Eastmont 4 Theatres
136 Eastmont Mall,
Oakland,
CA
94605
136 Eastmont Mall,
Oakland,
CA
94605
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Opened as a 1,300-seat twin theatre in August 1971. This fourplex, located in Oakland’s Eastmont Mall, is probably best-known as a major exhibitor of many “blaxploitation” films during the early-1970’s.
It was subsequently known as Four Star Theatres and as Coliseum Family Cinemas.
Contributed by
Garrett Murphy
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Eastmont 4’s address was 136 Eastmont Mall.
Never went there as there was too many black youths that would start fist fights and steal from non black kids. This was a time when going out to the mall was a scary proposition.
The Eastmont 4 was opened and originally operated by AMC (American Multi-Cinema).
i see that one person that left a comment said he didn,t come here because there were way to many black kids well i used to go here al the time and i,m mexican and i never had problems here a lot of black and mexican kids would come here to watch movies i have found memories of this theater .
The Eastmont Mall was not as scary as previously reported, in fact that area of East Oakland was, at the time, fairly quiet and residential. The Eastmont 4 was one of the few places in the Bay Area where you could see drivein movies in a hardtop. Not only blaxpolitation but weird, horror, and “hard R” flicks would play here. The theatre was nicely designed and, when AMC ran it, was clean and well-staffed. The auditoriums were small and sound would bleed from one auditorium to another (not unusual for a 4-plex but the bleed was worse than usual). Many good memories there. No one ever bothered me. The only hardtop I know of that ever played KILLER SNAKES uncut. In fact, the Eastmont 4 would show titles that did not play anywhere else in the Bay Area!
Also showed a lot of kung-fu in the 1970’s. Those were the days!
When I was a kid I watched a double feature of The Karate Kid and Gremlins at eastmont! Those were the good ol' days I have no memory of it ever being a rough theater at all.
This theater opened originally in April 1970.
From www.reeldistraction.com, this was the programming for that theater on Dec 25, 1974 (they had a copy of the Oakland Tribune theater guide listing):
Black Caesar 1:45, 5:15, 8:45
Cleopatra Jones 1:45, 5:05, 8:25
Green Hornet 1:55, 5:15, 8:35 (Kato & the Green Hornet—This was a theatrical compilation of 3 Green Hornet TV episodes from the 1960s that were edited together to make a feature. It was done to cash in on the death of Bruce Lee, who played Kato on the show.)
Education of Sonny Carson 2:00, 7:00
Ad also stated “Under 16 not admitted unless accompanied by an adult-Evening performances only”
The September 13, 1971, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that AMC’s Eastmont 4 Theatres had opened to the public on August 18, 1971. Total seating capacity was given as 1300, with two 350 seat and two 300 seat auditoriums.