Happy 75th Birthday, Tower Theatre

This is the second time I attended a movie theater's anniversary. The other time was when the Crest in Sacramento celebrated its 60th birthday in 2009. It just had one special event and a birthday cake.

The Tower, however, went all out. It had three different shows for its 75th anniversary, replaced its usual movie posters with posters from the 30s and 40s, and featured a cake that looked like the building.

While I took a few photos, I decided to make a video of the event. It may not be fancy, but that's because I wanted to use my Kodak Zi8.

While it was a pretty good event, there was one drawback that is due to new technology. I had expected the theater to use real film to show cartoons and classic movies. However, like most theaters, it converted to digital projectors last year. It used DVDs to show cartoons, the Gary Cooper movie Sergeant York,  and a recreation of  the old way of showing a movie (namely a short subject, newsreel clips, a cartoon, trailers and the main feature, Algiers). Somehow, it wasn't the same. It was close enough, though.

It was a reminder of how the Tower has become an essential part of Sacramento's entertainment scene, even after 75 years. The Crest has abandoned showing movies every day thanks to cable TV and the multiplex down the street. It would be great if the Tower had "old-fashioned" movie nights every once in a while. At least the Crest's tradition of showing It's a Wonderful Life close to Christmas will be alive this year. It's one of those movies that just looks better on a movie screen, rather than a flat-screen TV.