The shopping mall deal is moving ahead. Details here:
http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/Deal-sealed-for-Mid-Market-development-3720908.php
I met Keith Arnold, the Castro’s new programmer and general manager, by chance in front of the theater just an hour ago. He tells me the internet rumor that the theater will not be showing film after Dec 31 was spread by a disgruntled former employee and is totally false. This has also been confirmed on The Castro’s Facebook page.
Just bought my copy and love it. I grew up on the Peninsula and spent many days and nights at the Carlos and Laurel in San Carlos and Fox in Redwood City. Thanks to Gary Parks and Jack Tillmany for preserving the history of all the Peninsula theatres in their new book.
The supermarket Tillmany mentions is now a Whole Foods after being part of the Bell Market chain for 3 decades. There is a Victorian house on the lot just to the west of Whole Foods with a coffee shop (Bernie’s) on the ground floor and housing above and the next lot west of that is where the Noe Theatre stood. The current building on that site is a 3 story mixed use building with 2 retail stores (Just For Fun and a soap shop) on the ground floor and 2 floors of apartments above.
CW, I didn’t mention which fault the ‘89 Loma Prieta quake was on. (?) The USGS lists that quake as a 6.9, downgraded originally from a 7.1. I got the time wrong by a few minutes, it was 5:04pm. The (early I should have said) 80’s 5.8 quake (there were 2 just a few days apart – same magnitude) are listed as being on the Greenville or Marsh Creek-Greenville fault on that same website. I was referring to the 7pm Jan 24, 1980 quake. After we left the theater – everyone was too nervous to stay and watch the rest of the film – people on the sidewalks looked a little stunned after watching cars rock and plate glass windows bow. One person said to me that it looked like the windows were going to blow out if the shaking had lasted much longer. Most of the damage from those 2 quakes was to homes in the Danville area (cracked plaster, fireplaces, etc).
The Loma Prieta quake was on Oct 17, 1989 at 5:07pm to be exact. Magnitude 6.9. In the 80’s I was in the Castro for a showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Towards the end of the film just as the planets all align and the metalic slab crosses them, the theater started shaking, the chandelier started bolting, en exit sign crashed to the floor behind me and everyone got up and ran for the side exits. It was a magnitude 5.something centered on the Greenville fault in the East Bay.
“This Boy’s Life” was filmed in Concrete, Wa. in 1993. Based on the life of writer Tobias Wolff, the film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin.
I first saw this film at the Northpoint (SF) during it’s 70mm engagement. Still have the program. As I recall the theater was ¾ empty. In the mid 80’s I saw another 70mm presentation at the Kabuki (SF) with a packed house (and on a double bill with One From The Heart). Coppola was supposed to attend but his brother Roman came out on the stage and introduced the film. He told us that Mr Coppola had the theater’s sound system tweaked especially for the film so we could hear it the way it was meant to be heard. It was stunning.
San Francisco has lost more notable buildings than just the Fox. The City of Paris comes to mind immediately. Land in SF is much more valuable (and sought after) than land in Oakland and maybe that’s what ultimately saved the Oakland Fox. The voters of SF signed the Fox’s death warrant in 1961 when they voted down a proposal to have the City buy the Fox for a little over a million dollars for use as a convention center. Fortunately today, for those of us that live in SF, the beautiful Oakland Fox is a 20 min or less subway ride away.
An AP story in today’s SF Chronicle says the Castro set a box office record for the opening 3 days of Milk. The film grossed $109,440 Nov 26-28 beating the previous 3 day record of $50,584 set in May for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The Little Fox was located on Pacific Ave right off Columbus in North Beach. The last time I saw it (mid 70’s) the Market St Fox’s beautiful box office graced the entrance. The Little Fox had 2 major stage hits, each had lengthy runs: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (late 60’s) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (early 70’s).
The last time I went to this drive in was in the late 70’s early 80’s and it had turned pretty much into a dump. The was a big dumpster in front of the screen which someone threw a cigarette butt into during the movie setting off a small smokey fire. The fire dept responded, put it out, then headed to the snack bar for some refreshments. The movie never stopped during all this. There was a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 8 pr 9 years old with a broom sweeping the wooden steps (or deck) that lead to the snack bar telling no one in particular that he was sweeping so that “his theater” was nice and clean. The movie playing on our screen (some strange documentary about people being healed of their diseases by methods no sane person would engage in), the little boy, the small fire and the alternative crowd, many of whom brought their own legal/illegal refreshments, made the whole experience surreal.
