When Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith founded United Artists in 1919, it was inevitable that United Artists would play large part in the film industry. Within ten years, United Artists had spread it's control over the film industry to the east coast and back. United Artists built their theater chain and it finally landed in the Northwest in Portland, Oregon, when J.J. Parker bought the Majestic Theater. In 1929 J.J. Parker struck a deal with Fox West Coast Theaters and would soon become an owner of well over nine theaters in Portland. Parker was no stranger to theaters though and was in fact well known and well respected among theater owners in Oregon.
Besides the deal that was formed between Parker and Fox West Coast Theaters, there isn't a huge variety of information on the United Artists Theaters itself. In fact, at the time of it's opening in Portland, the United Artists Theater chain wasn't all that big. From 1929-1934, United Artists only had 15-17 theaters nationwide. And as far as advertisements for the theater, well, it didn't need any due to it's connection with four of the biggest names in the film industry as well as a popular theater owner in Portland. When the Code Authority Announced its forty-two local code boards were announced, it was no surprise that J.J. Parker was on the list of representatives of the Grievance Board for the state of Oregon.
