Great article, Mike.
I actually went out to the site of the San Diego opening… Someday, if the stars align, I’ll see the Cinerama rebuilt.
*
This is the first movie I ever saw in a theater.
I didn’t see it opening day, but my dad took me to see it at the Cinerama on University shortly after I turned 4.
It scared the hell out of me.
And I couldn’t get enough.
I feel for the kids today, they don’t have anything as awesome to watch or a place that’s worth watching it at. No multiplex will ever replace the magnificence of a big single-screen and no digital track can ever match the overwhelming volume of the sonic power of a 70mm print.
Back in the 1890s, San Diegans believed the finest theater west of Chicago could be found in the opulent Fisher Opera House on Fourth Street downtown. Glittering productions drew sellout crowds to the 1,400-seat Romanesque-style building.
But not everyone had equal access to the local theater. And in 1897, the popular playhouse was the scene of an ugly incident of racial prejudice.
On May 17, a 25-year-old black businessman named Edward W. Anderson bought two tickets to the Fisher presentation of “Around the World in Eighty Days.†Anderson, the owner of the successful IXL (“I excelâ€) Laundry at 540 Seventh St., chose orchestra circle seats on the playhouse floor.
That evening, Anderson and his wife, Mary, presented their tickets at the theater and were admitted into the foyer. But before an usher could show the couple to their seats, the doorman hesitated. Duplicate tickets seemed to have been issued by mistake, he explained, and the seats were already occupied. Would the Andersons care to stand in the balcony instead?
John C. Fisher, the theater’s builder and manager, stepped forward and pointed to a disclaimer printed on the back of the Andersons’ tickets: “The right reserved to refuse admission to holder of this ticket by the return of money.†Fisher told the Andersons, “I do not allow colored people on that floor.†They could have seats in the balcony, or their money back. Reluctantly, the couple accepted the money and left the theater.
The following week Edward and Mary Anderson filed suit for $299 in damages.
John C. Fisher would not be easy to defeat in court. The ambitious promoter, entrepreneur and former president of the Chamber of Commerce was respected in the community and popular as the man who had brought large-scale entertainment to San Diego.
But the law clearly addressed the Andersons’ cause. Only two months earlier, California legislators had approved “An Act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights.†Authored by Republican Assemblyman Henry C. Dibble of San Francisco, the bill mandated “full and equal accommodation†in restaurants, hotels, theaters, barbershops, skating rinks and all other places of public amusement. Any case of discrimination on the basis of color or race was liable for damages of not less than $50.
San Diego newspapers immediately recognized the significance of the case. When a San Diego Union reporter questioned Fisher, he defended his actions: “We have never encouraged colored people to occupy the orchestra circle, on account of objections by many patrons. To cause as little trouble as possible, we have sold them seats upstairs.â€
Claiming at first that the tickets had been purchased earlier in the day by a white man, Fisher said there had been confusion “when the colored man and his wife appeared and presented the tickets I did not wish to cause needless trouble or embarrassment, and told the party he could have seats in the balcony or have his money back.â€
Anderson v. Fisher went to trial in late summer. For Justice Court Judge Solon Bryan, it was an open-and-shut case. Respecting the recently passed civil rights law, Bryan found for Anderson and fined Fisher $150.
The theater owner was unperturbed by the decision. “Do you intend to appeal the case?†a reporter asked. “Why, certainly. Do you think we would stand that judgment? No sir, we shall appeal immediately to the higher court.â€
In Superior Court, Anderson’s case foundered. Judge E. Swift Torrance held that the plaintiffs had not been damaged to a degree sufficient to give his court jurisdiction. He ordered the case dismissed.
Anderson successfully appealed for another hearing. There, Fisher argued that his theater was not a public entertainment house but a “private enterprise†and therefore not liable under the civil rights act. Without commenting on this surprising assertion, Torrance again rejected the case â€" and ordered the Andersons to pay full costs for the suit.