Celeste Holm AND an archive print of All About Eve for 6 bucks in a fabulous movie palace?? What a deal! That’s cheaper than a bargain matinee in SF. Would someone please bring this show to the Castro Theater?
The Sundance Kabuki officially opens Friday Dec 14th. Check out this link for the whole story on the transformation of SF’s first mutiplex to SF’s “greenist” theater.
Wonder if that noisy heater that hangs from the ceiling in the front right corner of the downstairs auditorium has been replaced or quieted down. The last time I saw a movie there it kept cycling on and off every 10 minutes or so and really disrupted the sound track. Haven’t been back since.
I won 2 tickets to a noon press screening at the Coronet in San Francisco from a local radio station (KYA I think) which was 2 days before the actual opening. I remember how loud the sound seemed and thought R2D2 and C3PO resembled Laurel and Hardy. At the conclusion of the film the audience went wild. It felt more like going to a major event than a movie, you could tell it was going tom be really popular. I went back several more times during the initial 7 month run and enjoyed it more each time. My friends and I would get stoned first, then sit in the front row.
The review of The Magic Flute that was in yesterday mornings SF Chronicle was mostly positive. It was shown in suburban Dublin at the Hacienda Crossing 20 as a HD simulcast. It was sold out. The reaction from movigoers was enthusiastic. The article said it was shown in 100 theatres in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan with 48 of the 60 US theatres sold out.
The new Westfield Center in downtown San Francisco (which has a new Century 7 screen multiplex) was built without any parking. Why? Because the Center faces Market St and the Powell St subway station which has 9 different lines running on 2 levels. The back of the Center looks like a “front” also and faces busy Mission Street with a Bloomingdales and closer to the theater’s actual location within the mall. At least a dozen bus lines use Mission St. Good urban planning can make a difference in not encouraging the use of the automobile in planning these large developements.
The “art” of seat saving now includes saving the seat for your hat, coat and umbrella. At a recent and very crowded showing of Casino Royale I heard numerous people ask a woman 2 rows back if the seat next to her was being saved (the one with her hat coat and umbrella). She said yes. After the movie started I noticed her hat, coat and umbrella having a wonderful time watching the new James Bond film.
The theater has been open about a week. The re-opening of the Cerrito finally brings a sense of place to an otherwise downtown-less downtown. Banners have been strung from the lightpoles and at night the marquee and verticle sign are a beacon along San Pablo Ave. Good luck to the Cerrito.
The Laurel (and the Carlos about a mile away) were my homes away from home while growing up in San Carlos in the 50’s and 60’s. I spent nearly every Saturday afternoon at one theater or the other. The “kiddie matinees” were quite popular. This was a top notch place on the Peninsula that showed a lot of top notch films. At one point I remember they had Korla Pandit (turbaned and bejewelled) playing organ concerts at intermission (don’t think the theater had an organ – he must have brought his own). The seats were large and comfortable.
This 4 screen theatre had 2 large screens and 2 screening rooms. The 2 large screen theatres had great sound and projection (showed 70mm prints occasionally).
I was being facetious August, by putting restoration in “ ”. I’m no expert but I would think (as a former painter) that a restoration would include first a good cleaning of the surface before putting on a preservative. As I said, I think they were in a hurry. The Castro is my neighborhood theatre and I feel lucky to be able to walk just a few blocks to see a film there. The multiplexes leave me cold also.
In 1989 I worked for a local paint store. Blumenfeld Enterprises managed the theatre then and had an account with the paint store. After the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake the Castro closed for several months to patch up the damage. One of the Blumenfeld’s painters came in one day and bought all the shellac we had off the shelf and asked me to order another 10 gallons. When he came in to pick up the rest of his order several days later I asked him what he was doing with the shellac (noting that the Castro was listed as the job site). He said they were “restoring” the tented plaster ceiling. I asked him what they used to clean off the decades of nicotine and grease, he said they were just applying the shellac as ordered by the foreman. I told him that shellac darkens with age, did they think about that? He said they were in a hurry to finish the work so that the theatre could reopen. If anything in the Castro is “tarnished” it’s the tented ceiling. It has gotten much darket than it was before the “restoration” and details that were clearly visible and much lighter are now hidden.
