Liberty Theatre
67 S. Market Street,
San Jose,
CA
95113
67 S. Market Street,
San Jose,
CA
95113
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Carl J. Wolfe, Frank Delos Wolfe
Firms: Wolfe & Wolfe
Styles: Beaux-Arts
Previous Names: National Theatre, Mexico Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Some have said the Liberty Theatre was San Jose’s first purpose-built major movie theatre, others maintain it was the earlier Theatre DeLuxe, built about two years before the Liberty Theatre. (I am of the opinion that the Liberty Theatre should get the honor, since although both theatres had stages as well as screens, the Liberty Theatre was lower, longer, and narrower–less suited for stage fare.)
The Liberty Theatre opened on October 3, 1914 with Edith Storey in “The Christian”. For a time in the mid-20th Century, it was renamed the National Theatre, a foreign film venue, later it showed Spanish language films under the name Mexico Theatre, operated by local exhibitor Jose Borges.
Prior to the theatre’s Fall 1982 demolition, the "Mexico" name plate was removed from a 1940’s vertical sign on the facade, revealing the name "Liberty" one last time. Also during demolition, a sturdy wooden organ console lift platform was discovered, buried in the covered-over orchestra pit.
Although the original proscenium and organ grilles had long ago been removed to accommodate a wide screen, the auditorium ceiling of ornamental pressed tin survived until the end, with much of it and surrounding cornices and coves being salvaged and reused in Teske’s Germania Restaurant on North First Street, where they can be seen today. Much of the brick shell of the theatre was recycled for ornamental brickwork in various area houses.
Contributed by
Gary Parks
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The Liberty Theatre had a large Robert-Morton pipe organ which must have had a memorable impact in this 1100 seat theatre. The organ was built in late 1921 and installed in 1922. The organ contained 3 manuals and 20 ranks of pipes distributed in three pipe chambers. There was a grand piano in the orchestra pit that also played from the organ console. Both the piano and organ console were on hydraulic lifts. When the Liberty was demolished in 1983, the old organ lift was uncovered, still in place.
The Robert Morton organ was purchased in 1941 by Grace Baptist Church in San Jose where it remains. The church totally rebuilt the organ in 1984 after much damage by earlier organ enthusiasts and “professional” organ service people.
As it did in the Liberty, the organ still has a remarkable impact in the church. It is the only original theatre organ to San Jose still in the city.
The Liberty Theatre was located at 67 S. Market Street.
I loved this place! We used to go with my grandfather to see all the cinema classics of Mexico’s Golden Age – Cantinflas, Pedro Infante, Maria Felix, Mil Mascaras, El Santo. It was thrilling! We’d pack a steamy bag of burritos and pile into my Papa’s Rambler. We’d sit in thread-bare theatre seats and eat stale popcorn. The restrooms always smelt of stale urine and they had those pink perfumatic despensers. I’d always beg my mom to let me spray some :) The lady who worked the ticket booth took ballet with my sister and I at San Jose Ballet School. She wore wrestlers lace up shoes instead of ballet slippers. She sported a huge bee-hive and thick eyeliner. Beautiful and mysterious…ah, memories!
Recently processed records at the San Jose Historical Museum’s web site include the information that the Liberty Theatre was designed by the architectural firm of Wolfe & Wolfe (Frank Delos Wolfe and Carl J. Wolfe, father and son, respectively.) So far very little has been posted to the web site, but what has been is part of this page. It has one late photo of the theater, probably from shortly before its demolition.
Opened on October 3rd, 1914. Grand opening ad posted.