In the fall of 1899, the state Supreme Court declined to listen to another appeal. After more than two years of fruitless litigation, the Andersons had exhausted their legal avenues and a case of overt racial discrimination had been upheld in the courts of California.
San Diegans would quickly forget Anderson v. Fisher.
Fisher would soon prosper as the importer to America of the British musical comedy hit “Floradora.†He sold his opera house in 1902 to Katherine Tingley of the Theosophical Society. It would run until 1921 as the Isis Theatre.
Edward and Mary Anderson continued to succeed in business. The IXL Laundry operated until 1909. A ranching business would follow, and in 1943 the Anderson Mortuary opened, which continues today as Anderson-Ragsdale.
Edward W. Anderson would pass away in August 1953 at age 81.
Okay… The best bits can be found in the ‘Modern Theater’ section of Boxoffice. This section usually popped up in the third week of the month and is where some of the best pictures of long gone theaters come from. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in other weeks (names of managers, theater announcements, sales, etc), but I think this crowd is looking for pictures and write-ups (as they should be).
Some observations:
Navigation stinks. The ‘Back’ button just takes you to the first page of magazines. You have to manipulate the address bar to get anywhere once you click on an issue.
The years are not in order. If you want to go to one week, you may have to manipulate the address bar to zero in on a particular week. Unfortunately, not all issues are one issu. I’ve found a few months that are just unreachable (are they even there?).
The search function (magnifying glass icon) is indispensable. You’ll get nowhere if you ignore it. That said, it only responds to one word at a time. You can’t search for “Las Vegas,” but “Vegas” will get you what you something.
I love that there are box office stats for various cities, but not all theaters are covered. It’s great reading what was playing in certain Seattle theaters one week, but I know there were other- prominent theaters also operating at the time. Why were some included and others not?
The same goes for cities. I love reading about Seattle and LA. But there’s nothing about San Diego. Boo.
There’s no way to open an issue with tabs. You click on an issue and then you can only click back… to the original page. You search through a dozen or so pages for one issue has to begin again.
There’s also no way to capture pages or save pictures. I mean, is some of this under copyright? Most of the stuff we’re interested has been torn down. Enforcing some kind of ephemeral ownership seems miserly and undeservedly angry at us. Dick move.
There’s no index and no way of knowing where ANYTHING is without going through. Every. Single. Issue. Interested in a theater in Denver? Be prepared to look. A lot.
Finally, I’m glad we’ve got something, but exploring these issues through issu is labor-intensive. There’s a lot of work to be done to make the site really fulfill its potential.
I’ve got at least TWO great locations in mind if the ever make it to San Diego.
Three, if some one, ANYONE, could put together a restoration of the California.
It opened in San Diego at the Cinerama on 17 October 1979- in 35mm. Dolby Stereo, though.
San Diego didn’t get a 70mm print until 1980 when it moved to the La Jolla Village.
Wonder where it opened in Seattle…
Just to chime in on the parking issue…
Last September, me and the GF went to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the El Cap. On a Saturday morning.
Parking was a cinch. $2 for 3 or 4 hours? Awesome.
So I gotta ask… how can parking on Hollywood be easier than it is in Westwood?
If you have an answer- you’re half home to knowing why Westwood is the commercial dead-zone it has been.
And if you have a solution- you’re just another corpse in the swath of NIMBY incompetence that has made Westwood what it is today.
Was the Southcenter in Tukwilla, WA Cinerama capable? I thought it was either the last Cinerama theater ever built or the last single-screen theater ever built…
Bunch of great memories of this theater- Jurassic Park, Cliffhanger, Benji the Hunted, advance screening of Wolf… my HS GF and I had out first date here (The Three Musketeers)… Dances with Wolves… I can’t remember how many Friday and Saturday nights I spent at this theater before I left for LA, but I mind of miss this one- not like I miss the Valley Circle or Cinema 21, but I miss it none the less.
