| Peninsula Theatre Fox Burlingame | |
| Address: | 1415 Burlingame Avenue Burlingame, California |
| Coordinates: | 37.5775°N -122.3505°W |
| Architect: | Weeks and Day |
| Owner: | Peninsula Theatres CorporationFox West Coast Theatres (1929–1974) |
| Operator: | Ellis J. Arkush Entertainment (1926–1957) Fox West Coast Theatres (1929–1974) |
| Capacity: | 2,000 seats (1926–1957) 1808 seats (1957–1974) |
| Screens: | 1 |
| Type: | Movie Palace |
| Renovated: | 1957 |
| Currentuse: | Shopping mall |
The Peninsula Theatre was a movie palace in Burlingame, California, that ran from 1926 to 1974. In 1957, the name was changed to Fox Burlingame. The theater was shuttered in 1974 and demolished in 1975 to make way for a shopping mall.
The Peninsula Theatre was located at 1415 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame, California. It opened October 12, 1926 – toward the end of the silent film era. It was the sixth of a chain of theaters operated by The Peninsula Theaters Corporation and was intended to replace the Garden Burlingame. The other five were all located on the San Francisco Peninsula.
Design and construction was commissioned by Peninsula Theatres Corporation doing business as Ellis J. Arkush Entertainment, a privately held California enterprise headed by Ellis J. Arkush, his brother, Frank Arkush, and an attorney, Eph Karelsen.
On December 28, 1925, prior to opening the Peninsula Theatre, Ellis J. Arkush sold a 50% interest, billed as a million dollar merger, in all his theaters, to West Coast Theatres, Inc., which, then, was the largest cinema theater company in the western North America. But Ellis, under the auspices of Peninsula Theatres Corporation, retained active management of the Peninsula Theatre. Policy and direction of the other theaters were assigned to Archie M. Bowles (né Archer Mckee Bowles; 1889–1944), General Manager of the Northern Branch of West Coast Theatres.
The opening on October 12, 1926, premiered the silent film, Upstage, and included an appearance by comedian Charley Chase. Also, the $50,000 Robert-Morton theater organ was played by Elbert La Chelle (né Elbert George Lachelle; 1905–1990), pronounced "la shell," and Elmer Vincent (né William Elmer Vincent; 1893–1952). Milt Franklyn and his nine-piece band was the founding house band.
The Peninsula Theatre hosted vaudeville on Saturday nights.
An audience of about 250 attended Fox Burlingame's final showing, a double-feature – Chinatown and The New Centurions — Saturday, September 14, 1974. Beverly Brehmer (née Beverly June Brehmer; born 1929) was the theater manager.
Peninsula Theatres Corporation doing business as Ellis J. Arkush Entertainment, a privately held California enterprise headed by Ellis J. Arkush, his brother, Frank Arkush, and an attorney, Eph Karelsen.
| Theater | City | Street | Architect(s) | Notes | ||
| Managed by Arkush before the Peninsula opened | ||||||
| 1) | Bell | 865 Main Street, near Stambaugh Street | Opened in 1910 – Arkush leased it September 15, 1914; his first theater venture; he remodeled it, adding a lobby and bringing in 150 chairs | |||
| 1) | Garden | Burlingame Avenue | Ernest L. Norberg (né Ernest Louis Norberg; 1889–1979) | Opened in 1918 by George Gates (né George Ward Gates; 1872–1962); Arkush leased it for 10 years beginning March 1, 1920; closed in 1925 | ||
| 2) | Regent | Corner of Baldwin &<br /> San Mateo Drive | W.D. Shea (né William D. Shea; 1866–1931) | Opened May 4, 1915, by Hyman ("Herman") Levin (né Hyman Schloeme Levin; 1875–1974); originally 600 air-cushioned seats; initially contracted, for distribution, with Paramount Pictures Corporation; closed September 11, 1927, after Arkush purchased the San Mateo Theatre | ||
| 3) | Sequoia | 2114 Broadway | Opened August 29, 1916, by Arkush, his second theatre – 750 seats – it was managed from 1922 to 1926 by William ("Bill") J. O'Brien (1875–1926); closed in 1929, when the "new" Sequoia opened | |||
| 4) | Varsity | 263 University Avenue at Ramona Street | Erected 1911, in a spot opposite the current Varsity Theatre. The original Varsity was initially owned by Frank LeSuer (né Frank Allen LeSeur; 1859–1924) and his brother-in-law, Ira G. Betts (1856–1929). Around 1922, Betts sold his interest in the Varsity to LeSuer and a partnership was formed with Arkush, and the two theaters – the Varsity and the Stanford – were incorporated as the Palo Alto Theater Company – Arkush as President and LeSeur as Vice President – with a capitalization of $50,000, with the aim of developing a chain of Peninsula motion-picture houses, starting with the relocation (then owned by Charles H. Strub, a dentist). From about 1928 to about 1931, Sherman, Clay & Co. sold radios, phonographs, records, and pianos from the location | |||
| 5) | Stanford | Weeks and Day | Opened June 7, 1925, by Ellis Arkush | |||
| Managed by Arkush after the Peninsula opened | ||||||
| 6) | San Mateo | 66 East 3rd Avenue | Irving F. Morrow &<br />William I. Garren | Opened July 23, 1925, by Max Blumenfeld (1877–1936) under the auspices of the Blumenfeld Theatre Circuit – 1,600 seats; acquired September 3, 1927, by Arkush | ||
| 7) | Sequoia | 2215 Broadway | Reid & Reid | Opened January 2, 1929, by Arkush |
The Peninsula Theatre was originally designed for both (i) vaudeville stage shows and (i) silent movies. Construction and development outlay was (inflation adjusted estimate) Weeks & Day were the architects. The original Peninsula Theatre had 2,000 seats and was ornately Spanish baroque in style, featuring staircases in the lobby ascending between pillars inset with mosaic-like panels depicting animals.
Make
Only the third of its type and size to be installed in a Pacific Coast theater.
Pipes
Console
Mechanical
Power
Piano
Installation engineer
Current status
Housing for the organ pipes
In 1957, Fox West Coast Theatres, then the owners, spent $100,000 renovating the theater, this time 1808 seats and was reopened with an extravagant ceremony on the evening of August 16, 1957, and henceforth was named the Fox Burlingame. For many years, the theatre's roof featured a two-sided lightbulb sign, with incandescent fireworks, similar to that which still survives atop the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland. The Fox Burlingame Theater closed September 14, 1974, and was demolished the following year to make way for the Fox Mall, a shopping center developed by two investors – Mario Castro and Joseph Karp. The Fox Mall was built and dedicated in 1979.
Ellis John Arkush, a native of New York and 1910 graduate of Columbia University (civil engineering), entered the theater business in Redwood City in 1914 where he built the Sequoia Theater. He added the Variety and Stanford Theatres in Palo Alto, the Peninsula Theatre, and the San Mateo Theatre in San Mateo. Ellis Arkush was the president of Peninsula Theatres Corporation. The entire chain was sold in 1929 to Fox West Coast Theatres.
Peninsula Theatres Corporation dba Ellis J. Arkush Entertainment
Fox West Coast Theatres (beginning 1957)
Photos from the Los Angeles Public Library, all dated 1945:
In the beginning of 1929, the Peninsula was operating two 35 mm Fulco projectors, Ernemann design, manufactured by E.E. Fulton Company of Chicago – Carl Henry Fulton (1896–1947), President and son of the firms namesake, Elmer E. Fulton (1861–1921).
The Golden State Theatre houses a number of items saved from other theaters, which happened to match items which were missing, including one stained glass exit sign from the Peninsula Theatre.
