The Neptune, located off of webster on central, was right next to the foster freeze. It was a dismal place, never heated half the time and had a kind of moldy smell, was told that it flooded numerous times because of a water line problem. The vertical blade and marquee were very similar to the New Fruitvale on East 14th Street. When you walked in there was the candy counter with staircases to the left and right that led to a little mezannine section. The Balcony and loge entrance was sealed off with plywood so you couldn’t get in there. There wasn’t much to see in there as far as artwork, although the center ceiling dome was quite impressive. In the late 60’s we went to the foster freeze next door and noticed that the side exit door was open, a few of us walked inside and saw that the seats were gone, and a few homeless people were inside. I’m sure that in its heyday it was a good theatre, but not when we were in it. Webster street at the time was run down and mostly transients and hard on their luck sailors would go to movies there just to get out of the elements.
The Laurel was not a single floor theatre, it had stadium style seating, with one of the original opera style theatre curtains on the peninsula (besides the Palm). It was a beautiful theatre, and did show porn. I worked there briefly and the owners at the time started to refuse to pay us workers, so while the picketers were outside the theatre protesting the porn, we were letting everyone in for free that was over 18! The Laurel even had a wooden marquee on the El Camino Real to display what was playing. That practice was abandoned in the late 70’s when it went Porn. Pretty Peaches and Amanda By Night didn’t look good on the El Camino. The lease was too expensive and porno left the Laurel, but continued to show double bills until its closure. It was closed for a long time. Sad to see it go, I understand that it was turned into what is called the “Laurel Condos” and the marquee that was supposed to be saved, is gone.
The El Camino was on San Mateo Avenue close to the El Camino Real in San Bruno. It was called “the el camino 50 cent” theatre, as all seats were 50 cents! It had a vertical sign, in blue, with El Camino in white letters. The marquee was blue and they used black letters that fell off all the time, or the kids would go by and change them around. It had an island box office, that they never used, and you purchased your tickets inside. The auditorium actually was beautiful inside, with murals of covered wagons, western style. When i went there, (we are talking 1968) it was crowded with kids and family. during the intermission you would see the kids climb up on the stage and play around and no one would say anything. The curtain was red, but broken, the screen had a piece of tape dead center when someone threw a can through it. there was a loge section, but it was closed off. Was only in there once, but remember it well. It then was converted to a office building.
The Encore, was a beautiful theatre. It was one of a kind, with a projection system that was fully automated (dimmed the lights opened the curtains) with one of the very first automated platter systems, which became a white elephant, made by Bell and Howell. I saw the movie “The Other Side Of Midnight” there. Unfortunately for the theatre, it was in a area where the ground, that became saturated by the rains, would flood the interior of the theatre. Pumping system was too expensive to maintain, and horrible mold and mildew infested the place. Rev could not keep up with the insurance. The vertical “Encore” sign had like a 1880’s saloon style look. There were train tracks nearby and the Theatre would rumble a little. Magnificent interior with gold grilles, and busts of ladies everywhere. Seating was very comfortable.
The Cento Cedar was a very cozy movie house, in the Cento Cedar alley. Very well kept and clean. The projection system was rear projection, like the Richileu. My very first movie I saw there was called “Salo” by producer Pasolini, who was murdered 6 months after the film was made. It was advertised in the paper as “the most horrifying movie ever made” I thought it was a horror movie, it wasn’t by a long shot. Derived by a book written by De Sade, it depicted amputations, scalpings etc, and half the audience walked out of it in disgust. The Cento had a little snack bar that served great coffee. Small cozy house with no interior of any significance Films there were offbeat, foreign, and attracted a very cultured crowd. Miss the theatre very much
The Delta was a single screen for years, before it was twinned, it showed Spanish films. What was odd, was that the original vertical blade, had a clock on it. When the blade was restored, the clock was removed. It is very well kept and gets good crowds there. The restored marquee is very impressive.
When the Alhambra Theatre was restored back to a single screen, their premiere screening was “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. What was odd, all the money that was spent restoring it, they never used the curtain on the stage. I asked the Manager, and he explained that it was too expensive to fix? What? When the movie “An Innocent Man” starring Tom Selleck played there, he was there in the audience, all 25 of them. I sat in the loge with my date and we were the only ones up there. Selleck came up and said hello, really nice guy. Beautiful Theatre
The Screening Room was a interesting place. You paid your ticket and walked into the lobby with stairs to the left that led to a room with couches. Another staircase, which led to the basement, is where DeRenzy made his movies. The main auditorium which was quite spacious had around a couple of hundred seats with a huge movie screen. The Screening Room then converted to porn, and renamed Savages. It stayed Savages for a few years then turned into the Campus Cinema.
The Spartan Theatre was a very interesting place. It played gay movies. When you walked in there was a restroom to the left and a little cozy lobby. You walked into the auditorium which was a fairly good sized auditorium, about 300 seats, with a quite large movie screen and stage. On the left of the stage there was a doorway, with restrooms and next to that, a huge room with cubicles the size of horse stalls with huge leather curtains blocking each one. It was gutted by a fire, and when the fire hit the counter with the poppers enclosed, it caused a massive explosion that shook the buildings around like a earthquake.
The Tea Room theatre, was a store at sometime. It is a dingy place inside, you pay your money and walk thru the curtain to the small auditorium, which has the screen and a disco ball in the ceiling, where they used to do live nude gay shows inbetween movies. A aisle went down the center kind of and to the left of the screen was a curtain where you walked through, and the restrooms were there, with two rooms that are very dark which sexual activity went on. The place was filthy, with it’s patrons being mostly homeless. Been there for years, and it does well.