Mark Evanier has a feature on his blog (newsfromme.com) dedicated to old Los Angeles area restaurants and he mentions Scots and Lone Rangers:
“SCOT’S — Scot’s was a small chain of McDonald’s knock-offs and we used to go to the one located on the Southwest corner of Pico Boulevard and Westwood â€" land that now contains a Barnes & Noble. Their mascot was a sexy lady wearing kilts and doing a dance and they had a huge drawing of her towering over the main building. One suspects the lady and the chain’s name was because someone thought, “Hmm…maybe people go to McDonald’s because they think it’s Scottish.” Or perhaps the thought process was that people weren’t that familiar yet with McDonald’s â€" this was before that company’s big advertising blitz â€" and that they’d go to Scot’s, thinking it was the place they had in mind. Either way, there was nothing else at Scot’s that had anything to do with Scotland.
The menu was pretty much what McDonald’s then had plus a few extra items such as pizza. When they finally closed down, the structure at Pico and Westwood went through a year or three of name changes. For a while, it was Pride’s, then something else, then something else. They finally cleared the land and built a new fast food place which I’ll tell you about in the next entry."
Thanks LM.
I think the last movie I saw here was BIG DADDY in June 1999. The soundtrack defaulted into mono from Digital at some point.
I don’t miss this one the way I miss the NATIONAL.
I was wondering when this one would show up.
Not a great theater… barely a good one… but I did see PULP FICTION on its opening night here!
Any one know when it closed?
Great article, Mike.
I actually went out to the site of the San Diego opening… Someday, if the stars align, I’ll see the Cinerama rebuilt.
*
This is the first movie I ever saw in a theater.
I didn’t see it opening day, but my dad took me to see it at the Cinerama on University shortly after I turned 4.
It scared the hell out of me.
And I couldn’t get enough.
I feel for the kids today, they don’t have anything as awesome to watch or a place that’s worth watching it at. No multiplex will ever replace the magnificence of a big single-screen and no digital track can ever match the overwhelming volume of the sonic power of a 70mm print.
View link
Discrimination takes center stage
By Richard Crawford, SPECIAL TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE
Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 12:05 a.m.
Back in the 1890s, San Diegans believed the finest theater west of Chicago could be found in the opulent Fisher Opera House on Fourth Street downtown. Glittering productions drew sellout crowds to the 1,400-seat Romanesque-style building.
But not everyone had equal access to the local theater. And in 1897, the popular playhouse was the scene of an ugly incident of racial prejudice.
On May 17, a 25-year-old black businessman named Edward W. Anderson bought two tickets to the Fisher presentation of “Around the World in Eighty Days.†Anderson, the owner of the successful IXL (“I excelâ€) Laundry at 540 Seventh St., chose orchestra circle seats on the playhouse floor.
That evening, Anderson and his wife, Mary, presented their tickets at the theater and were admitted into the foyer. But before an usher could show the couple to their seats, the doorman hesitated. Duplicate tickets seemed to have been issued by mistake, he explained, and the seats were already occupied. Would the Andersons care to stand in the balcony instead?
John C. Fisher, the theater’s builder and manager, stepped forward and pointed to a disclaimer printed on the back of the Andersons’ tickets: “The right reserved to refuse admission to holder of this ticket by the return of money.†Fisher told the Andersons, “I do not allow colored people on that floor.†They could have seats in the balcony, or their money back. Reluctantly, the couple accepted the money and left the theater.
The following week Edward and Mary Anderson filed suit for $299 in damages.
John C. Fisher would not be easy to defeat in court. The ambitious promoter, entrepreneur and former president of the Chamber of Commerce was respected in the community and popular as the man who had brought large-scale entertainment to San Diego.
But the law clearly addressed the Andersons’ cause. Only two months earlier, California legislators had approved “An Act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights.†Authored by Republican Assemblyman Henry C. Dibble of San Francisco, the bill mandated “full and equal accommodation†in restaurants, hotels, theaters, barbershops, skating rinks and all other places of public amusement. Any case of discrimination on the basis of color or race was liable for damages of not less than $50.
