Lux Theatre
1220 Broadway,
Oakland,
CA
94612
1220 Broadway,
Oakland,
CA
94612
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Alexander Aimwell Cantin, Alexander Mackenzie Cantin
Firms: Cantin and Cantin
Styles: Egyptian
Nearby Theaters
The Lux Theatre opened in 1948. This small downtown Oakland theatre was one of many that slowly disappeared from the scene (it was one of the last to do so). This was a particularly stylish if somewhat seedy cinema. The Lux Theatre was last used (as a theatre) for Chinese movies. It became a branch of Goodwill which had closed by December 2020.
Contributed by
Garrett Murphy
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
An ad in the Oakland Tribune on 11/24/52 puts the theater at Broadway and 15th, which is a bit at odds with the address listed above. The phone number was TW3-3786. The feature on that day was “He Walked by Night”.
Here is a 1950 ad from the Oakland Tribune:
http://tinyurl.com/yp4vhg
Here is a September 1960 ad from the same paper:
http://tinyurl.com/4b5fom
The Lux Theater was between 12th and 13th streets on Broadway. Not 15th. It was relatively new theater and had a unique feature where the seats slide fore and aft about 12 inches so that you can let people squeeze by in front of you without having to stand up. I remember seeing West Point with James Cagney there.
Here are photos from 1980 and 1986:
http://tinyurl.com/ct3ju8
http://tinyurl.com/cz5h98
Here is a November 1955 ad from the Tribune:
http://tinyurl.com/n9w7ly
Around 1980 I visited the Lux. It was very clean, well kept, and still had a classy 1940s look. The auditorium was packed. I watched an entertaining horror flick that took place in a carnival fun house, but didn’t stay for the second feature because the tempature was too warm and stuffy.
saw Enter the Dragon about 10 times there when it came out!. How about “pizza pups” Does anyone remember those? A hot dog wrapped in a slice of cheese pizza then popped in a toaster over for a couple of minutes. Put a bit of mustard on when they were done and you talk about heaven! I still remember what the lady who worked the concession stand looked like. She was there for years and years.
To bad the current people that have this old theatre took down the nice neon marquee. You can still go in and see It was a great little cinema in the 50 and 60’s.
The Goodwill inside the Lux has closed; the space is now vacant.