Century 23
3164 Olsen Drive,
San Jose,
CA
95117
3164 Olsen Drive,
San Jose,
CA
95117
6 people favorited this theater
Uploaded By
More Photos of This Theater
1965 photo courtesy Heather David.
No one has favorited this photo yet
Comments (5)
No mention of 70mm. They had nice huge curved screens with curtains but seems they did not promote 70mm on the marquee. When the owner Ray Syufy passed away and his sons took over the SJ domes screens got smaller and the curtains never got repaired. Now they are all closed and ready to torn out except the fist one Century 21 may be saved.The Syufy family tried to get more money and split many of the single screen domes down the middle for a twin. The worst cinemas in the world, the seats mostly faced the wrong way plus you could hear sound from next door. The Syufy’s got rid of the union projectionists and the candy/manager projection kids ruined so many 70mm film prints in SJ most studios never sent 70mm prints again.
Considering The Sand Pebbles had its world premiere at the Rivoli Dec 20,‘66 this is probably '67.
According to Michael Coate’s Showcase Presentations list for Silicon Valley, Doctor Zhivago opened August 17, 1966 (58 weeks) at Cinema 21, The Sound of Music opened July 12, 1966 (67 weeks) at Cinema 22 and The Sand Pebbles opened March 14, 1967 at Cinema 23 (34 weeks).
I saw my favorite film of all time, Oliver!, at least 5 or 6 times during it’s roadshow presentation from June 960 to March 1970. It was the first of the domes to be stupidly carved in half in 1973. I remember seeing the last full screen presentation, Lost Horizon with half the auditorium closes and the wall partially built. It was truly a bummer.
Oliver’s run started in June 1969. Sorry