San Diego newspapers immediately recognized the significance of the case. When a San Diego Union reporter questioned Fisher, he defended his actions: “We have never encouraged colored people to occupy the orchestra circle, on account of objections by many patrons. To cause as little trouble as possible, we have sold them seats upstairs.â€
Claiming at first that the tickets had been purchased earlier in the day by a white man, Fisher said there had been confusion “when the colored man and his wife appeared and presented the tickets I did not wish to cause needless trouble or embarrassment, and told the party he could have seats in the balcony or have his money back.â€
Anderson v. Fisher went to trial in late summer. For Justice Court Judge Solon Bryan, it was an open-and-shut case. Respecting the recently passed civil rights law, Bryan found for Anderson and fined Fisher $150.
The theater owner was unperturbed by the decision. “Do you intend to appeal the case?†a reporter asked. “Why, certainly. Do you think we would stand that judgment? No sir, we shall appeal immediately to the higher court.â€
In Superior Court, Anderson’s case foundered. Judge E. Swift Torrance held that the plaintiffs had not been damaged to a degree sufficient to give his court jurisdiction. He ordered the case dismissed.
Anderson successfully appealed for another hearing. There, Fisher argued that his theater was not a public entertainment house but a “private enterprise†and therefore not liable under the civil rights act. Without commenting on this surprising assertion, Torrance again rejected the case â€" and ordered the Andersons to pay full costs for the suit.
In the fall of 1899, the state Supreme Court declined to listen to another appeal. After more than two years of fruitless litigation, the Andersons had exhausted their legal avenues and a case of overt racial discrimination had been upheld in the courts of California.
San Diegans would quickly forget Anderson v. Fisher.
Fisher would soon prosper as the importer to America of the British musical comedy hit “Floradora.†He sold his opera house in 1902 to Katherine Tingley of the Theosophical Society. It would run until 1921 as the Isis Theatre.
Edward and Mary Anderson continued to succeed in business. The IXL Laundry operated until 1909. A ranching business would follow, and in 1943 the Anderson Mortuary opened, which continues today as Anderson-Ragsdale.
Edward W. Anderson would pass away in August 1953 at age 81.
Cova- do you have a link to your thesis? I think there are a few people on here that might find reading material on the California interesting.
Also:
View link
Look at the Upper-right photo.
View link
View link
Okay… The best bits can be found in the ‘Modern Theater’ section of Boxoffice. This section usually popped up in the third week of the month and is where some of the best pictures of long gone theaters come from. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in other weeks (names of managers, theater announcements, sales, etc), but I think this crowd is looking for pictures and write-ups (as they should be).
Some observations:
Navigation stinks. The ‘Back’ button just takes you to the first page of magazines. You have to manipulate the address bar to get anywhere once you click on an issue.
The years are not in order. If you want to go to one week, you may have to manipulate the address bar to zero in on a particular week. Unfortunately, not all issues are one issu. I’ve found a few months that are just unreachable (are they even there?).
The search function (magnifying glass icon) is indispensable. You’ll get nowhere if you ignore it. That said, it only responds to one word at a time. You can’t search for “Las Vegas,” but “Vegas” will get you what you something.
I love that there are box office stats for various cities, but not all theaters are covered. It’s great reading what was playing in certain Seattle theaters one week, but I know there were other- prominent theaters also operating at the time. Why were some included and others not?
The same goes for cities. I love reading about Seattle and LA. But there’s nothing about San Diego. Boo.
There’s no way to open an issue with tabs. You click on an issue and then you can only click back… to the original page. You search through a dozen or so pages for one issue has to begin again.
There’s also no way to capture pages or save pictures. I mean, is some of this under copyright? Most of the stuff we’re interested has been torn down. Enforcing some kind of ephemeral ownership seems miserly and undeservedly angry at us. Dick move.
