Vintage California Theatre blog series #4
In the mid '90's, I had a press check at a Sacramento printer for the Golden State Warriors basketball team media guide. Between press setups, I went to the Tower Theatre for an afternoon screening of the movie Stargate. Not ten minutes into the movie, I got a tap on my shoulder that the printer was ready for my approvals. To this day, I have not seen Stargate in its entirety. I did get opportunity to experience a Sacramento landmark that was built at the end of movie palace era.
In 2004, I was commissioned to produce a series of Sacramento landmarks for Blue Moon Printing. The first image I produced was the Tower Theatre. It was also the first illustration of what was to become my Vintage California Theatre series.
Tower Theater | Tower Drugs | Tower Records
Tower Theatre, Sacramento - 2508 Land Park Drive, corner of Broadway and 16th Drive
The Tower Theatre, a classic example of Streamline Moderne of architecture, was opened on December 27, 1938 featuring Algiers with Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. An adult ticket was 25 cents when the Sacramento downtown theaters charged 50 cents for first run movies. Strict distribution laws of the 1940s kept small movie theaters from screening any top American films. Laws changed in 1948 and The Tower became a neighborhood gem.
The Tower Theatre was designed by California theater architect William B. David and features a neon-lit 100-foot tower. Y Street was renamed Broadway with the hope that an entertainment district (Greater Broadway District) would emerge bordering the then-new residential district, Land Park.
Tower Theatre, Sacramento Facts:
In the 40’s, Clayton Solomon opened Tower Drugs next door to the Tower Theatre. At age 16, Russ Solomon, Clayton’s son, started selling used 78 rpm records from the soda fountain jukebox. He would later build the record empire known as Tower Records and eventually moved out of Tower Theater and expand to nearly 200 stores in 15 countries and more than $1 billion in annual sales. Colin Hanks explores the rise and demise of Tower Records in a documentary All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records.
A 1950’s neon sign of dancing kids decorates the side of the Tower Theater above the Tower Cafe and serves as a reminder of what once was there.
Tower Theatre became a National Historic Landmark in 2013 and is the oldest remaining, continuously running picture palace.
Before the building of the Tower Theatre in 1938, the site was a city dump.
Next Up: State Theater, Auburn, CA