The shopping mall deal is moving ahead. Details here: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/Deal-sealed-for-Mid-Market-development-3720908.php
I met Keith Arnold, the Castro’s new programmer and general manager, by chance in front of the theater just an hour ago. He tells me the internet rumor that the theater will not be showing film after Dec 31 was spread by a disgruntled former employee and is totally false. This has also been confirmed on The Castro’s Facebook page.
Just bought my copy and love it. I grew up on the Peninsula and spent many days and nights at the Carlos and Laurel in San Carlos and Fox in Redwood City. Thanks to Gary Parks and Jack Tillmany for preserving the history of all the Peninsula theatres in their new book.
The supermarket Tillmany mentions is now a Whole Foods after being part of the Bell Market chain for 3 decades. There is a Victorian house on the lot just to the west of Whole Foods with a coffee shop (Bernie’s) on the ground floor and housing above and the next lot west of that is where the Noe Theatre stood. The current building on that site is a 3 story mixed use building with 2 retail stores (Just For Fun and a soap shop) on the ground floor and 2 floors of apartments above.
CW, I didn’t mention which fault the ‘89 Loma Prieta quake was on. (?) The USGS lists that quake as a 6.9, downgraded originally from a 7.1. I got the time wrong by a few minutes, it was 5:04pm. The (early I should have said) 80’s 5.8 quake (there were 2 just a few days apart – same magnitude) are listed as being on the Greenville or Marsh Creek-Greenville fault on that same website. I was referring to the 7pm Jan 24, 1980 quake. After we left the theater – everyone was too nervous to stay and watch the rest of the film – people on the sidewalks looked a little stunned after watching cars rock and plate glass windows bow. One person said to me that it looked like the windows were going to blow out if the shaking had lasted much longer. Most of the damage from those 2 quakes was to homes in the Danville area (cracked plaster, fireplaces, etc).
The Loma Prieta quake was on Oct 17, 1989 at 5:07pm to be exact. Magnitude 6.9. In the 80’s I was in the Castro for a showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Towards the end of the film just as the planets all align and the metalic slab crosses them, the theater started shaking, the chandelier started bolting, en exit sign crashed to the floor behind me and everyone got up and ran for the side exits. It was a magnitude 5.something centered on the Greenville fault in the East Bay.
“This Boy’s Life” was filmed in Concrete, Wa. in 1993. Based on the life of writer Tobias Wolff, the film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin.
I first saw this film at the Northpoint (SF) during it’s 70mm engagement. Still have the program. As I recall the theater was ¾ empty. In the mid 80’s I saw another 70mm presentation at the Kabuki (SF) with a packed house (and on a double bill with One From The Heart). Coppola was supposed to attend but his brother Roman came out on the stage and introduced the film. He told us that Mr Coppola had the theater’s sound system tweaked especially for the film so we could hear it the way it was meant to be heard. It was stunning.
San Francisco has lost more notable buildings than just the Fox. The City of Paris comes to mind immediately. Land in SF is much more valuable (and sought after) than land in Oakland and maybe that’s what ultimately saved the Oakland Fox. The voters of SF signed the Fox’s death warrant in 1961 when they voted down a proposal to have the City buy the Fox for a little over a million dollars for use as a convention center. Fortunately today, for those of us that live in SF, the beautiful Oakland Fox is a 20 min or less subway ride away.
An AP story in today’s SF Chronicle says the Castro set a box office record for the opening 3 days of Milk. The film grossed $109,440 Nov 26-28 beating the previous 3 day record of $50,584 set in May for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The Little Fox was located on Pacific Ave right off Columbus in North Beach. The last time I saw it (mid 70’s) the Market St Fox’s beautiful box office graced the entrance. The Little Fox had 2 major stage hits, each had lengthy runs: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (late 60’s) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (early 70’s).
The last time I went to this drive in was in the late 70’s early 80’s and it had turned pretty much into a dump. The was a big dumpster in front of the screen which someone threw a cigarette butt into during the movie setting off a small smokey fire. The fire dept responded, put it out, then headed to the snack bar for some refreshments. The movie never stopped during all this. There was a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 8 pr 9 years old with a broom sweeping the wooden steps (or deck) that lead to the snack bar telling no one in particular that he was sweeping so that “his theater” was nice and clean. The movie playing on our screen (some strange documentary about people being healed of their diseases by methods no sane person would engage in), the little boy, the small fire and the alternative crowd, many of whom brought their own legal/illegal refreshments, made the whole experience surreal.
