Theatres of San FranciscoYou read the sad stories in the papers: another ornate, 1920s, single-screen theatre closes, to be demolished and replaced by a strip mall. Thats progress, and in this 20-screen multiplex world, its happening more and more. Only a handful of the 100 or so neighborhood theatres that once graced these streets are left in San Francisco, but they live on in the photographs featured in this book. The heyday of such venues as the Clay, Noe, Metro, New Mission, Alexandria, Coronet, Fox, Uptown, Coliseum, Surf, El Rey, and Royal was a time when San Franciscans thronged to the movies and vaudeville shows, dressed to the hilt, to see and be seen in majestic art deco palaces. Unfortunately, this era has passed into history despite the dedicated efforts of many neighborhood preservation groups. |
Contents
Two LIVE THEATRE | |
Three INTERNATIONAL ART AND REPERTORY | |
Four THE MISSION | |
Five THE NEIGHBORHOODS | |
Six WEST OF TWIN PEAKS | |
Seven MULTIPLEXES | |
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Albert Lansburgh Alcazar April art deco auditorium Balboa Balboa Theatre balcony became built Capitan Castro Castro Theatre church Chutes Amusement Park Cinema Cinerama closed crowds Curran designed door downtown DriveIn facade Fillmore district Fillmore Street film house film theatre firstrun Fox Theatre Geary Street Golden Gate Haight Street interior July Kearny Landmark Theatres later Levin’s live Loma Prieta earthquake longrun Market Street marquee Mission Street motion pictures movie moviegoers Nasser Brothers nearby Ness Avenue O’Farrell Street October offering şil opened in 1909 opened on December opened on June opened on November opened on September Opera House operated original Orpheum Palace Pantages photograph popular Presidio programming Regal Entertainment Group Reid Brothers remodeling renamed reopened Roxie screen shows Sid Grauman singlescreen theatre Sixteenth Street Spanishlanguage films Star Street opened survived Theatre opened theatre’s Tivoli today’s torn United Artists upgraded vaudeville venue Warfield weeks West