Jose Theatre
62 S. Second Street,
San Jose,
CA
95113
62 S. Second Street,
San Jose,
CA
95113
4 people
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The good old Jose… we would go there Saturday afternoons and pay 10 cents to see three movies. Lots of hispanics would hang out there, sometimes there were fights and a place where people “made out” and just hung out..
1986 Photo
Here is another recent photo of Jose.
That was pretty good. I bought the whole story. LOL
There is no Jose Romero-Gonzalez. I was just wasting valuable web space. I’m going back to work now.
Was this theater named after Jose Romero-Gonzalez? Or is it named after the city of San Jose?
Little known historical fact, courtesy of Wikipedia:
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, accompanied by American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner and Mexican Attache Jose Romero-Gonzalez, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of three British officers. Skinner, Key, and Romero-Gonzalez were allowed to return to their own sloop, but were not allowed to return to Baltimore because they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and of the British intention to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. Peering through the heavy smoke, he commented to the Attache, “Jose, can you see?” Shortly thereafter, he was inspired to compose our national anthem.
Here is a recent photo of the Jose Theater.
This is another vintage (1950?) photo of the Jose Theater.
Did you know that the Jose Theatre had a 4-man orchestra? Here is a picture of the group ca. 1910.
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Here is a recent photo of the Jose theater.
The second photo submitted by ken mc shows South Second Street (with the Jose) in the mid-1980s, when the street was ripped up for the Downtown Transit Mall. While the end result of the mall’s construction was ultimately a positive one for Downtown, the construction process was very hard on the businesses at the time. You can see that the Jose was weathering the storm by staying open with the triple feature policy it had presented for decades. At this point it would have still been operating under General Theatrical Co.
In the above entry by ken mc, the first photo with the theatre sign reading VITAPHONE shows the Victory Theatre, which later became the Crest, and burned in the 60s. Nearly all the buildings on the right side of the street in the photo are gone. The Knights of Columbus building on the left side still survives.
1996 article with some photos of the Jose theater can be seen here.
Here are two pictures from San Jose. The first photo is from the twenties and shows a Vitaphone theater, but on First Street. I don’t think that’s the Jose. The second picture speaks for itself.
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Old photos and history of the Jose Theater can be seen here.
When I was a kid growing up in the greater San Jose area,me and my friends would catch a bus out of the suburbs,and head to the fabled “Jose” ,where we could watch films that are parents would never dream of taking us to…One of the best grindhouse’s EVER! Mostly all of the films were rated R ,and were very violent,gory,and sexy…Never asked to show proof of age. We were 12! This place served a large area of moviegoers , and filled a real need for the many independant genres that they featured…There were kids like me from all over the valley,who’d show up on buses,or get rides from their cousins or big brothers. It’s a legendary place!
To correct Mr. VanBibber’s assertion that the Jose was also known as the Victory and Crest…Sorry. Incorrect. The Victory was on North First Street. It became the Crest in the 40s. When it burned in the 1960s, its vertical sign was salvaged, given new letters reading JOSE, and installed on the Jose, where it remains. At the time General Theatrical Co. operated both the Crest and Jose.
My wife and I attended a terrific comedy show at the Improv/Jose this past fall, and I gave myself a complete tour of the interior after the performance. Basically what has been done is to restore all those historical elements which had survived, regardless of era. This approach works well, as the theatre’s entire architectural history is represented. The gilded plaster ceiling dating from the theatre’s construction has been beautifully restored, including the relighting of hundreds of bare lightbulbs which outline the moldings. In 1904, this feature told audiences in no uncertain terms, “This new and modern theatre has ELECTRICITY!” At the same time, a large deco chandelier in the center remains and is restored. This feature effectively uplights the center of the ceiling. The front edge of the balcony has been restored to its plasterwork frieze of garlands and torches. The underside of the balcony and the inner lobby ceiling both retain their patterned, pressed tin surfaces. The stage is nicely festooned with deep red velvet drapes fringed in gold, which call to mind curtain design from 1940s movie theatres—very appropriate. In the old hotel space over the lobby, new and luxurious restrooms and lounges and a bar for the balcony have been built. Historic features like wooden staircases and multi-paned skylights have been retained, and the bathrooms have replicated porcelain tile with very narrow grout seams—characteristic the the early 20th Century, The overall effect is one of hip, tasteful luxury nestled comfortably in a respected historical setting.
At one time the Jose Theatre was also known as the Victory & Crest, the address is 62 So. Second St., San Jose, Ca. 95113
From the 1970’s until its closure as a movie house in the early 1990’s, it was a downtown second-run triple bill theater.
The Jose Theatre, as of last week, is now OPEN as the new Improv Comedy Club for San Jose. The kleig lights were sweeping the sky last Friday night, as Kevin Pollak was onstage for the second night of a four-night run. Appearing next: Paula Poundstone, followed by engagements of Brad Sherwood, D. L. Hughley, and Brett Buttler, into December.
I have not entered the theatre yet since its reopening, but through the new glass doors I could see that the egg-and-dart moldings running around the lobby walls have been beautifully regilded, and both intricate ironwork chandeliers have been restored. The only change to the exterior’s historic look is the substitution of the IMPROV name in neon where JOSE used to be. However, the lettering is done in neon which matches. The vertical sign still reads JOSE, and blinks on letter by letter in both green and magenta in turn, and then flashes in unison. This restored treasure brings a glowingly positive presence to the Downtown streetscape—soon to be joined by the Fox California a couple of blocks away in a little over a year.
Architect was William Binder.
From the Late 40s until the 1980s, General Theatrical was the operator, as a triple-feature bargain house for most if not all of those years.
In its restoration, the 1940s neon has been preserved—historic in its own right—along with the original 1904 facade. The combination works well, and calls to mind early 20th century theatres as they looked by mid-century in many of our cities.