Celeste Holm AND an archive print of All About Eve for 6 bucks in a fabulous movie palace?? What a deal! That’s cheaper than a bargain matinee in SF. Would someone please bring this show to the Castro Theater?
The Sundance Kabuki officially opens Friday Dec 14th. Check out this link for the whole story on the transformation of SF’s first mutiplex to SF’s “greenist” theater.
View link
Wonder if that noisy heater that hangs from the ceiling in the front right corner of the downstairs auditorium has been replaced or quieted down. The last time I saw a movie there it kept cycling on and off every 10 minutes or so and really disrupted the sound track. Haven’t been back since.
I won 2 tickets to a noon press screening at the Coronet in San Francisco from a local radio station (KYA I think) which was 2 days before the actual opening. I remember how loud the sound seemed and thought R2D2 and C3PO resembled Laurel and Hardy. At the conclusion of the film the audience went wild. It felt more like going to a major event than a movie, you could tell it was going tom be really popular. I went back several more times during the initial 7 month run and enjoyed it more each time. My friends and I would get stoned first, then sit in the front row.
The review of The Magic Flute that was in yesterday mornings SF Chronicle was mostly positive. It was shown in suburban Dublin at the Hacienda Crossing 20 as a HD simulcast. It was sold out. The reaction from movigoers was enthusiastic. The article said it was shown in 100 theatres in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan with 48 of the 60 US theatres sold out.
The new Westfield Center in downtown San Francisco (which has a new Century 7 screen multiplex) was built without any parking. Why? Because the Center faces Market St and the Powell St subway station which has 9 different lines running on 2 levels. The back of the Center looks like a “front” also and faces busy Mission Street with a Bloomingdales and closer to the theater’s actual location within the mall. At least a dozen bus lines use Mission St. Good urban planning can make a difference in not encouraging the use of the automobile in planning these large developements.
The “art” of seat saving now includes saving the seat for your hat, coat and umbrella. At a recent and very crowded showing of Casino Royale I heard numerous people ask a woman 2 rows back if the seat next to her was being saved (the one with her hat coat and umbrella). She said yes. After the movie started I noticed her hat, coat and umbrella having a wonderful time watching the new James Bond film.
The theater has been open about a week. The re-opening of the Cerrito finally brings a sense of place to an otherwise downtown-less downtown. Banners have been strung from the lightpoles and at night the marquee and verticle sign are a beacon along San Pablo Ave. Good luck to the Cerrito.
The Laurel (and the Carlos about a mile away) were my homes away from home while growing up in San Carlos in the 50’s and 60’s. I spent nearly every Saturday afternoon at one theater or the other. The “kiddie matinees” were quite popular. This was a top notch place on the Peninsula that showed a lot of top notch films. At one point I remember they had Korla Pandit (turbaned and bejewelled) playing organ concerts at intermission (don’t think the theater had an organ – he must have brought his own). The seats were large and comfortable.
This 4 screen theatre had 2 large screens and 2 screening rooms. The 2 large screen theatres had great sound and projection (showed 70mm prints occasionally).
I was being facetious August, by putting restoration in “ ”. I’m no expert but I would think (as a former painter) that a restoration would include first a good cleaning of the surface before putting on a preservative. As I said, I think they were in a hurry. The Castro is my neighborhood theatre and I feel lucky to be able to walk just a few blocks to see a film there. The multiplexes leave me cold also.
In 1989 I worked for a local paint store. Blumenfeld Enterprises managed the theatre then and had an account with the paint store. After the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake the Castro closed for several months to patch up the damage. One of the Blumenfeld’s painters came in one day and bought all the shellac we had off the shelf and asked me to order another 10 gallons. When he came in to pick up the rest of his order several days later I asked him what he was doing with the shellac (noting that the Castro was listed as the job site). He said they were “restoring” the tented plaster ceiling. I asked him what they used to clean off the decades of nicotine and grease, he said they were just applying the shellac as ordered by the foreman. I told him that shellac darkens with age, did they think about that? He said they were in a hurry to finish the work so that the theatre could reopen. If anything in the Castro is “tarnished” it’s the tented ceiling. It has gotten much darket than it was before the “restoration” and details that were clearly visible and much lighter are now hidden.
This will leave only 5 single screen theaters in San Francisco, the Castro, Bridge, Clay, Red Vic and the Vogue.