This little theater was located a block off River Street on the opposite side of Mission Hill from the main section of downtown Santa Cruz. It was converted in the early 1970's from a former window sash mill structure, built of steel and corrugated metal. In front was a redwood and glass cafe, called the CineCafe. The theater was entered to the right of the Cafe through a small lobby with twin staircases which gave access to the two-aisled theater, which featured a stadium seating section in the rear third of the auditorium. The ceiling was the exposed steel beam structure of the old sash mill space, with exposed ductwork. All of this was painted black. The walls were textured drywall, painted cobalt blue. There were four cast iron and stained glass wall sconces, which appeared to have been salvaged from an old theater, although the stained glass portions appeared to be a 1970's interpretation of Art Deco sunbursts. The seats were salvaged from theaters of the 1920's or 1930's, and the aisle standards were of two different designs--an Art Deco sun ray motif and the other a Baroque design with bare-breasted maidens supporting the arm rests. The screen was adjustable to fit various formats. There was no curtain. Rainy nights made for a cozy experience, as the drops falling on the metal roof could be heard during quiet parts of a film.
The theater began as an art/foreign film venue, but spent the late 1970's through the late 1980's as Santa Cruz's beloved repertory cinema. As such, it was operated by Nickelodeon Theatres. For many of these years, this was Santa Cruz's home for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". The Sash Mill Cinema closed in the mid-1990's.
Contributed by Gary Parks
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I first saw a movie at this theater in 1978, which was a revival of the Egyptian film, "The Night of Counting the Years" (1969), based largely on the late 19th Century discovery of a secret cache of royal mummies and how a member of the local family who was using the illicit sale of items from the tomb as their bank account reveals the secret of the tomb to the Antiquities Service. (An aside: When in Egypt in 2005, I met a member of that family, the Abd-el-Rassouls. He did not want to be photographed)
A few years later, I began attending the Sash Mill fairly often, and by keeping their latest repertory calendar on the refrigerator (as most artistically-minded families in the Santa Cruz area did), I was introduced to many staples in the legacy of classic cinema. Amazingly, I never saw "Rocky Horror" there, although I remember coming out of several Staturday Night shows and seeing the RHPS crowd lined up in their makeup, lace, leather, heels, capes, etc., waiting to go in. Many were people I knew from high school, but I was not part of that crowd, which mostly consisted of kids from the drama and choir department, an insular group which I didn't feel welcome in at the time, having yet to discover my Inner Thespian/Musician/Performer personality. I wouldn't see "Rocky" until 2001, at Oakland's Parkway Theater! Since 1982, I have kept a record of all movies I have seen theatrically, as well as the theater where I saw them and the people I saw them with. Looking over this record, I can see what a truly wonderful education I was getting in cinema during those years, and it shows what a fine venue the Sash Mill was. Most were double features:
1982
"The Philadelphia Story" and "The Mad Miss Manton"
"The Europeans" and "Tess"
"North By Northwest" and "Strangers on a Train"
"2001: A Space Odyssey"
1983
"Auntie Mame" and "A Thousand Clowns"
"Some Like It Hot" and "The Misfits"
"Things to Come" and "Metropolis"
"Stage Door" and "Bringing Up Baby"
"Gone With the Wind"
"The Maltese Falcon" and "Double Indemnity"
"Fiddler on the Roof" and "My Fair Lady"
"Little Women" and "Anna Kerenina"
1984
"2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Forbidden Planet"
"My Favorite Year" and "The Stuntman"
"Strangers on a Train" and "Stage Fright"
"Around the World in 80 Days"
"The Wizard of Oz" and "The Yellow Submarine"
"Gone With the Wind"
1985
(at this point I had moved to Oakland, and only attended the Sash Mill on occasional visits home)
"Rope" and "Frenzy"
"The Golden Age of Looney Tunes" (numerous WB shorts)
"Stormy Weather" and "Let the Good Times Roll"
1986
"The Bitter Tea of General Yen" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"
"Aida"
1987-1989
No visits to the Sash Mill
1990
"The Ten Commandments"
1991
No visits
1992
"The Tune"
By this time not only was I no longer living in the area, but the Sash Mill was no longer a repertory cinema. Little did I know that it would soon close.
Thanks to this theater for a large part of my early cinematic education, and wonderful memories of relaxing in those funky old theater seats with family, friends, dates, or classmates.