Pdxguide

Ah, what’s not to like about the Bagdad? It’s been a landmark on Hawthorne for three-quarters of a century, always a focal point and source of pride for the neighborhood. Universal Pictures built the Bagdad in 1927 for the then-enormous sum of $100,000 to make this opulent movie and vaudeville palace. It’s Middle-Eastern meets California Deco architecture is appealing then as it is now. It retained the live vaudeville productions through the 1940’s, and then converted to its current all-movie format. The Bagdad trudged through the mid-century with its one screen format, until 1979 when it was converted into a tri-plex. In 1974, the original backstage area was converted into a screening room called, cleverly enough, the Backstage, which showed mostly B-movies. In 1975 the Bagdad was the chosen theater for the Oregon premiere of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the movie based off of Oregon native Ken Kesey’s novel. Actors Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, and producer Michael Douglas were on hand. In 1991, the theater was purchased by those ever-enterprising McMenamin Brothers, who renovated the “grand dame of Hawthorne” and made it the brewpub-and-second-run-film format that we currently know and love. During the renovation period in 1991 the Bagdad saw yet another Hollywood premiere, this time My Own Private Idaho, the feature directed by Portlandite Gus Van Sant and starring River Phoenix (RIP) and Keanu Reaves. More recently the likes of Sean Penn and Dennis Kucinich were seen in front of the ol’ Bagdad. Seventy-nine years old and still attracting stars!