Forum Theatre
146-48 S. Murphy Street,
Sunnyvale,
CA
94086
146-48 S. Murphy Street,
Sunnyvale,
CA
94086
1 person
favorited this theater
This former Palace Theater has been altered so many times, but often with such imagination that it is hard to tell what is historic and what isn’t. To set the record straight, only the two arched windows on the facade date from the theatre’s 1920s opening as the Strand, they were found to still exist beneath a layer of plaster during the last remodeling and have been restored. The terrazzo sidewalk obviously dates to a later Moderne remodeling. In the Sixties, the theatre’s facade was stripped of all ornament and the marquee was slimmed down to a plain canopy.
In the late 1980s the facade was given a Neo-Moderne reworking—quite attractive, with the idea that the theatre would be turned into a beer-and-pizza movie house. This project failed, and the theatre remained dark for a few years.
Finally a new effort to turn it into a restaurant, nightclub, and meeting/rental facility materialized. The Neo-Moderne facade was kept, and the interior redone in a wild, but quite fine, combination of Pompeiian, Egyptian, and African Tribal—with Postmodern accents—motifs. The Moderne proscenium from its last days as a movie house still exists, though somewhat altered, but the seating has been replaced by a dance floor, thrust stage, and terraced table seating in the rear.
Contributed by
Gary Parks
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
This theatre was also known as the Sunnyvale during the 50’s. It is located at 146-48 Murphy Street. It seated 934 people.
Other names this theatre briefly had, after being known as the Sunnyvale: Town and Country Cinema (due to the close proximity of the Town and Country shopping center a block away), and Murphy Street Cinema (very briefly). The only reason I know of the latter name is that I once worked as an illustrator for the graphics firm in Sunnyvale that designed the type and logo for its operators under that name, though by the time I saw said logo the theatre had closed and was being remodeled for its current function, and the Murphy Street Cinema logo was simply a published item in my employer’s portfolio.
In the 1970’s(as the Town and Country), it was a dollar house before converting to XXX format(approximately 1974) and stayed that way until the early 1980’s. The AMC Sunnyvale 6(now closed) at the Towne Center mall likely hurt this theater before its porn conversion.
From what I understand, in its current nightclub incarnation, the balcony area is used as a second dancefloor.
I went to the Sunnyvale Theater when it showed porno. It was huge inside with red opera curtains on the stage. The screen had a hole in it, taped over. Two side entrances took you to the auditorium with the main floor, and a stadium style balcony in the rear. The balcony section had huge leather style chairs which went up to the back of your neck and they rocked. The lighting fixtures in the rear part of the balcony were burnt out. It was very dark up there and you wouldn’t believe what went on up there! Even the projectionist joined in. He ran the projectors and box office at the same time, the projector was once of the first platter styles. When the theatre converted from porno to mainstream the little display in the window said PORNO IS NO MO! I went to a screening of DAS Boot there afterwards a few years later and the attendance was poor. I didn’t recall seeing any murals on the walls, and at that time the walls of the lobby were covered over with fake brown trailer style stuff.
The central section of the rear wall of the theatre—facing the parking lot—has just been painted VIVID orange. Not sure why.
It was listed as the Sunnyvale in the 1970 motion picture almanac. The operator was Sunny-Mount Theaters out of San Francisco.
Another name change: The nightclub operation is now called Abyss, and has been for more than a year now.
I have recently discovered that when this theatre opened circa 1926, it was called New Strand. This is because there was indeed an “old” nickelodeon style Strand in the building next door, two storefronts up. It had a simple front, with arched entrance and a leaded glass transom reading STRAND. This may have been a renaming of the 1911 Empire Theatre, but I cannot confirm this at present. The building still stands with completely remodeled facades, and the former location of the “old” Strand is now Fibbar MaGee’s Irish Pub.
This 1984 photo is labeled as being the Town & Country in Sunnyvale.