United Artists Theatre

I loved the UA, especially watching from the balcony. I was also facinated by the clock to the left of the screen.

It reopened as UA theatre on November 14th, 1951, with a benefit performance and to the public the next day. Grand opening ad posted.

Reopened as American on September 22nd, 1922, as it became part of the Beatty’s theatre chain which included the Jose and Liberty theatres. Grand opening ad posted.

I had some fun times working there.. I was able to buy some seats when they started to close down..sad time but too expensive to operate I guess…i only made $1.35 an hour😀

Wow jon62, I remember back then that was a huge Marquee. Maybe it was you I saw up there from time to time and said I hope he knows what he is doing. lol

I’m trying to confirm a Ted Healy (The founder of the Three Stooges) appearance (possibly under his birth name of Ernest, or Lee, Nash) in a show titled “Just a Laugh” on July 7, 1920. Please email me at Thanks, Frank Reighter

This theater opened as the Hippodrome. The new theater was the subject of a brief article, with four photographs, in the October, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer, available to read or download at Google Books. The article begins on page 83.

The American Theatre in San Jose was mentioned in the August 17, 1929, issue of Movie Age. The earliest mention of the State Theatre in San Jose that I’ve found is in the July 23, 1938, issue of Boxoffice, in an item headlined “Good Business Follows Renovation at San Jose.” The item mentions that the house had previously been called the American, but doesn’t mention the earlier Hippodrome name.

The earliest mention I’ve found of the United Artists in San Jose is from the November 24, 1951, issue of Boxoffice, which names a number of movie stars scheduled to appear at a benefit premier to be held at what the item calls “..the new United Artists Theatre….”

A bit more detail of the early history of the house was revealed in an article in the February 3, 1945, issue of Boxoffice. This article said that the theater was built in 1918, and originally operated by the San Jose Hippodrome Company. Before 1925 it was acquired by the Liberty Amusement Company, which changed the name to American Theatre. It was then leased to National Theatres in 1925, the lease was sold to Redwood Theatres in 1933, then taken over by St. Claire Theatres in 1934. That must have been the company that did the 1938 renovation and renaming. Finally, in early 1945 the theater was sold to a group of San Francisco investors operating as San Jose State Theatre, Inc. (the subject of the Boxoffice article.)

Ken: The Imperial/UA is still operating as the Market Street Cinema.

Just remember it being a nice theatre with ‘UA’ Marquee. Saw ‘The Longest Day’ there, in the early ‘60s. Sad to see/hear so many of these great 'houses’ gone with the wind. lol. ‘Progress’‘n 'Time marches on’, I guess. They jus' don’t make’m like they used to!