Paramount Theatre Archives at The Bancroft Library
In 1998 Professor Dunbar H. Ogden, Department of Dramatic Art, assisted by Irene Moran and Michael Hackenberg, produced a two-volume typescript Guide to Theatrical Materials in The Bancroft Library . The guide encompasses more than five hundred pages covering Bancroft's manuscripts, pictures and portraits, holdings in the University Archives, printed materials (including texts of drama from classical Greek, Roman, American, British, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other European sources), the theatre, playwrights, dance, film, programs and playbills. Not surprisingly, in a library as active as Bancroft, these collections have continued to grow; but in 1999 there was a major spike in that growth when Bancroft added a major new body of materials to the collection: the records of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California.
The Paramount Theatre, the last fullsized movie palace of the San Francisco Bay Area and the largest theater auditorium of its kind on the West Coast, closed its doors on September 15, 1970, just shy of its thirty-ninth birthday. Fortunately just a few months earlier civic leaders had underwritten a study to determine the feasibility of building a new arts center in Oakland. Their goal was to create a "Performing Arts Hall" that would support concert, ballet, symphony, opera, and light opera presentations with a seating capacity of 2,700. The closure of the Paramount made its facilities potentially available, and the study found that the existing building more than met the various criteria. After extended negotiations, the Oakland Symphony Orchestra Association purchased the building from National General Theatres on June 2, 1972. Thus Oakland became just the sixth city in the U.S., and the first in the West, to create a major arts center from a retired motion picture house.
The Paramount was planned as early as 1926 by Paramount-Publix Theatres, the exhibition branch of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Ground-breaking, however, did not take place for the theater until late 1930, and during construction, economic pressures of the Great Depression forced Publix to sell the giant theater to the Fox-West Coast theater chain, which opened the Paramount on December 16, 1931. The remarkable theater was created by San Francisco native Timothy L. Pflueger, renowned for his designs for The Pacific Telephone Building (1925), 450 Sutter Street (1930), The Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (1930), and later for The Union Square Garage (the first subterranean parking structure of its kind ever built [1942]), and San Francisco's I. Magnin building (1948).
The lobby of the Paramount Theater is a splendid example of Moderne decor. Gabriel Moulin Studios, San Francisco |
For the Paramount, Pflueger chose the clean and open designs of the Moderne movement rather than the more eclectic rococo, oriental, Egyptian, or baroque styles of most other movie palaces of the era. Indeed the Moderne style was used only briefly for motion picture houses, with the first theater of real consequence in the style being the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood (1930), and the last being Radio City Music Hall in New York (1932). The Great Depression brought a rapid end to construction of such elaborate theaters.
The Oakland Symphony Orchestra Association's commitment to restore the Paramount led to the first large-scale restoration of its kind in the Far West. From the outset of the project, Peter Botto, hired as General Manager of the newly renamed Paramount Theatre of the Arts, combined superior research and organization skills to assure that the restoration preserved the fine decorative motifs and elements of the original design. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill were retained for new construction; but the timing was fortuitous, for Timothy Pflueger was still available to advise, and Anthony Heinsbergen, an 81- year-old designer of over 750 movie theater interiors, came out of retirement to help coordinate the restoration of the theater's decorative elements. Botto balanced the restoration with adaptation of the Paramount for its new multiple purposes, providing a fully equipped, modern edifice with a seating capacity for 3,000, with virtually all of the original design elements either cleaned, restored, or replaced with authentic recreations of the original materials such as the carpeting and upholstery.
Following the thorough and sensitive restoration of the Paramount Theatre of the Arts, the rich and varied programming was also managed by Peter Botto, making the theater a showcase of Oakland and the entire Pacific Coast. Since the rededication in 1973, nearly every form of theater and performance art has been mounted at the Paramount. Docents tours of the building are regularly scheduled, and in virtually every way the Paramount has become a cultural beacon for Oakland, the East Bay, and Northern California.
The mighty Wurlitzer theater organ sits at the front of the Paramount Theatre auditorium. Gabriel Moulin Studios, San Francisco |
Late in 1998, as Botto planned his retirement, he approached Bancroft to determine whether we might be interested in having the archives he put together documenting the restoration of the Paramount and the wealth of theater programs he managed in the years following. During my preliminary inspection of the archives, I recorded the following:
"Cartons of restoration files; most folders labeled; cartons labeled; 15–20 containers;
Press release files—many in binders; about 8 cartons's worth (presently on shelves);
Sign-in logs (probably not worth retaining);
Restoration contracts files;
blue prints (a duplicate set would need to be made for retention at Paramount Theatre);
Organ Pops Concerts files, 18 cartons; Program/promotion articles (presently in vertical
periodical boxes); about 6 cartons worth;
1973 Paramount Premiere files, 14 cartons; Accounting records, 28 cartons—probably not
needed for retention;
Paramount Posters, a stack perhaps 15 inches high;
Pictorial collections (some dating back to before ground-breaking in 1930)."
Nearly anything a theater historian, an urban historian, a California architectural historian, or a student of the evolving culture of Oakland from 1970 onward, might want was represented in the Paramount Theatre archive.
Bancroft managing archivist Mary Morganti accompanied me for an assessment of the work that would be involved in preparing the collection for research access. Within moments of inspecting the containers, Mary turned to me and said quietly, "Peter, these records are so well organized that we could almost make them available for use in Bancroft tomorrow!" Mary's enthusiasm for the collection, and for the theater itself was contagious, and as soon as we returned to the Library, several staff members offered to help retrieve the collection. Even more fortunate was that a remarkable Bancroft donor shared Mary's enthusiasm and agreed to underwrite the archival processing of the collection to make it accessible to Bancroft researchers as soon as reasonably possible.
The Paramount Theatre Archives join strong collections of theater history, California architecture, and cultural history at Bancroft. To celebrate the acquisition and Peter Botto's distinguished career as General Manager, on June 8, 1999, the Paramount Theatre and its new General Manager, Leslee Stewart, hosted a reception at the Theatre for Friends of The Bancroft Library, Library Associates, and the Deco Society of California, with a behind-the-scenes tour conducted by Botto.
Peter E. Hanff
Deputy Director
Volume 116
Spring 2000
Table of Contents
The Silent Multitude of Voices in the Reading Room
From the Director: Bancroft Goes Digital
Highlights from Bancroft's Web Resources
Paramount Theatre Archives at The Bancroft Library
Three Monuments in the History of Science Arrive at Bancroft
Ancient Lives: The Tebtunis Papyri in Context
From Mine to Natural Reserve: ROHO records the transition
Chemistry Symposium in Honor of Kenneth S. Pitzer Held January 9 to 13, 2000: Oral History Presented
