The current site where the Palmer Theater stood has been altered several times. The last time it was remodeled it was built as 2 storefronts, one for a title company and the other the Wells Fargo branch Joe Vogel mentioned above. Prior to that is was a Rite Aid, before that the venerable Surf Super grocery store and before that the above mentioned auto repair shop.
Linked here is a Nov 2003 story from the local Noe Valley Voice about the Palmer Theater and Noe Valley’s other neighborhood theaters.
On my last 2 visits to San Diego (last week and 2 years ago) I saw IMAX films at this domed venue. Both times the films (Journey to the South Pacific and Mysteries of the Unseen World – last week) seemed under lit and less than sharply focused. I was told by the person selling tickets both were being projected in 70mm. I have seen countless conventional 70mm films on large screens that were brilliant and sharp so wondering why the quality is not good at the Space Theater. Also it looked like there was a hole in the screen. I know this theater has been around since the 70’s but it seems like the quality of presentation has become 2nd rate. Anyone know why?
etcmss…McArthur played only 10 weeks at the Loma in 1977 while Saturday Night Fever ran 26 weeks. Meanwhile Star Wars tied up the nearby Valley Circle for 57 weeks starting in 1977 and into 1978. San Diego may still have been a big military town in the late 70’s but my guess is that the movie going taste of the young soldiers and sailors stationed there favored disco and sci fi action rather than the famous WW2 general.
The other categories of updated theaters (closed, renovating, etc) are listed under the map of the world on the Updated Theaters page and can be accessed by clicking on them. Happy Holidays everyone. Cheers.
Mr Senda’s 2006 comments on the location are slightly off. The Bank of America building to the right of the now gone Paris Theater is the historic Humboldt Bank Building. The Men’s Wearhouse currently occupies the ground floor. The Ross store he mentions is at the southeast corner of 4th and Market and in a building built on the site of the demolished State (California) Theater. Currently a coffee shop sits right where the Paris Theater once stood and to it’s left is Yerba Buena Lane, a pedestrian promenade leading south to Mission St.
hdtv267 – Saw 3D Gravity here on Sunday in auditorium 13 which was outfitted with a Dolby Atmos sound system Dolby Atmos link and a medium size curving screen. Very good 3D and sound, the low frequency effects felt like they were going right through you. The film was released with a Dolby Atmos sound track BTW. Why auditorium 13 and not IMAX? My friend, who bought the tickets in advance at the Metreon in person the day before, asked the ticket seller if Gravity was presented in IMAX ($19) using the entire screen. He was told no – that the Metreon would no longer show true IMAX as the projectors had all been switched out to digital. So he opted for the Atmos presentation ($15) which I have to say was quite impressive. Most of the films (Apocalypse Now Redux, Spiderman, Avatar) I’ve seen at the Metereon IMAX theater over the years have not been projected on the whole screen but looked like blowups using maybe 60 – 70% of the screen.
Re: the Curtain-finally-falls article linked above- it left me with the impression that the theater was now a pile of rubble when I saw the article online earlier this morning. The blade is not being torn down Wednesday as reported. It’s gone today. The “walls” Nevius refers to are the Powell St and Columbus Ave walls on the front of the building. The auditorium walls are still up including the back wall with stairway and bathroom exposed. A demolition worker at the site said it would take about a month to demolish the whole theater and cart all the debris away. I posted a couple photos of the demolition that were taken today.
The correct address of this long gone drive in at the Cinematour link provided by Element1604 is 300 Harbor Blvd. It was near the intersection of Harbor and Industrial Rd.
Mark Ellinger’s fabulous blog (with some great photos of not only the St Francis but many of the other theaters between 5th and 9th St) Up From The Deep chronicles the section of Market St known as Mid Market:
http://upfromthedeep.com/mid-market/
While change is in the air for this stretch of Market St with Twitter buying up an entire building near 9th St and other internet companies being swooned by the City to set up headquarters in hopes of a revitalization, and the shopping mall going in where the St Francis stood near 5th St, it still remains mostly run down.
Last year I found a copy of Abby Wasserman’s book Praise, Vilification & Sexual Innuendo or, How to be a Critic – The Selected Writings of John L Wasserman 1964 – 1979 (the late entertainment critic for the SF Chronicle) in a used book store. One of the chapters “Movies that Suck” features his review of “Street People” at the St Francis. The (hilarious) review is more about the experience of going to the St Francis in the mid 70’s and a few of the customers seated around him than the actual film itself.
I grew up on the SF Peninsula (San Carlos) during the 50’s and 60’s and the Fox was one of 3 theaters (along with the Laurel and Carlos in San Carlos) that became nearby homes away from homes to escape the parents. During that time the Fox showed mostly 1st run American International horror films and 20th Century Fox releases. The auditorium was in great shape then and quite beautiful. The proscenium was drape covered and lit with alternating colors at intermission. There was a round clock above the left front exit tunnel lit in blue neon and the name of a local nearby car dealer (EZ Davies – who probably paid for it) across the top half. Sneaking up to the balcony without getting caught was the Saturday matinee game we played with the uniformed usherettes (never using the lobby grand entrance but the one to the right of the snack bar). Saw many many Elvis/Christopher Lee/Vincent Price films here.
