Century 21

My mom worked in group sales for the Century Theatres back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Seating capacity was 900+ in the yet-to-be-duplexed theatres. While this may seem huge to some, it is still far fewer seats than the 1700+ available in the Fox (now California) and other theatres downtown. I never found anything appealing about the Centuries. They immediately appeared to be cheap, especially with the sound of walking on a plywood surface when getting to your seat. I think maybe the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood would offer a better interior but I have never been in that one so I’m only speculating. Still, Century 21 filled a large void in San Jose when it was built. Until then, it was a major family event to drive to San Francisco’s Orpheum theatre to see anything in Cinerama, so regardless of how anyone feels about their architecture, these theatres eliminated a major inconvenience for Cinerama viewers not only in San Jose but also residents of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties!

(Update, see previous post by me.) I’m going back to my home town for the first time in six years, next month. Visiting these theatres is high on my list of must-do’s. I’m going to see whatever is playing in the one remaining full dome theater (Shrek, I hope, so the kids can go too). I got a digital camera for Xmas and will be taking plenty of pictures of this theater for my website, and I’ll provide those photos to this website too. Check out my site at http://thebrunners.net/ after June 12th, 2004.

puke

what a horrible comment, I hope Michael gets erased by the owners of this site.

This complex has always been my favorite place to go to see first-run major blockbuster movies since 1980. I’ve seen many major studio films here, beginning with STAR WARS: The EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in 1980. The entire complex is a good cinema experience, although I’d rather see movies in the “unhalved” complete cinedomes of the Century 21 and 22. The Century 21, 22 and 23 are located on Winchester Blvd. between Stevens Creek Blvd. and the 280 Freeway, right next to the Winchester Mystery House. The Century 24 is situated two blocks to the south on Winchester Blvd. while the Century 25 is across town at the intersection of Hamilton and Saratoga. Thank God they were unharmed by the spectacular Santana Row fire across the street on August 19, 2002! That was scary.

I was overjoyed to see this theatre is still there and unharmed- I went there a lot when I lived down there back in the 70’s. There is a similar complex in Sacramento, CA, but both of the large domes have been cut in half! I hear one of the domes in the San Jose complex was halved too; it is truly a depressing sight. I have to wonder what possessed them to ruin these theatres, here’s hoping Century will someday restore them all back to the way they should be!