The 1920s marked Sacramento's brief emergence as a Hollywood movie location and the opening of a true movie palace.
Chances are that many theaters played movies made right here.
Moviemakers liked Sacramento because production costs were low, the natural light was compatible with the film stock of the time, locals were eager to work as extras and the river provided a versatile backdrop. After the early '30s, though, Mississippi riverboat tales fell out of public favor, and Sacramento lost its allure as a location site. The city has never been able to recapture Hollywood's imagination as it did in the 1920s. Nor has it seen the likes of the era's movie palaces. The Alhambra Theater was as grand a place as Sacramento had ever seen.