Burtonic: Yes, the Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Nessas well as several others were picketed along Van Ness Ave’s Auto Row in the early 60’s over hiring policies that excluded African Americans.
hdtv267: What size screen do they use for IMAX at this theater? The Metreon has a gigantic screen (at the time it was built it was one of the largest in North America). Don’t go to this theater much as I’ve never cared for the $1.98 decorating of the auditoriums and the shopping mall cookie cutter look of the theater itself. The building and lobby (the old Cadillac showroom) are beautiful but otherwise the theaters could be anywhere.
The location mentioned above “Located in South San Francisco’s Excelsior district” should read “Located in Daly City” as this drive in is just across the SF city/county line. The Excelsior district is in San Francisco about 1 mile northwest of this location and South San Francisco is about 5 miles south of here. The closest neighborhoods are Sunnydale, across Geneva Ave from the Cow Palace (SF) and Bayshore (Daly City), just southeast of the Cow Palace.
Another SF theater saved. The Strand on Market St also was saved in 2012 by ACT. After reading some of the above comments about how hard it is to restore/save movie theaters in SF (and it is) I think it is worth mentioning that film theaters are hard to save/restore everywhere, not just SF. The “closed” “demolished” list on Cinema Treasures is a testament to that. BTW the “Divisadero” mentioned above is the Harding Theater.
My Fair Lady played a long reserved seat engagement at the Coronet out on Geary Blvd. Long reserved seat engagements at the United Artists included West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music, among others.
Saw a 70mm print of The Master at the Grand Lake in Oakland 1 week ago. Same thing, no surround or curtains being used. They were playing music before the film started and it was obvious they were using all speakers. I have never been to the Grand Lake when they didn’t use the curtains. Coincidence or director’s instructions?
John Rice…Add the Castro Theatre in San Francisco to your very short list of theaters in the SF Bay Area to still use curtains and masking properly.
The current site where the Palmer Theater stood has been altered several times. The last time it was remodeled it was built as 2 storefronts, one for a title company and the other the Wells Fargo branch Joe Vogel mentioned above. Prior to that is was a Rite Aid, before that the venerable Surf Super grocery store and before that the above mentioned auto repair shop.
Linked here is a Nov 2003 story from the local Noe Valley Voice about the Palmer Theater and Noe Valley’s other neighborhood theaters.
NoeValleyTheaters
Direct link:
RichmondSF
On my last 2 visits to San Diego (last week and 2 years ago) I saw IMAX films at this domed venue. Both times the films (Journey to the South Pacific and Mysteries of the Unseen World – last week) seemed under lit and less than sharply focused. I was told by the person selling tickets both were being projected in 70mm. I have seen countless conventional 70mm films on large screens that were brilliant and sharp so wondering why the quality is not good at the Space Theater. Also it looked like there was a hole in the screen. I know this theater has been around since the 70’s but it seems like the quality of presentation has become 2nd rate. Anyone know why?
etcmss…McArthur played only 10 weeks at the Loma in 1977 while Saturday Night Fever ran 26 weeks. Meanwhile Star Wars tied up the nearby Valley Circle for 57 weeks starting in 1977 and into 1978. San Diego may still have been a big military town in the late 70’s but my guess is that the movie going taste of the young soldiers and sailors stationed there favored disco and sci fi action rather than the famous WW2 general.
Is the Cleopatra link broken? When I click on it Die Hard comes up.
The other categories of updated theaters (closed, renovating, etc) are listed under the map of the world on the Updated Theaters page and can be accessed by clicking on them. Happy Holidays everyone. Cheers.
Mr Senda’s 2006 comments on the location are slightly off. The Bank of America building to the right of the now gone Paris Theater is the historic Humboldt Bank Building. The Men’s Wearhouse currently occupies the ground floor. The Ross store he mentions is at the southeast corner of 4th and Market and in a building built on the site of the demolished State (California) Theater. Currently a coffee shop sits right where the Paris Theater once stood and to it’s left is Yerba Buena Lane, a pedestrian promenade leading south to Mission St.
hdtv267 – Saw 3D Gravity here on Sunday in auditorium 13 which was outfitted with a Dolby Atmos sound system Dolby Atmos link and a medium size curving screen. Very good 3D and sound, the low frequency effects felt like they were going right through you. The film was released with a Dolby Atmos sound track BTW. Why auditorium 13 and not IMAX? My friend, who bought the tickets in advance at the Metreon in person the day before, asked the ticket seller if Gravity was presented in IMAX ($19) using the entire screen. He was told no – that the Metreon would no longer show true IMAX as the projectors had all been switched out to digital. So he opted for the Atmos presentation ($15) which I have to say was quite impressive. Most of the films (Apocalypse Now Redux, Spiderman, Avatar) I’ve seen at the Metereon IMAX theater over the years have not been projected on the whole screen but looked like blowups using maybe 60 – 70% of the screen.
Thanks for posting this KenRoe.
