Towne 3 Cinemas
1433 The Alameda,
San Jose,
CA
95126
1433 The Alameda,
San Jose,
CA
95126
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 45 of 45 comments
SUN10SEP06
There was a short period of time when Walnut Properties/Pussycat Theatres was affiliated with this house. I worked for them and was at the house some time in the ‘80s to install a Xetron automation system. I don’t really remember much about it apart from the fact that it was a wonderful old house and I wish I’d have had time to explore it. In a storeroom underneath the projection booth were two old pieces of equipment which I’m pretty sure were the “turntables” for the old Vitaphone sound system. I wonder if anyone did anything with them other than throw them away?
Dan Whitehead
Irving, Tx.
When opened as the Hester Theatre it had a seating capacity given as 812.
I saw many movies at the Towne during the ‘90s, mostly art-house type flicks. They showed many gay/lesbian movies. Unfortunately, the main theater desperately needed to be refurbished – the seats were very uncomfortable, and the air conditioning system was terrible. I saw “Boys Don’t Cry” here and it was so noisy when the heating system kicked in that it was hard to hear the dialogue. Last I saw, it was showing movies from India. The place was once owned by the Camera Cinemas, which operate theaters in San Jose and Campbell that are important locales for film festivals and art-house flicks.
Interesting comment about the “Hansel and Gretel” decor. My naming of the original style as Spanish Colonial is however based on a photo I’ve seen of the original facade, which was unquestionably Spanish Colonial, with a Mission silouhette and a pair of finials, as well as the fact that the proscenium and the arches along the twin staircases leading to the restrooms are unquestionably Spanish. People’s impressions of architectural styles can vary greatly. In one early description of the Hester/Towne which I read long ago, the decor was described as “Egyptian.” There’s no further evidence to support this, so it likely was someone’s long-ago comment based on their own impression, or perhaps the architect’s original idea was to have designed an Egyptian theatre but the concept was changed before construction. As to the Hansel and Gretel/Witch’s Hut idea, this could have been an impression derived from woodgrained beams and stenciling, as well as faux stonework, which did exist in this theatre. Some of the faux stonework is still visible in the exterior ticket lobby, though covered by many layers of paint. The scored stucco imitating blocks of stone is still visible. In many Spanishoid buildings of the 1920s, the dark beams with simple, almost folkart style stenciled patterns can indeed give a more primitive storybook appearance which could easily come under the Hansel and Gretel appelation.
One of the comments above by Mr. Parks states that the original interior design of the Hester theater was “Spanish colonial” but a friend of mine who was a San Jose native and whose father did a lot of the ornate plaster work in theaters and other buildings in town. He advised that the Hester had more of a rough-hewn timbered Hansel & Gretel type look to it that as he described had a “witch’s hut” feel to it. I can’t remember if he said it’s all still there, just covered over by the moderne post-war re-do, but I kind of remember being told that or reading that this was the case. So maybe this thing about it being haunted has to do with the original decor that made it feel haunted right from the day it first opened. This friend passed away several years ago so I don’t have any way to confirm his statements about the original decor.
That’s correct.I worked there for about 6 months in ‘85 ,and we’d report the weekend receipts to the ATG head office in Arizona. There were a couple of us who worked there,myself included,that believe the theatre’s haunted.Just about every one involved with the place from when I worked there has since died or comitted suicide. (John D,if you’re still around send me an email**)
When it started doing porn in the early 1970’s, it was operated under Louis Sher’s Art Theater Guild circuit.
Like it or not, I have frequently seen large groups of Indian folks gathered at the entrance to the Towne. Indians are avid moviegoers. I have a great appreciation for many aspects of Indian culture and have even seen a few films from India. Sure, I’d rather see the Towne continue on as an art house, but if Indian product keeps the doors open, so be it. One of these days I may get my wife to gather together a few of the Indian-American folks from her work and go see a movie there…that way at least they could explain to us what’s going on with the story, as I doubt there’ll be subtitles.
