Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Century 21-22-23 (San Jose, CA) lease ending in 2012???

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Topic: Century 21-22-23 (San Jose, CA) lease ending in 2012???

Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-09-2014 11:16 PM

Guess nobody else cares about these theaters- the Sacramento ones (which were split) should have closed long before these were ever scheduled to. At least I'll have a week off school to go see one last movie at these. I may never even go to another theater again after that.

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Robert E. Allen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1078
From: Checotah, Oklahoma
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 03-10-2014 12:53 PM

Those theatres were there when I lived there back in the 70s. They were a novelty then and I believe the novelty aspect has worn off. I personally don't see anything attractive about a humungous screen with a sound system that makes your seat rattle. I don't think they'll be missed.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-10-2014 01:06 PM

I personally don't see anything attractive about a tiny screen not much bigger than what I've got at home, which is what most new theaters are. These theaters made every movie special. If they have to close, I hope Cinemark will at least do the right thing and restore the two still standing (and still doing decent business) in Sacramento- they were both cut in half over 35 years ago and are awful now.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-10-2014 02:09 PM

I remember shoehorning 70mm projectors and sound systems into those very half domes at that time. Pretty gross even then.

"I was only following orders"

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-10-2014 03:38 PM

I think I would have quit before doing that- a deep dark secret that I don't think I've shared here before is that I worked on floor staff at the Sacramento 22 complex for a few months back in 1992, was a very depressing experience (I didn't think the split domes would bother me that much, but they DID!) and I've never been back in there since! (Got a regular projectionist gig at another theater so quit Century right away- most of the people there acted like they were under some sort of mind control.) I didn't move to this area til after the domes were split, but didn't ANYBODY think that was a bad idea, and didn't ANY customers run out of the theater screaming in horror at what had been done to them??

It looks like Sacramento's 22 dome was only 5 years old when it was split, and the 23 in San Jose about the same. Glad I never went to that one when I was a kid, just have fond memories of the 21 and 22- including being afraid I'd float to the high ceiling and then drop back down! [Razz]

Kids going to theaters nowadays probably feel more claustrophobic than anything else. If you can see the side walls from the center seat, your theater is too small!

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Geoff Jones
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 579
From: Broomfield, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 03-10-2014 07:54 PM

quote: Robert E. Allen
Those theatres were there when I lived there back in the 70s. They were a novelty then and I believe the novelty aspect has worn off. I personally don't see anything attractive about a humungous screen with a sound system that makes your seat rattle. I don't think they'll be missed.

This is sarcasm, right? Like when Joe posts something... right?

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-10-2014 08:25 PM

The domes were quite good for their time. Stadium seating and great sight lines. They had the best Ampex/Altec sound systems available and JJ's for projectors.

Syufy tended to lock up the biggest "Tentpole" films although no one was using that term back then. Some of these were run more or less like road show houses.

The film "Hello Dolly" ended that model as moviegoers stayed away in droves. This directly led to cutting these domes into halves and a couple of time into thirds as the game had changed.

Truly hideous as cut up domes but the customers still came as Syufy still managed to get the best titles.

Jesse referred to bad employee morale and I can certainly attest to that. Came right from the top as Ray Syufy was busy pursuing litigation right and left.

He actually made the cover of "Time" as the most hated man in Hollywood.

All history now.

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William Kucharski
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 244
From: Louisville, Colorado, United States of America
Registered: Oct 2012

posted 03-11-2014 12:07 AM

So does anyone know whether the earlier notice means the last showing at the Century 21 will be on March 30 or March 31?

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-13-2014 07:45 PM

quote: Sam D. Chavez
He actually made the cover of "Time" as the most hated man in Hollywood.

Interesting- just did a search on that and didn't find anything.

Anyone know the story of how and why union projectionists were booted out and film duties turned over to managers who didn't know what they were doing? The name "Syufy" became synonymous by those in the know with bad projection and trashed prints, one reason they later changed their company name to "Century Theatres". I went to the San Jose domes before all that happened though and will still miss them if they go. Sad that such a bad person managed to open such great theaters and subsequently ruin many of them.

Come to think of it, I may have seen the two "Syufy Brothers" (Ray's sons) come for an inspection once at the Sacramento 22- everyone was making a big deal of it though they didn't say their names. I checked them in as I was working door that day, and saw them go into the half-dome theaters (one with a screen that literally had CRACKS all down the middle and sound with dialogue coming mostly out of the right, not that you could really tell with those crappy acoustics) and come out with huge grins on their faces. I wanted to punch them.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-13-2014 09:22 PM

In reply about Syufy booting the operators and replacing them with kids;

UA and Syufy working together as a bargaining unit at the end of a labor contract around 1978 used all sorts of tactics to not renew the contract. They prevailed. Earlier that year there was a nationwide strike/lockout and for some reason the IATSE called off the action some weeks into the dispute and I was one of many who had to come back and work with the very people who had replaced/scabbed on the union guys. Not very pleasant to say the least.

