BIG Cinemas Towne 3
1433 The Alameda,
San Jose,
CA
95126
1433 The Alameda,
San Jose,
CA
95126
7 people
favorited this theater
The Towne 3 Theatre was opened in 1990 by the Camera Cinemas chain after an extensive renovation of an earlier 1920’s movie house. The restoration created a 600 seat, three-screen theatre.
The main theater, which seats over 300, houses a Grand Wurlitzer organ which, until recently, was used for showings of silent films.
Sadly, the screenings were a financial dissappointment for Camera Cinemas and were shuttered with the final screening of Fitz Lang’s “Metropolis” on New Year’s Eve 2000. The theater is currenly looking for a white knight to save the film series. The Towne 3 Theatre has urged patrons and donors to email them with any knowledge of someone who may be interested in donating money to their cause.
Despite that setback, the Towne 3 Theatre continues to show movies and is a small, but elegant venue. In late-2009 it was taken over by BIG Cinemas San Jose.
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 43 comments)
Here is a 1984 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cplnee
Here are two 1986 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
This article about Bollywood was in the LA Times today:
http://tinyurl.com/yg63gn3
The theater is now under new ownership and should be listed as BIG Cinemas San Jose. In addition, there should be another aka: IMC6. See story here: View link
Anybody else find it unreasonably stupid the theater is called the IMC6 – an acronym for Indian Movie Center 6 when it only has 3 theaters?
I believe the IMC6 was the name of a previous 6 screen theatre the company ran. I’ve seen it happen a few times with the Bollywood Theatres where they change venues but keep the same name because it became so identified with the original theatre. Perhaps it’s a way of saying “Hey – it’s still us – not some other people – you can trust us!”.
The NAZ8 (at the old GCC Fremont Hub 8) kept their name NAZ8 even when they moved to an old Super Saver 7 down the road in Fremont, CA. I think the IMC6 comes from an old UA house in Lakewood, CA.
Since the marquee is historic, the name of the theatre has returned to Towne with the grand re-opening. It is now monikered “BIG Cinemas Towne 3”. The interior has been completely renovated…
Pictures available here:
photos.imc6.com
Link doesn’t work – at least they’ve stopped lying to people by calling it a 6-plex!
Recently a fellow researcher and I stumbled upon a beautiful nighttime photo in the archives at San Jose State, which shows this theatre when it was newly minted as the Towne in the early 50s. It is a nighttime shot, and it shows that the marquee once had a little extra bit of metal sculpture—with neon—above the still-remaining curling neon at the marquee’s point. Also, the painted detailing which once decorated the floral metal sculpture on the facade is clearly visible, and shows that originally, this scuplture only had neon behind it, which glowed indirectly from around the sculpture’s edges, as remained the case until a lot of extra neon was added in recent years.
Finally, the box office which once stood to the Right of the entrance (marked today by a patch of concrete amid the terrazzo) is clearly visible.
Photos of the Towne Theatre
View link
View link
View link
View link
View link