United Artists State Theatre 4
426 Alvarado Street,
Monterey,
CA
93940
426 Alvarado Street,
Monterey,
CA
93940
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: T & D Jr. Enterprises, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Previous Names: Strand Theatre, Rio Theatre, Regency Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Small 1917 theatre with balcony, this old movie house has been remodeled many times since 1917. It is basically now a semi-modern cinema. The exterior facade above the theatre is largely intact.
The tiny stage still exists as does the platform that held the swell box of the 2 manual 4 rank Wurlitzer piano console organ. That organ came from the Ackerman and Harris Theatre in Stockton, and moved to the Strand Theatre in 1926 when the Strand was remodeled by the then operators T & D Jr. Enterprises.
In the early-1940’s, the Strand Theatre became the Rio Theatre and still later the Regency Theatre. The State IV name was applied to the Regency Theatre as an adjunct to the 3-screens across Alvarado Street at the UA State Theatre.
In 2005, it was screening East Indian ‘Bollywood’ films, but was closed by early-2008.
Contributed by
Jimcrowl@aol.com
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Please see the entry on “State Theatre” Monterey for a more complete review of the former Golden State Theatre in Monterey.
To set the record straight: What is listed here as State Theatre IV is the former Strand/Rio/Regency, built in the Teens—always and still a single screen—across the street from the State (former Golden State) opened in 1926. In the photo above, the Rio is just out of view to the left. The State is obviously on the right. The State is currently a triplex, hence the appelation of the theatre covered on this page as “screen IV” of the State. It ceased being the Regency circa 1994 and became “State screen IV” so that movies could be moved over across the street (and vice versa) without having to go back out to bid.
Is the Rio/Regency/IV single screen across the street included in the sale of the State Theatre, or will it continue to operate as a single screen by Regal/United Artists?
The Regency is now being operated as a bargain movie house by an independent exhibitor.
This theatre and the Golden State Theatre are one-and-the-same. Check “Golden State Theatre” for more info and its website, goldenstatetheatre.com
This entry needs to be closed out as UA has long since left town and the State Theatre is back to its historic name Golden State Theatre.
Please see www.goldenstatetheatre.com for more information.
I didnt realize “Regency” was the 3rd or 4th name for this venue, as my family called it that from the late 60s onward.
At this point do the owners have plans to screen films since the Golden State is in use by the church? Heck, who are the owners at this point?
It wasnt my favorite place to see movies but hanging out in the balcony was fun adn it still makes me wince to walk by and see that broken piece of the mirror mural in the lobby. That managed to stay in tact for decades, a new piece just needs to be cut and frosted to match the rest of teh mural; can anybody get that much done? Id overlook not replacing the tattered and torn and stained fabric dressing teh walls to get that mirror fixed (UA’s years of “loving care and maintenance” of the Regency has clearly lowered my standards ; )
O.K.
I was the artist who designed and executed the above-mentioned mirror mural. I did so—paid by United Artists—in 1994. Though I designed it to look like it had been there since the 1930s, I signed and dated it in the lower Left corner, so future historians would not be confused. The one panel of the mirror was cracked during a fight that occurred in the lobby several years later. According to the manager at the time, one guy was pushed into the door to the auditorium, and the doorstop broke and the handle of the door hit the mirror and cracked it. I do not know the fate of the surviving mirror panels. I hear the theatre has been gutted and is being converted to other commercial uses.