![]() The Aquarius had two exclusive Peninsula engagements-"The Story of Adele H." and "Swept Away." "The Sunshine Boys" played at The Bijou, 640 Emerson St. The Park went with Ingmar Bergman's "The Magic Flute." The Guild was showing the double bill of "Lucky Lady" and "Dixie Dance Kings." Over at the Palo Alto Square, the heavily Oscar-nominated films-"Barry Lyndon" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"-held court. On that night, the Festival Cinema, 475 Hamilton Ave., was scheduled to show Joseph Cotton in "The Third Man" and Fritz Lang's "Ministry of Fear." The Menlo was screening Sean Connery and Michael Caine in "The Man Who Would Be King," while the Fine Arts, 431 California Ave., had Gene Wilder in "Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother." Tuesdays aren't known as big movie-going nights, but the cinema listings for the Tuesday, March 2, 1976, edition of the Times made the Midpeninsula look like an ongoing film festival. "This is evident any Friday or Saturday night at theaters on the Midpeninsula, where long lines form waiting to get into the next showing," the article read. ![]() The article concluded that "the two new theaters reflect a current return to the movies by the public." The Aquarius I and II moved into the Tambellini Meat building at 436 Emerson St., and The Menlo theater opened in the old Bank of America building at Santa Cruz Avenue and Doyle Street in Menlo Park. Movie theaters were moving into town, replacing other local businesses. 7, 1969, edition of the Palo Alto Times carried an article on an intriguing business trend happening locally. But the most fevered debate on the Peninsula-the possible expansion of Sand Hill Road, which may allow the mall to expand-stands in its way.įor now, for a whole new generation of movie-goers, Peninsula cinema means Redwood City and Mountain View Century multiplexes, not Palo Alto and Menlo Park neighborhood theaters. ![]() The top choice, according to Landmark president Steve Gilula, is the Stanford Shopping Center. The Los Angeles-based Landmark Theatres Corp., which runs the Palo Alto Square, would like to find a location for a new "miniplex" cinema to make up for the inevitable loss of The Square. It has been allowed to remain open on a month-to-month basis for an indefinite period. It was only saved when Palo Alto city officials convinced the building owners to grant a temporary reprieve. The twin-screen complex, built in 1972, was slated for closure in February. The Palo Alto Square's days appear to be numbered. ![]() The number of theaters that have closed in Palo Alto and Menlo Park in the last 20 years is the greater than the number that remains open.Īnother blow to the Palo Alto movie scene will likely strike within the next year. Many longtime movie fans will tell you the glory days of Palo Alto cinema have long passed. The Fine Arts building is now home to an Oriental carpet dealer, but to Janovich, it will always be the place where her late-husband watched movies as a boy. She is especially saddened by the loss of the Fine Arts Theater on California Avenue. She's seen many Palo Alto and Menlo Park theaters close in the past 20 years. Such escapes have become more difficult for Janovich. "It's just a way of getting away from all your humdrum life," Janovich said. If she can find the time, she'd like to see "Shine" again. ![]() She's seen both "The English Patient" and "Shine" at the Palo Alto Square Theatre. For most of her 43 years in Palo Alto, she's had an ample selection of local theaters where she could sit down and lose herself in a film for a few hours.Īt 73, she still makes it to the theaters often. Phyllis Janovich has always loved movies. Fading to black Soaring rents, as well as the success of video stores and movie multiplexes, have killed off Palo Alto's neighborhood theaters ![]()
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