Friday the 13th Midnite Jinx Show - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - Friday, February 13, 1953

Fox West Coast Theaters held a bunch of Friday the 13th-themed Midnite Jinx Shows throughout the East Bay on Friday, February 13, 1953. What did they show?

Richmond's Fox theater, along with its Grand theater, showed a double-bill of The Cat Creeps (1946) and She-Wolf of London (1946).

Berkeley's California theater offered a questionable double-bill of Kansas Pacific (1953) and Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952).

East Oakland's Eastmont had The Black Cat (1941) and something called Phantom of Paris, which might be a retitled Mystery of Marie Roget (1942).

North Oakland's Senator theater had the best of the bunch, though. A triple-bill of Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), and The Monster Walks (1932).

Although both the Grand Lake and the Paramount are named in the ad, there were no listings for either theater. So it goes.

But there was a separate ad for the Friday the 13th Midnite "Jinx" Show at the Paramount Theatre:

Oakland Tribune - Friday, February 13, 1953

It appears the Paramount had a double-bill that included a major studio preview. Might this have been a sneak preview of The War of the Worlds (1953)? No idea.

The live show was hosted by one Russ Byrd. Not recognizing that name, I did a quick search of the Oakland Tribune's archives and learned Byrd was a well-regarded entertainer and show host. He passed away in 1995.

Another search revealed that "Tiny" James was an absolute legend of a pipe organ performer. He died in 1989.