It’s hard to understand why the Towne failed under the Camera Cinemas ownership. This theatre is located halfway between San Jose State and Santa Clara Universities and has a cafe scene and eating establishments within its same retail block. It seems like the ideal setting for a revival/art house/independent film theatre. It’s a shame that the surrounding neighborhood is once again stuck with a theatre that doesn’t offer films of any interest to the overwhelming majority of residents there. We put up with porn for years—much longer than has been stated above—I would walk past the Towne on my way to St. Leo’s school every day during the 60’s and it was always showing risque fare and eventually began showing hard core porn. This didn’t change much until the Camera Cinemas took over. Sadly, the Camera folks didn’t always run the best of what they had at the Towne, or rotated films over to the Towne after they had already run at other Camera locations. I don’t feel they ever gave the Towne a fighting chance to succeed, but that’s just my opinion. Yes, it has been hopelessly remodeled but I suspect original elements remain and could be uncovered if there was ever an effort to undo some of the post-war remodel. I doubt the Towne would ever be torn down for a parking lot, as it is an anchor for the entire block of businesses between Hester & Shasta Avenues and would leave a gaping hole in the continuous facade along this block. But it’s unfortunate that once again it’s offering entertainment that is of absolutely no interest to the surrounding neighborhood.
Any one know what became of the Wurltizer organ?
Rob
Ah the towne kung fu tuesdays! Lines down the street for anime movie openings. Animation artists talking to a packed house of “hungry” (in every sense) college students. The funky staff. The warm soda, the stale popcorn, the mush popscicles. R.I.P.
I used to go to the towne 3 on Tuesday nights for the king fu double feature and the place was packed. That was back in ‘96 – '98. Sad to here that is long gone. What a shame!
It is my understanding the owners of the organ are removing the Wurlitzer. Hopefully a far better venue than the Hestor (Towne)
Theatre will be found for the fine former State-Lake Chicago Wurlitzer. The Wurlitzer will live on…eventually. The poor, hopelessly remodeled Hestor/Towne, who knows?
I suppose then that perhaps a parking lot or more retail space would have been a better idea? Sadly bills and taxes have to be paid and the building has to be maintained. If that doesn’t happen, then you get a parking lot, which tends to be a bit harder to recover from. I don’t know why Camera lost the Towne, but they seemed pretty sad about it. If you can show the current management why it would be better/more profitable to show the kind of movies YOU like, they’d probably be happy to do it.
yeah, just what we need…..an INDIA movie center…..great….
The Towne was not split yet again. The new operators are still using the IMC6 name from the theater that they were last operating, which was the (former) AMC Sunnyvale 6 in the Sunnyvale Towne Center mall. If there was any more splitting of the Towne, you would probably be left with 50 seat theaters!
As of November 17, the Towne is no longer a Camera Theatre. Its now the India Movie Center 6 (IMC6) operating as above. I don’t know if the 6 means that is has been twined yet again.
An update: Camera no longer operates this theater. A new operator has leased it and plans to show Bollywood(Indian) films here.
Other notes: Theater opened in 1926 as a neighborhood theater in the Rose Garden district of San Jose. Shaw Theaters operated this in the 1960’s to early 1970’s(along with the Burbank, Camera One, and the Gay). Shaw ran largely arthouse fare here. In the early 1970’s, the theater converted to showing porn, which it did until the mid-1980’s. Camera had reopened the Towne in 1990 and divided the original theater into 3 screens.
This is a fine old Art Deco show palace with leaded carved ornate crystal glass of the 1940s still adorning the lobby, in those wonderful pastel colors that set the Deco Moderne look so well. I just recently attended the 75th Anniversary premiere there of the silent classic science fiction masterpiece, Fritz Lang’s “METROPOLIS” (1926) which now has its long-lost orchestral music score soundtrack reunited with it, so it is no longer a silent film, but a sound experience as Fritz Lang intended. A great time was had by all! A fine theater to go and support independent cinema and foreign films.
The architects of the Towne (which opened as the Hester) were Binder and Curtis. Originally the Hester had a simple Spanish Colonial motif. The current facade dates mostly to a post-WWII remodeling, as do portions of the interior. However the proscenium is the 1928 original. The organ was originally in the State-Lake Theatre, Chicago, then spent the 1960s-1980s in the Avenue Theatre, San Francisco, and was installed in the Towne around 1990.