There’s no index and no way of knowing where ANYTHING is without going through. Every. Single. Issue. Interested in a theater in Denver? Be prepared to look. A lot.
Finally, I’m glad we’ve got something, but exploring these issues through issu is labor-intensive. There’s a lot of work to be done to make the site really fulfill its potential.
From the October 11, 1965 issue of Boxoffice.
Zodiac.
According to this:
View link
The architect was Frank W. Stevenson.
Bugs,
Drop me a line. I’d love to pick your brain with regards to the Cinerama and Cinema 21.
I’ve got at least TWO great locations in mind if the ever make it to San Diego.
Three, if some one, ANYONE, could put together a restoration of the California.
A rare photo from its last days: Town in 1984
This should be listed as “Demolished.”
D. Roben.
Thanks! I haven’t seen the TOWN theater of CT, is it under a different name?
It opened in San Diego at the Cinerama on 17 October 1979- in 35mm. Dolby Stereo, though.
San Diego didn’t get a 70mm print until 1980 when it moved to the La Jolla Village.
Wonder where it opened in Seattle…
Just to chime in on the parking issue…
Last September, me and the GF went to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the El Cap. On a Saturday morning.
Parking was a cinch. $2 for 3 or 4 hours? Awesome.
So I gotta ask… how can parking on Hollywood be easier than it is in Westwood?
If you have an answer- you’re half home to knowing why Westwood is the commercial dead-zone it has been.
And if you have a solution- you’re just another corpse in the swath of NIMBY incompetence that has made Westwood what it is today.
If only this were not on a Monday…
I saw Star Trek at the Dome on Friday.
I’ve also seen it on IMAX.
The Dome was Better.
Was the Southcenter in Tukwilla, WA Cinerama capable? I thought it was either the last Cinerama theater ever built or the last single-screen theater ever built…
Bunch of great memories of this theater- Jurassic Park, Cliffhanger, Benji the Hunted, advance screening of Wolf… my HS GF and I had out first date here (The Three Musketeers)… Dances with Wolves… I can’t remember how many Friday and Saturday nights I spent at this theater before I left for LA, but I mind of miss this one- not like I miss the Valley Circle or Cinema 21, but I miss it none the less.
View link
Closes on 22 March.
Anyone know what’s going to happen to the building?
Too bad it’s closing. This was a fun theater.
Mike L:
Mark Evanier has a feature on his blog (newsfromme.com) dedicated to old Los Angeles area restaurants and he mentions Scots and Lone Rangers:
“SCOT’S — Scot’s was a small chain of McDonald’s knock-offs and we used to go to the one located on the Southwest corner of Pico Boulevard and Westwood â€" land that now contains a Barnes & Noble. Their mascot was a sexy lady wearing kilts and doing a dance and they had a huge drawing of her towering over the main building. One suspects the lady and the chain’s name was because someone thought, “Hmm…maybe people go to McDonald’s because they think it’s Scottish.” Or perhaps the thought process was that people weren’t that familiar yet with McDonald’s â€" this was before that company’s big advertising blitz â€" and that they’d go to Scot’s, thinking it was the place they had in mind. Either way, there was nothing else at Scot’s that had anything to do with Scotland.
The menu was pretty much what McDonald’s then had plus a few extra items such as pizza. When they finally closed down, the structure at Pico and Westwood went through a year or three of name changes. For a while, it was Pride’s, then something else, then something else. They finally cleared the land and built a new fast food place which I’ll tell you about in the next entry."
View link
The feature is several pages long and worth a couple of looks if you’re interested in old Los Angeles (which I guess now means the 1980s…)
Thanks,Mike!
Thanks LM.
I think the last movie I saw here was BIG DADDY in June 1999. The soundtrack defaulted into mono from Digital at some point.
I don’t miss this one the way I miss the NATIONAL.
I was wondering when this one would show up.
Not a great theater… barely a good one… but I did see PULP FICTION on its opening night here!
Any one know when it closed?