United Artists Theatre

739 SW Washington Street,
Portland, OR 97205

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.

Architects: Carl Boller, Robert O. Boller

Firms: Boller Brothers

Previous Names: Majestic Theatre

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United Artists Theatre

The Majestic Theatre was opened at the corner of SW Washington Street and SW Park Avenue on June 10, 1911 with 1,100 seats. It had closed by 1926, and reopened in 1929 as the 962-seat United Artists Theatre. It was closed in 1955, and was demolished in 1957 to build a bank on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 20, 2015 at 11:37 pm

An article on Portland’s movie theaters that ran in the July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World included this information about the Majestic:

“Edwin James, owner of the Majestic, built in 1911, has stayed with the same house and the same location perhaps longer than any other exhibitor in Portland. Coming from Seattle in 1910, Mr. James opened the Majestic, seating 350, in a storeroom on Fifth and Washington streets and after nine months opened the present Majestic with 1,050 seats at an expense of $62,000. The Peoples Amusement Company then controlled most of the theaters in the city and also the Amalgamated Film Exchange. They had a monopoly on the film service and the Majestic was compelled to add musical attractions to what films it could get to meet (he competition. The Majestic first introduced features to Portland, the initiating film being "The Fall of Troy,” two reels. A rental of $150 per week was paid for the picture and was considered a big price at that time. The Majestic installed a theater organ, one of the few on the Pacific Coast at the time and the Star across the street also put in an organ, the two theaters starting organ music on the same day.“
This page from the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society has information about two organs in this theater, but the first of these was installed in 1918, so they are missing the information about the organ that was installed prior to 1916. The Majestic’s 1918 organ and the 1928 organ (installed for United Artists) were both Wurlitzers.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 25, 2018 at 8:44 pm

Wow, 3 pages of photos and only one comment…

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