Cinema 150
El Camino Real and Bowers Avenue,
Santa Clara,
CA
95051
El Camino Real and Bowers Avenue,
Santa Clara,
CA
95051
7 people
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Final night: Final night of performances: September 2nd, 1992. Screenshot of newspaper archive posted.
The Cinema 150 opened on August 24th, 1966. Grand opening ads posted.
opening movie:
Sorry Mike. Sad to say Stonestown Twin no longer exists. The thaeater mentioned above for seat removal is UA Cinema Center 6/Roxy 3rd Street Cinemas 6. It too NO LONGER EXISTS!🥺🥺
“The Graduate” opened here fifty years ago today. The film went on to play (a venue record?) 40 weeks. And here’s a new retrospective article which includes some exhibition history (and other) details to commemorate the classic film’s golden anniversary.
This theatre had the one of the largest screens in the nation. It measured 88 ft wide by 32 ft high.
Seeing Return Of The Jedi, Amadeus, Quest For Fire as well as Close Encounters on that mammoth screen was an unequaled experience.
I saw Dances With Wolves there.
The first time I walled in to this theatre was for Return Of The Jedi. Seeing that 70 MM print on the gigantic screen was an experience that has not been duplicated since. You really lived the movie.
Nostalgia prompts me to mention that I recall seeing a horror fest at Cinema 150 as a kid in the mid-1970s that included “The Lost Continent” and “The Valley of Gwangi.” “Continent” creeped me out royally—seeing that constricting seaweed and whatever that toothy-vegetative thing in the pit was on 150’s giant screen will do that to you. It seemed that for years 150 had “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as a permanent midnight flick. I’m pretty sure I saw “Cinerama,” which was already old when I saw it, at 150. Haven’t lived in the Bay Area for ages but 150 is still a cherished memory.
Folks:
FYI….the exterior of this theatre is identical to that of the UA Stonestown in San Francisco which continues to operate as an art house.
Mike
I was the assistant mananger there in the late 80’s and maybe 1990. It was a great place to see movies – unless it was full and you were late and had to sit in the front and to the side. The curvature of the screen made the films almost unwatchable. I remember seeing “The Black Hole” in that way and it was rather unpleasant. I believe I also saw Flash Gordon – the one with music by Queen. A classic.
We had this older gentleman working there as the doorman named Peter. He only had one arm so he would have you hold your half of the ticket while he tore it with his good hand. I learn how to run projectors, make up and break down films there. Those were the days.
Wow! This would be the Anti-Multiplex…
At the end, the Regency operated as a short-lived revival house under independent operation. Lasted less than a year.
I was one of those guys “sleeping” out over night on 5/24/83 to see the 10:30 am showing of Return of the Jedi on 5/25/83. A great memory — the crowd for that showing really lived the movie. The theater was a fantastic place to watch Return of the Jedi.
Syufy, which ran the Century domes, seemed to have a lot of booking muscle, but somehow the Cinema 150, run by UA at the time, ended up with the San Jose/Santa Clara engagement of “Return Of The Jedi.”
The UA Regency was a standalone theater behind the screen of the Moonlight Drive-In. I saw “Zabriskie Point” there. They showed mostly art films. I think it closed in the early 70’s. The Cinema 150 was a nice, comfortable theater which was too isolated from all other theaters in the area to survive in the multiplex era. I remember being first in line on opening day for “Close Encounters” there.
Clones of the theatre was built in Dallax TX and Oak brook IL (Chicago) all opened in 1968, in Dallas it was called Cine' 150
That’s not entirely true. They usually duplicated the Century Domed movies, and I can’t remember them opening a movie that wasn’t in it’s first week of release, with a couple of exceptions (Who Framed Roger Rabbit comes to mind). That said, they often had movies in theatres a month longer than the Domes, the classic example being The Verdict which ran for almost 3 months. I believe that Jedi ran for 6 months, Dances with Wolves for nearly the same, Roger Rabbit was there in a rare later openign stuck around for just about ever.
I vaguely remember the drive-in, but have no memory of even seeing the Regency or it’s remains.
Also, I can’t believe that no one has mentioned that Rocky Horror ran at the 150 from 1978 or so until 1984.
Chris
Behind the MOONLITE SHOPPING CENTER was the UA REGENCY (which resorted to soft-core porn films) in its last few years to survive.
In addition the UA MOONLITE AUTO MOVIE which was only $1.50 per car load – and it had 1200 stalls! Triple Features packed the place!
The CINEMA 150 could not get many first run films as they were cleared by then CENTURY DOMES ON WINCHESTER BLVD. Now – when AMC
MERCADO opened – CENTURY could NOT STOP THE INEVITABLE and AMC got
to play day and date with CENTURY while the poor 150 died a bleak
death due to SYUFY’S OUTRAGEOUS CLEARANCES!
It closed in 1991, I believe, but certainly not 1989 as I still have my tickets to Dances with Wolves and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Jouney, the last film they showed. Oddly, I was at the last screenings at both the Cinema 150 and the Town & Country (Romeo Must Die). I loved the 150, as it was the place that showed 70MM that was a few blocks from my house and had far shorter lines than the Century 21 or 22. The building stuck around until 1993 or so and it was a favourite for teens who were up to no good…usually my friends.
Chris
When the Cinema 150 was built it had a screen size of 85' x 32' for the Dimension 150 process presentations. And was listed as seating 901 people.
Also behind the Moonlite Shopping Center was a UA Twin theatre. I’m not sure of the name, probably just the “UA Twin Theatres”. They weren’t very large, and were demolished in a single day around 1977 as I recall. Perhaps someone with access to the San Jose Mercury old issues can verify the name.
Cinema 150 provided a much more luxurious environment in which to view wide screen presentations as opposed to the Century theatres across town with their cheap and ugly interiors. Interestingly, this theatre co-existed with the Moonlite Drive-In which was situated behind the Moonlite Shopping Center where Cinema 150 was located, and they both thrived for quite some time. The Moonlite Center sported separate marquees along El Camino Real for both theatres for many years. The drive-in was long ago replaced by condominiums (the same entrance road that was used by the drive-in is now used to provide access to the condo complex) while Cinema 150 held on as a stand-alone single screen theatre until 1989.
The theatre was very similar (identical?)
to the (Fox) Town & Country Theatre in
San Jose.
The United Artist Cinema 150 was part of a series of theatres that UA built for the Dimension 150 70MM film process. The theatre featured a large curved screen (120 degree curve). The process was only used on two films “Patton” and “The Bible”.
The Cinema 150 closed in 1989, one of its last films being the Gene Hackman thriller “The Package”.