Berkeley’s Movie Theaters — the Lost and the Found

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Dave Weinstein, chairman of Friends of the Cerrito Theater and author of “It Came from Berkeley,” will talk about Berkeley’s fabulous history as a movie-mad town, a place that at one time had “more theater screens in a concentrated area than any other place in Northern California,” and a town that is said to have given birth to the repertory cinema!

Learn about some of Berkeley’s first theaters and some of its most beautiful. Hear about some tragic losses and some magnificent wins in efforts to preserve cinema palaces.

See what some of Berkeley’s vanished theaters looked like what they were new — and what they look like today.

And bring your memories, as we are trying to track down more historic theaters!

2 p.m. Sunday, January 20, Berkeley Historical Society, 1931 Center St. Free.

Come see Psycho (1960), a story of a boy and his mother, on January 10 at 7 PM

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Psycho follows Marion Crane as she steals $40,000 from her employer’s client and takes off across the country. When she stops for the night at an out-of-the-way motel she encounters Norman Bates, a young man who is psychologically dominated by his mother. You probably know what happens next, and if you don’t, I’m not going to tell you. In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock asked people who had seen the movie to keep its surprises secret, and insisted that no one would be admitted into the theater once the movie had begun.

Psycho features Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, Vera Miles as her sister Lila, Martin Balsam as Detective Arbogast and Anthony Perkins in one of the screen’s iconic performances as Norman Bates. The American Film Institute rates Psycho as the greatest thriller of all time, and as the fourteenth-best American movie of all time. They rate the score, by Bernard Hermann, as fourth-best of all time–it’s so good that orchestras sometimes perform it by itself. The movie was nominated for four Oscars, including best director and best art direction (the Bates Motel is almost a character itself).

The showing is on Thursday, January 10 at 7 PM. All seats are $8. Getting to the theater early is always a good idea–for a choice of seating and to order freshly-made food and drinks. You are strongly advised to buy tickets in advance at the box office or online.