Vogue Theater

Here are excerpts from a 1978 article from the Oakland Tribune about the Vogue and other Oakland theaters:

If New York's Radio City Music Hall, with its gorgeous Rockettes, cannot make it these days, what can? Maybe the days of the huge, ornate downtown movie theaters are gone. That's the picture in the Eastbay, in line with the New York trend. The Radio City Music Hall has been the showplace for movie extravaganzas, the Rockettes chorus line, the big bands, and stand-up comedians. Now the owners say the crowds are staying away.

What is happening in New York has already happened to many Eastbay theaters — and for much the same reasons: The flight to the suburbs, mushrooming of small neighborhood theaters,
television, the drive-ins, and changes in the way Hollywood merchandises its products. Some Eastbay theater operators today say they are barely making a living. Others say business is great; these are notably the chains which can out-bid small independents for Hollywood's latest blockbuster. The ones who didn't adjust their operations to the changing times have sunk into red ink.

The death roll of those that closed is long: The first exclusive cinema palace in Oakland was said to be the T & D (circa 1916) on llth Street between Broadway and Franklin Street. The building
now is deserted. In 1926, an even finer exhibition hall, the Grand Lake Theater, began operating at 3200 Grand Avenue, and it is still open. Also in the mid 20s, the old Orpheum abandoned its first site on 12th Street to take over the original Fox Oakland on Broadway near 19th Street, later naming it the Orpheum. A bank now stands on the site.

In 1928, the new Fox Oakland on Telegraph Avenue at 18th Street, the grandest of them all, seated 3,400 customers in plush and mysterious East Indian surroundings. The decor itself transported audiences even before the movie began. Today the Fox faces a precarious future, shut for several
years. The theater complex was sold recently to Mario and Erma Delucchi of Piedmont, who say they will entertain any ideas for preserving it.

The Paramount opened in 1931 at 2025 Broadway; one of the last great, movie palaces built in the United States. It flourished for four decades, then fell into disuse. It has since been revived and refurbished as the Paramount Theatre of the Arts and the home of the Oakland Symphony. It has also been designated a national historic landmark. Another early landmark, The Esquire Theater, was located at 17th Street and.San Pablo Avenue. Built in 1919 as the American
Theater, it became the Esquire in 1939 with a change of ownership and refurbishing of the 1,500-seat interior. The wrecking ball knocked it down in 1953.

What about the business today? "It's a strange business and getting stranger," says Jerry Toler, owner-operator of the Chabot Theater in Castro Valley. Toler admits he is a discouraged
man. "The small independent has low buying power," he explained, predicting that soon a
lot of them will be forced to close. His theater is called a "sub-run house" and, as such, he
has to wait for others to show the big films first, then he gets them — perhaps a month later
or longer. "It puts us at a big disadvantage. The independents are fighting constantly to get pictures," Toler said. Film companies control all that, he said, and it was one of the reasons his father, who operated the theater before him, sued the film companies. "Things got better for a while after the suit was settled out of court, but it didn't last," Toler said.

In Fremont, on the other hand, Doug Krutilak, one-time partner in the Showcase Cinemas I and II, thinks small theaters "can do very well" despite a drop in film audiences. He says there are about the same number of theaters in existence today as there were in the early '50s, but they are much smaller. Krutilak, who now manages a night club in Fremont, lost his lease in 1977 when Transcontinental Theaters decided to get out of the business. One of the theaters was converted to an amusement center; the other remains for daily specialty shows as part of the amusement center.

Joe Siino owns the Vogue Theater in Pittsburg. The theater was shut recently after Siino's son, who helped his father, was injured in an auto accident. "We were doing all right and we plan to reopen," said Siino. The big Vogue seats 1,061 and Siino says he practically filled the house on weekends.

Some interesting updates since that article (from above post) was published in 1978:

The T&D in Oakland was demolished shortly after this article was written. It spent its last years as a twin screened porn house.

The Fox Oakland is undergoing restoration.

The Chabot in Castro Valley is operated by a small company called Cinelux. One of the few single-screeners left in the East Bay, it shows first-run fare.

The Grand Lake is still open as a 4-screener, showing first-run films.

The Paramount has a lot of live concerts & shows an occasional classic film.

The Showcase I & II in Fremont, after this article, became a disco for a while. It was eventually torn down & now a multi-story office building sits on the site.

The architect was Alexander Cantin. The exact seating capacity was 1171. Here is a 1948 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/36hz84

The church had some code violations a few years ago, according to these city council minutes in 2002:

Report on Status of the Rehabilitation Project at the Former Vogue Theater, 1210 Railroad Lane (Los Pentecostales Church) (Recommend Acceptance) The long-time building code violation at the old Vogue Theatre Building at 1210 Railroad Lane, now owned by the Los Pentecostales Del Area De La Bahia (the Church), is finally showing signs that the renovation will be completed in the near future. The City's Building Division issued a building permit in June 2002 and work is continuing by a full crew of craftsmen and construction workers.

The vogue theatre in Pittsburg is an exact duplication of the Lorenzo theatre in San Lorenzo. The only difference are the marquee and murals on the walls. The lobby, and auditorium design are exactly the same. The Vogue, was a beautiful theatre. However, it isn't exactly in the best spot of Pittsburg, it is in a high crime neighborhood in the 70's, I don't know if there has been much improvement. I passed by a few years ago, and the marquee was gone and the front was completely whitewashed. It looked like the Victory Outreach was in at the time, but the building was well maintained. The Vogue, behind the theatre, had a parking lot, with a neon sign affixed on the wall "Vogue Parking Only". The few times we were there, the theatre was well attended.

The Vogue building has been completely renovated by the church. One can still tell by its general mass and proportions that it was a theater, but all original detail, save for some tall, slender arched gooves on the exterior of the projection room, has been obliterated with very typical cast neoclassical moldings and stucco. The marquee, sign tower, box office, and terrazzo are all gone. Many windows have been cut into the auditorium sidewalls.

Here is an undated photo of the church:
http://tinyurl.com/6xoylo

Which address is correct, 1203 or 1210?

The city council minutes in 2002 said 1210, but listings say 1203:

PENTECOSTALS OF THE BAY AREA, 925-439-9284
1203 RAILROAD AVENUE, PITTSBURG CA 94565

PENTECOSTALS OF THE BAY AREA, 925-439-3660
306 CENTRAL AVENUE, PITTSBURG CA 94565

UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, 925-458-1106
293 ALVES LANE, PITTSBURG CA 94565

The address of the church is 1203. The city council should find out where the building is actually located before they have a meeting about it.

I guess that would help. Maybe they could put the h on the end of the city's name as well.

The Vogue Theatre in Pittsburg was opened by the Blumenfeld Circuit on February 20, 1948, according to Boxoffice Magazine's issue of April 3 that year.

This 1914 photo shows an unidentified theater in Pittsburg:
http://tinyurl.com/cdxj3v

Here are some 1981 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/o22z3v
http://tinyurl.com/pzc7lt

What I was impressed most with in the Vogue theater in Pittsburg, California was the huge painting on the lobby wall called "The Horsemen Of The Apocalypse". Artist unknown. I dropped in during the church's renovation and it was gone. I used to roam around the Vogue when I was with the cleaning crew around 1964 and I saw the torch job done on the walk-in safe door and the damage the molten metal did to the carpet. At that time the Vogue was already deteriorating and was helped along by the destructive patrons. I'd rather rent a movie and stay home and watch it on my 32 inch lcd. The gang-bangers who loiter around the Brenden theater in Pittsburg and the destruction occuring inside the Brenden along with the loud youth and the candy throwing will soon drive everyone away.