Chimes Theatre
5631 College Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94618
5631 College Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94618
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.
Architects: Alexander Aimwell Cantin, James W. Plachek, Allen J. Yerrick
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Uptown Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This theatre opened as the Chimes Theatre on December 15, 1917. Following a remodel in 1930 to the plans of architect Alexander Aimwell Cantin, it was renamed and reopened as the Uptown Theatre Theatre on January 8, 1931. It was later renamed the Chimes Theatre again. This old Oakland movie house has also been lost.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
I think you are right gsmurph. Certainly the dates make more sense, and as you may be aware memories become a bit fuzzy after 35 years.
Where would one look for photographs of the Chimes Theatre?
The Chino Theater, designed by S. Charles Lee, would directly follow this entry:
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/002/01/i0020104.jpg
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/002/01/i0020103.jpg
From the Oakland Library, via the Online Archive of California, here is College Avenue in 1930, the Uptown Theatre in the distance (photo is highly zoom-able, so you can get a decent, though oblique, look at the front.)
In the early fifties I was in elementary school living on Hillegass near Claremont. During summer vacation, the Chimes had a Wednesday afternoon program, a respite for our mothers, who were all housewives, of course. We walked up to the Chimes and saw a few cartoons, a newsreel, a serial episode (Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen was featured one year), and two movies, all for 75 cents.
The Chimes was part of the theater lineup in the Oakkland Tribune in January 1922:
http://tinyurl.com/pcqcne
I think this is mostly wrong. And, how the hell I happened to think of the Chimes tonight escapes me. I grew up on Shafter Ave. and lived there from 1939 until 1954. The Chimes was the place where I kissed my first girl (Jerilyn Sullivan) probably in 1953. The movie was Calamity Jane, and I can remember it to this day. Secret Love was the hit song that came from it. As a kid, we went to all the Saturday matinees, then played cowboys and indians all the way home. The building is still there, it never burned down. It’s been divided into two stores, but if you squint, you can still see what it was. Boy, that was a long time ago. I still wonder what became of Jerilyn; what a sweet girl she was.
Here is a photo of the Chime Theater. Unknown date:
http://www.oaklandrealestate.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/oakland-chimes-theater.jpg
This opened on December 15th, 1917. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Reopened as Uptown on January 8th, 1931. ad:
Uptown theater opening Thu, Jan 8, 1931 – Page 14 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com