Restoring the Glory of the Oakland Paramount Theatre: The Ladies Smoking Lounge
A current photo of the Ladies Smoking Lounge in the Oakland Paramount Theatre. Photo courtesy of David Boysel.
In the last “Smokin’” issue of Marquee (Volume 50 Number1), we shared a 1932 Photo of the Ladies Smoking Lounge. Since the issue dropped, the Oakland Paramount’s resident artist David Boysel came across some rather interesting photos of the 1973 restoration of this gorgeous Art Deco-styled lounge. Featuring black lacquer with a gold leaf ceiling and painted murals, the lounge is an exquisite example of Movie Palace luxury.
Located in the basement women’s smoking room of the theatre is a mural painted in 1931 by San Francisco painter and printmaker Charles Stafford Duncan (1892-1952). Duncan worked with architecture firm Miller and Pflueger, under the supervision of architect Timothy L. Pflueger and artistic director Theodore C. Bernardi. And Duncan is perhaps best known for this unique mural done over a black lacquered background,
From paramounttheatre.com:
– Paraphrased from The Oakland Paramount by Susannah Harris Stone
“The women’s smoking room (in the basement) has black lacquer wooden walls accented by vermilion bands above the high baseboard and at the cornice, and by three bands of the same color dividing each corner horizontally into quarters. Opposite the entrance, a mural painted by Charles Stafford Duncan in a flat-color technique takes up most of the wall. It depicts a man, a summer-hatted woman, and two younger women picnicking under a green-leaved tree with red trunk and branches. Three sailboats and a cluster of small beige islands are in the background, and a bird flies into the tree. Half-figures by Duncan are centered on each side wall. One represents a girl in a yellow dress holding a red comic mask and a green tragic mask. There are shooting stars behind her head. The half-figure opposite depicts a girl in a red dress holding a small dark green harp.
The plaster ceiling has a series of receding planes, three narrow ones nearest the walls, two wider ones, and a central rectangular panel. The ceiling is finished in gold, with the edges of the recessions painted green. A simple lighting fixture in the form of an inverted half-tube of frosted glass is suspended horizontally just under the ceiling by metal straps. The plain carpet is vermilion. A black, green, and gold Art Deco console table stands before the large mural, its floral carving polychromed, and its shaped top veneered in an exotic wood. A pair of gold-upholstered semicircular armchairs in black, green, gold, and exotic veneer flank the table.
This small, richly colorful room contains what are probably the most elegant original examples of Art Deco furniture in the theatre.”
The above photos depict the 1973 restoration of Duncan’s mural and the room surrounding. According to Boysel, the smoking room was in very poor condition at this time, mainly because of vandalism over the years. Here, we see John Lendaro prepping the black lacquer walls for fresh lacquer. Photos by Cathe Centorbe.
And here we see Frank Bauman, an artisan with the Heinsbergen Painting and Decorating Company, as he restores the murals. Photos by Cathe Centorbe.
In 2006, Boysel recarpeted the room with its original red carpet. And it 2010, he regilded the ceiling, which had become very dark with age.
Only one of the unique Art Deco-styled chairs remained at the Paramount. So, Boysel oversaw the creation of another so that the original pair of could be reunited in the lounge. With only one of the originals in possession, artisans worked to create an exact replica. Here we see the original chair and its new mate as they were being finished.
As for the room’s curtains, Boysel says they don’t know what the original curtains looked like. But seamstress Shirley Meserole came up with an applique design that blends nicely with the paneling.
The lacquered wood paneling gets an annual cleaning and Boysel says that the room is probably the most distinct and luxurious space. In 1931, a journalist described the space as “startling.” “It still surprises people,” says Boysel. “It’s very popular with our patrons. People enter the room in awe.”
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By Holly Berecz, Managing Editor, Marquee holly@historictheatres.org