In the text:
“It has the third largest commercial IMAX screen in North America.”
Anyone know where the largest commercial IMAX screens in North America or worldwide are? The top 10?
Thanks Mike (saps) – worked like a charm.
Direct link Here
Re: the Curtain-finally-falls article linked above- it left me with the impression that the theater was now a pile of rubble when I saw the article online earlier this morning. The blade is not being torn down Wednesday as reported. It’s gone today. The “walls” Nevius refers to are the Powell St and Columbus Ave walls on the front of the building. The auditorium walls are still up including the back wall with stairway and bathroom exposed. A demolition worker at the site said it would take about a month to demolish the whole theater and cart all the debris away. I posted a couple photos of the demolition that were taken today.
The correct address of this long gone drive in at the Cinematour link provided by Element1604 is 300 Harbor Blvd. It was near the intersection of Harbor and Industrial Rd.
The SFMTA demolition notice stating June 27 as the start date.
http://www.centralsubwaysf.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/construction_notices/10%20Day%20Pagoda%20Demo%20Notice-%20June%2017%202013.pdf
Mark Ellinger’s fabulous blog (with some great photos of not only the St Francis but many of the other theaters between 5th and 9th St) Up From The Deep chronicles the section of Market St known as Mid Market:
http://upfromthedeep.com/mid-market/
While change is in the air for this stretch of Market St with Twitter buying up an entire building near 9th St and other internet companies being swooned by the City to set up headquarters in hopes of a revitalization, and the shopping mall going in where the St Francis stood near 5th St, it still remains mostly run down.
Last year I found a copy of Abby Wasserman’s book Praise, Vilification & Sexual Innuendo or, How to be a Critic – The Selected Writings of John L Wasserman 1964 – 1979 (the late entertainment critic for the SF Chronicle) in a used book store. One of the chapters “Movies that Suck” features his review of “Street People” at the St Francis. The (hilarious) review is more about the experience of going to the St Francis in the mid 70’s and a few of the customers seated around him than the actual film itself.
I grew up on the SF Peninsula (San Carlos) during the 50’s and 60’s and the Fox was one of 3 theaters (along with the Laurel and Carlos in San Carlos) that became nearby homes away from homes to escape the parents. During that time the Fox showed mostly 1st run American International horror films and 20th Century Fox releases. The auditorium was in great shape then and quite beautiful. The proscenium was drape covered and lit with alternating colors at intermission. There was a round clock above the left front exit tunnel lit in blue neon and the name of a local nearby car dealer (EZ Davies – who probably paid for it) across the top half. Sneaking up to the balcony without getting caught was the Saturday matinee game we played with the uniformed usherettes (never using the lobby grand entrance but the one to the right of the snack bar). Saw many many Elvis/Christopher Lee/Vincent Price films here.
Burtonic: Yes, the Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Nessas well as several others were picketed along Van Ness Ave’s Auto Row in the early 60’s over hiring policies that excluded African Americans.
hdtv267: What size screen do they use for IMAX at this theater? The Metreon has a gigantic screen (at the time it was built it was one of the largest in North America). Don’t go to this theater much as I’ve never cared for the $1.98 decorating of the auditoriums and the shopping mall cookie cutter look of the theater itself. The building and lobby (the old Cadillac showroom) are beautiful but otherwise the theaters could be anywhere.
From the Alamo Drafthouse page for San Francisco. Pictures of the interior are at the link at the end of the last sentence.
http://drafthouse.com/blog/entry/new_mission_theater_approved_for_renovation
The location mentioned above “Located in South San Francisco’s Excelsior district” should read “Located in Daly City” as this drive in is just across the SF city/county line. The Excelsior district is in San Francisco about 1 mile northwest of this location and South San Francisco is about 5 miles south of here. The closest neighborhoods are Sunnydale, across Geneva Ave from the Cow Palace (SF) and Bayshore (Daly City), just southeast of the Cow Palace.
Looks like the planning commission has given its OK for the Alamo Drafthouse 5 plex + condos next door.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/New-Mission-Theater-renovation-OKd-4185093.php
Another SF theater saved. The Strand on Market St also was saved in 2012 by ACT. After reading some of the above comments about how hard it is to restore/save movie theaters in SF (and it is) I think it is worth mentioning that film theaters are hard to save/restore everywhere, not just SF. The “closed” “demolished” list on Cinema Treasures is a testament to that. BTW the “Divisadero” mentioned above is the Harding Theater.
My Fair Lady played a long reserved seat engagement at the Coronet out on Geary Blvd. Long reserved seat engagements at the United Artists included West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music, among others.
From 1958 until 1983 Hwy 17 (from San Jose to Oakland) was also known as the Nimitz Freeway, hence the name of the drive in.
Saw a 70mm print of The Master at the Grand Lake in Oakland 1 week ago. Same thing, no surround or curtains being used. They were playing music before the film started and it was obvious they were using all speakers. I have never been to the Grand Lake when they didn’t use the curtains. Coincidence or director’s instructions?
New photos (some of the interior downstairs auditorium) taken yesterday.