opened on 12/26/1956.
What a great triple feature at the Stadium Drive-In the weekend of 9/18/1970, as reported in the Hayward Daily Review. Herschell Gordon Lewis' gore triumvirate, “Blood Feast,” “Two Thousand Maniacs” and “Color Me Blood Red” were featured. Now that’s a drive-in treat!
The Oakland Tribune, dated March 24, 1969, indicates a grand opening for the Dublin Cinema on 3/26/1969 with the film “Where Eagles Dare” starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.
Updated 12/10/2014 – according to the August 11, 1964 edition of the Oakland Tribune, the San Ramon Auto Movies had its grand opening the following evening (8/12/1964) with a showing of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao.” The newspaper ad notes the drive-in was situated on Dublin Blvd. at Highways 50 and 21, though it was actually ½ mile east of that intersection (Dublin Blvd. and San Ramon Rd.) The San Ramon Auto Movies opened about a year before the adjacent Interstate 580/680 interchange.
The Vine was twinned in the early 70s, if memory serves.
What’s to become of the Vine now that the multiplex has opened? It might go back to being a second-run theatre, which is was for most of the 80s through 1992. It went back to being a first-run theatre in 1992 with the release of “Batman Returns.”
The San Ramon Auto Movies started as a single screen; a second screen was added to the southern part of the drive-in around 1972 (along westbound Hwy. 580). A simple, waist-high cyclone fence with wood staves separated the two screening areas. The perimeter of the drive-in was encased in a green and white corrugated fiberglass fence. Cartoon character likenesses (Porky Pig, etc.) dotted the fence occasionally. Some of the speaker holders came equipped with heaters.
R-rated movies seemed a rarity at this drive-in; family movies like “Adventures of the Wilderness Family” and “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” were staples. Sometimes R-rated movies like “Walking Tall” and “Linda Lovelace for President” played here, but the San Ramon Auto Movies definitely had a family atmosphere (a playground was located next to the snack bar).
There were two different Bell theatres. The first Bell Theatre was built in 1909 and located at 2nd and J Sts. It burned down in 1919; it was this site that later became home to the Montgomery Ward catalog store and Helen’s Blossom Shop into the 1970s. The second Bell Theatre was built into the Schenone Building, one block north of the old theatre, at 2235 First St. It retained the Bell name for only a couple of years; it later became the Livermore Theatre and the California Theatre, and by 1931 was renamed the State Theatre.
News footage (KRON, San Francisco) of the 8/14/1969 raid on the theatre can be seen here… https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/231104
Correction – view is facing southeast.
From the Motion Picture Herald, May 12, 1956, p. 8: “Plans for building a new theatre in Livermore, Calif., to be called the Vine, have been announced by L.S. Hamm of the newly formed Southern Alameda Theatres Corporation. Designed by Gus Santacono, the 1000-seat theatre will be operated by Roy Cooper Theatres.
From Motion Picture Herald, May 12, 1956, p. 8: “The Valley drive-in theatre at Pleasanton, Calif., was recently enlarged and modernized by Westside Theatres, Inc. The project included the addition of three ramps, a wider screen tower, and a new playground and snack bar.”
Rare news footage from KPIX Channel 5 (San Francisco) covering the first San Francisco Erotic Film Festival at the Presidio, 12/2/1970. Link below courtesy of the Bay Area Television Archive. https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190447
The San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive has rare film. Included is a KRON Channel 4 report from 5/30/1978 on the drive-in and the controversy surrounding its adult films. It can be viewed at https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/229236
More information about the Showcase, and a picture of its exterior, can be found on the Claycord Online Museum at http://claycord.com/2016/01/05/claycord-online-museum-a-bar-in-the-sunvalley-mall-a-porn-theatre-a-motel/
From the “Hayward Daily Review” I found the following information. The Dublin Cinema’s second and third screens opened on Friday, June 2, 1972. Screen #2 featured Woody Allen’s “Play it Again, Sam” and Screen #3 had Shirley Maclaine’s “The Possession of Joe Delaney.” For some time after, Screens 2 and 3 featured PG and R-rated films, while the larger #1 auditorium ran Disney movies and other family fare (Disney’s “$1,000,000 Duck” and “The Biscuit Eater” played that weekend on the #1 screen).
The Vine opened on 12/26/1956. The following listing was in that afternoon’s Oakland Tribune movie section: California’s Newest! Most Modern! Gala Opening! Tonight! Doors open at 5:45 P.M. 1000 Panoramic View Seats Rocking Chair Loges Stereophonic Sound! Giant Screen! Ample Free Parking…Year Round Air Conditioning! Landscaped Patio Area!
The Vine opened with “You Can’t Run Away From It” starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon, and “7th Cavalry” with Randolph Scott.
The last time the State appears in movie listings is the 12/22/1956 edition of the Oakland Tribune. “Rebel in Town” with John Payne and Ruth Roman and “The Search for Bridey Murphy” starring Teresa Wright were the attractions. The new Vine Theater opened on 12/26/1956.
What a great triple feature at the Stadium Drive-In the weekend of 9/18/1970, as reported in the Hayward Daily Review. Herschell Gordon Lewis' gore triumvirate, “Blood Feast,” “Two Thousand Maniacs” and “Color Me Blood Red” were featured. Now that’s a drive-in treat!
Hayward Daily Review, June 16, 1971: San Ramon Auto Movies opens a second screen with “A Gunfight” and “Paint Your Wagon” as attractions.
The Oakland Tribune, dated March 24, 1969, indicates a grand opening for the Dublin Cinema on 3/26/1969 with the film “Where Eagles Dare” starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.
Updated 12/10/2014 – according to the August 11, 1964 edition of the Oakland Tribune, the San Ramon Auto Movies had its grand opening the following evening (8/12/1964) with a showing of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao.” The newspaper ad notes the drive-in was situated on Dublin Blvd. at Highways 50 and 21, though it was actually ½ mile east of that intersection (Dublin Blvd. and San Ramon Rd.) The San Ramon Auto Movies opened about a year before the adjacent Interstate 580/680 interchange.
The Vine was twinned in the early 70s, if memory serves.
What’s to become of the Vine now that the multiplex has opened? It might go back to being a second-run theatre, which is was for most of the 80s through 1992. It went back to being a first-run theatre in 1992 with the release of “Batman Returns.”
The San Ramon Auto Movies started as a single screen; a second screen was added to the southern part of the drive-in around 1972 (along westbound Hwy. 580). A simple, waist-high cyclone fence with wood staves separated the two screening areas. The perimeter of the drive-in was encased in a green and white corrugated fiberglass fence. Cartoon character likenesses (Porky Pig, etc.) dotted the fence occasionally. Some of the speaker holders came equipped with heaters.
R-rated movies seemed a rarity at this drive-in; family movies like “Adventures of the Wilderness Family” and “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” were staples. Sometimes R-rated movies like “Walking Tall” and “Linda Lovelace for President” played here, but the San Ramon Auto Movies definitely had a family atmosphere (a playground was located next to the snack bar).
There were two different Bell theatres. The first Bell Theatre was built in 1909 and located at 2nd and J Sts. It burned down in 1919; it was this site that later became home to the Montgomery Ward catalog store and Helen’s Blossom Shop into the 1970s. The second Bell Theatre was built into the Schenone Building, one block north of the old theatre, at 2235 First St. It retained the Bell name for only a couple of years; it later became the Livermore Theatre and the California Theatre, and by 1931 was renamed the State Theatre.