Cinema 21
616 N.W. 21st Avenue,
Portland,
OR
97209
616 N.W. 21st Avenue,
Portland,
OR
97209
7 people
favorited this theater
Opened in February 1928 as the State Theatre with 730 seats, and a William Wood 2 Manual/8 Ranks theatre organ. It was renamed Vista Theatre in 1941, and in 1942 it became the 21st Avenue Theatre. It became Cinema 21 from March 30, 1962. Cinema 21 is located in a thriving area of Portland on 21st Avenue. It is open, showing movies and appears to be in great shape. It has some glowing neon that really stands out at night. This one is a treasure!
Cinema 21 hosts several film festivals, including the Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
Contributed by
Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 27 comments)
A December 2008 b/w photo is here.
This is a 2009 photo.
This site has information about the theater organ that was installed in the State Theater.
1982 Photo
Here is a close-up of the marquee.
This is a 2009 photo of the marquee at night.
I worked at this theatre briefly while going to college. They were showing Polanski’s Macbeth at the time. I must have seen portions of it a hundred times. When the late show would start and no one was there we’d signal the projectionist and he’d turn it off so we could all go home. One night I couldn’t remember if I’d turned off the hot butter machine. Not driving at the time, I walked back at 3am just to make sure. Of course, I’d already turned it off.
Also known as The Aero at some point in its life?
A 2011 photo can be seen here.
This reopened as Cinema 21 on March 30th, 1962. Grand opening ad in photo section.