Chimes Theatre

5631 College Avenue,
Oakland, CA 94618

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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

Oakland Chimes Theater

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

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

AndyT
AndyT on August 19, 2004 at 10:42 am

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.

BobWhitehill
BobWhitehill on May 20, 2005 at 12:57 pm

Where would one look for photographs of the Chimes Theatre?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 10, 2008 at 8:20 pm

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.)

lcowan
lcowan on April 21, 2008 at 5:27 pm

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.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 14, 2009 at 11:25 pm

The Chimes was part of the theater lineup in the Oakkland Tribune in January 1922:
http://tinyurl.com/pcqcne

EdBear
EdBear on January 16, 2014 at 11:12 pm

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.

htx91
htx91 on July 16, 2014 at 12:18 pm

Here is a photo of the Chime Theater. Unknown date:

http://www.oaklandrealestate.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/oakland-chimes-theater.jpg

rivest266
rivest266 on August 2, 2018 at 4:20 pm

This opened on December 15th, 1917. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

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