Hopkins Theatre - Oakland

c.1938-1941 ¹

The Hopkins Theatre was a movie theater at 3525 Hopkins Street (now MacArthur Boulevard) which opened on July 19, 1939. Theatres of Oakland says it had 892 seats. It closed in 1951.

The gala grand opening featured actor Alan Hale, Sr., dancer Sally Rand, and NBC radio commentator "Budda" in person. The movies were Dodge City (1939) which featured Hale in a supporting role, and Topper Takes a Trip (1938). A wedding was performed on stage. As part of the publicity build-up, the reels for Dodge City were to be delivered by blimp! ⁴

opening night marquee ²1939 opening ad ²1939 ⁹

The theater was developed by Lawrence H. Goldsmith, who also owned the nearby Allendale Theater. The building was designed by S. Charles Lee, an architect associated with Douglas Dacre Stone. R.T. LaMarre was the manager. ⁵

The wedding was an actual marriage between Norman Charles Holtkamp of Alameda and Frances Inez Murphy (Holtkamp) of Oakland. Gifts were provided by local merchants, including their rings and furniture for their new home. Murphy's gown was provided by Goldman's apparel, Murphy's hair was done by Keele and Reed, flowers and arrangements were by Rossi's flower shop, and the rings were from Albert S. Samuels. ^2,9

Motion Picture Herald June 1, 1940early drawing, UCLA Library

In 1945, a fire did an estimated $50,000 in damage. The fire was apparently started by a young smoker jamming a lit cigarette into his seat. ⁶

Closing and Reuse

At some point in 1951 the theater closed. The last movie listing there seems to have been for a double feature of Under the Red Robe (1937) and A Bell for Adano (1945), which were last advertised on June 26, 1951.^{& 7} The movie theater ads in the Tribune after that date simply omitted the Hopkins Theatre, without any explanation. A short blurb in the August 11, 1951 issue of Boxoffice noted the Hopkins Theater "is closed temporarily," and that equipment from the theater had been moved to a theater in San Jose which was to open soon. ⁸

In 1953 the building interior was gutted, and it was re-opened as a Hagstrom's grocery store. ³ In 1960, it became part of U.S. Markets. In 1964, U.S. Markets merged with P & X Markets. It was listed as a P & X Market until at least 1977, then Flair Market (1979) and Town Market (1982).

By the 1990s, it was becoming rundown. A neighborhood group led the efforts to refurbish the building. ¹⁰ It then became a Hollywood Video store (until about 2010, when the last Hollywood store closed.) Since c.2014, it has been home to a Goodwill store, as well as an AutoZone.

1939 photo ¹⁰2024 CC SA-BY Our Oakland