Management took the position that the cinemas were automated and did not need skilled or experienced help. Simple as that. They figured the audience would always come if they had an exclusive and they were right. I walked picket lines and had neighbors and so-called friends who would greet me and apologize but were afraid to spoil the wife's plans so in they went.

I took a service job with RCA and worked in the same exact cinemas who shunned us a operators and techs, installing new Dolby Stereo and 70mm sound systems and got noticed by Dolby so for me it was a happy ending.

Maybe I've got the wrong magazine, but I remember the cover art and article. Keep looking.

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John Eickhof
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 588
From: Wendell, ID USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 03-13-2014 11:16 PM

Boy Sam, I remember the lockout! I was with ALTEC (later ASC) then and I was in a couple locations where I was going to have to cross the picket lines to do service for UA (I never serviced any of the Syufy Cine-dumps) I remember calling Les MacMillan the BA for local 252 who got me the job at Altec, he said: "Kid, you don't have to cross the lines if you don't want to" So I chose to not go in...I ended up on the lines with Guy Eriksen in front of the UA Sunrise for approx 12 weeks, meanwhile, the east coast went back in! We never did get the Syufy / Naify jobs back again! Oh well,I do remember replacing a lot of scorched lenses and cooked reflectors a year or so after the IA finally gave up on them though!

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-13-2014 11:39 PM

Funny thing was RCA, ie, me, replaced Warren Blessing of ASC on that route.

I don't believe UA east coast was ever struck due to some side deal by UA and local 306.

Not pretty.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-15-2014 02:03 PM

I've heard March 30th (a Sunday) will be the very last day. There's a movement to at least keep some of them from being torn down but the city doesn't seem to think they're "viable" anymore. Moviegoing is dead as far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna be one of those old curmudgeons who only watches old movies at home. The digital standard (with letterboxed scope) is just plain stupid.

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 03-15-2014 10:01 PM

quote: Sam D. Chavez
Syufy tended to lock up the biggest "Tentpole" films although no one was using that term back then. Some of these were run more or less like road show houses. The film "Hello Dolly" ended that model as moviegoers stayed away in droves. This directly led to cutting these domes into halves and a couple of time into thirds as the game had changed.

Was "Hello, Dolly!" really the reason for the plexing of the Domes? In checking my roadshow data, the San Jose engagement, at the Century 24, ran 28 weeks, one of the longest runs in the history of the Century Domes. I'd think a run of that length would cause a rethink of the film's reputation as a flop. Unless, of course, a 28-week engagement was the "minimum run" agreement and it played the whole time to an empty house.

Another alleged flop released around the same time as "Hello, Dolly!" and often attributed as the cause of the demise of the roadshow was "Paint Your Wagon." The San Jose run, at the Century 23, ran 56 weeks, the longest run in the country.

The Century Domes also had the longest roadshow runs in the United States of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Century 21, 87 weeks) and "Patton" (Century 22, 59 weeks), with both playing around the same approximate timeframe as the two titles mentioned in the previous paragraph. I can see a lengthy run tying up a screen and being a motivator in an exhibitor wanting more screens (whether via addition or division), but as long as a lengthy run brought in substantial or steady box-office revenue, then I don't see the problem. I guess my point is I tend to think the roadshow exhibition model has been unfairly blamed for the changes that took place in the film industry during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-16-2014 12:48 AM

Perhaps it was mere coincidence that the road show model ended around the same time as "Hello Dolly" but Syufy did have this film heavily booked all over the circuit and it bombed leaving a lot of empty seats. I'm sure if you dig out the records of lesser locations my memory will be confirmed. 28 weeks was a short run for SJ domes back then.

Century 21 and to a slightly lesser extent, 22(s) in SJ were destination theatres and drew audiences from all over the Bay Area. The other domes around Northern CA did well but never developed the same iconic reputation.

Sand Pebbles, Grand Prix, Dr. Zhivago, etc. all had very long runs in San Jose. It was part of the plan. If the show you wanted to watch was sold out, you went to the next dome. These were big houses and pretty spectacular presentations compared to the tired road show cinemas in SF back then and a good business model as long as it lasted.

Any way you slice it, the trend to chopping domes into halves began for real in that time frame, almost like the company lost its soul.

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