I remember going to the New Follies theatre, aka 16th Street Follies. It was a blast back then. You paid your ticket and walked in and in the center was the candy counter, with rickety looking wooden staircases leading to the loge and balcony. I remember seeing the SF cops go up there a lot. The strippers were called the Follies Dollies, and had names like Silver Dollar, Lelani, The Snake Lady, and the Human Salad Bowl, she would be wheeled on stage ina gurney and fruits and vegetables were piled on her. The curtains would close and you hear a loud thump when the screen was lowered down. Porn movies were shown in between shows. At midnight all the strippers would come out all at once and bump and grind on the stage, it was a lot of fun. It was boarded up for a few years, then reopened as the Victoria. Horrible location on 16th & Capp which is a drug filled neighborhood. Still open, and doing well.
The New Mission was a beautiful theatre. It had a long lobby entrance with a staircase to the left that led you to the loge and balcony sections. Before entering the main floor auditorium, there was a little candy counter to the left. When you entered the auditorium, you entered it from the left side. The New Mission, was one of the few theaters (like the T&D in Oakland) that the projection booth was on the main floor. Behind the projection booth were the restrooms, and staircases that led you to the loge and balcony sections. The stage and arch are kinda similiar to the Castro, but the whole layout is entirely different. It mostly played 80’s gore flicks but it was a fun place to go see a movie. Once and awhile they would open the balcony, but otherwise you were not allowed up there.
The Cine Latino was a interesting theatre. For those who were ever fortunate enough to attend the Fruitvale Theatre in Oakland, The Cine Latino’s layout was an exact duplicate! A massive mezzanine area on the second floor, with the restrooms located there. The interior of the auditorium was massive and pie shaped. The murals at that time were painted over with blue paint, however the center dome had beautiful etchings of a sunstar. Pictures of Mexican film actors were plastered everywhere. Gigantic screen and a beautiful arch that was gold leaf. The loma-prieta earthquake damaged the theatres interior and would have been too costly to rehab. It remained shut down until the interior was gutted and now houses a rock climbing gym type thing.
The Powell was a wonderful theatre. i can still see the red walls. When you walked in, there were doors to your left to enter the auditorium, and to the right, a long hallway that led to the womens restroom, that had a nice little lounge inside, and the mens room at the end of the hall, that just had black walls and a wooden toilet booth. In the auditorium one aisle went down the middle and seats were on both sides. In the left rear, the area was called the “sin section because of sex that went on in there. The walls had murals of gold miners. The theatre had a interesting curtain, it went from left to right and was gold. The Powell did show main porn, then went to gay porn. The local businesses did not like that idea of tourists walking by and seeing "the magnificant cowboys” and “the experiment” on the marquee. The Powell then, managed by John Stefanelli, showed classic films, and the rocky horror picture show at midnight. “Tommy” the movie did well at midnight there. It remained classic movies until its closure. It was gutted out and a Burger King took its place. The old timers still call the rear left section the “sin section”. A very fine theatre.
The Ritz theatre was a single screen theatre, with padded loges style chairs in the first i guess 20 rows, then regular seating towards the front. You had to pay extra to sit there. Green walls at the time, with square light fixtures on the walls. Gold colored curtain on the stage. No murals to think of. The marquee, however had a huge huge vertical, very unique looking. At a distance you were thinking you were coming to a huge movie palace. The first day the Mitchell Bros took over the theatre, prior to their screening of Behind The Green Door, the first X rated movie shown there at midnight was called XXX Sensory Perception. For about 2 months after, the Ritz had midnight movies like “the big TNT” “Carmen Baby the Female Animal” and “Mark of The Devil” During the Mitchells run, it was well kept, clean, and the parking lot was immaculate. Prior to it’s closing the parking lot, especially behind the theatre, were areas where hookers had sex with the customers. Even when the theatre closed an reopened as a thrift store, the sex in the lot still continued until extra patrol by the Hayward Police put a stop to all that.
I thought that the New Fillmore was still there I guess i was mistaken, when you turned off Divisadero onto Fillmore there was a church on the right side a few blocks up that was a theatre. I went inside once during the late 70’s and it was beautiful inside. Unfortunately I don’t remember the interior (usually i’m good at that). If it wasn’t the New Fillmore then what was it?
The El Rey was a nice theatre, as a child, we would go there, and also to the Oakley Theatre in Oakley. When lit up you could see the vertical all the way down Yosemite. On the marquee, it always said, “completely air conditioned”. One time, the curtain broke while closing and it sounded like the counterweights in the back fell through the floor. Two workers went up and pulled the curtains back, it was very hard to do as the curtains were extremely heavy. The audience was geering and screaming really loud. This little girl in the row ahead was eating a chocolate covered banana from Foster Freeze down the street put the ½ eaten banana on a seat in the next row. This big fat lady sat down on it and it made a loud squishing noise. When she got up the banana was sticking on her butt. The interior was pretty with blue stars and it looked like mermaids on the walls. When it caught on fire, the theatre closed and the marquee was still there for a few years, but dismantled later. Funny, during the intermission they played “A Beautiful Morning” by the Rascals.
i just had to make another comment. I loved the way, during the Ten Win Game, Dan McClean would say “if you’d like a big bag of popcorn absolutely free, just head to the candy counter right now, where it is all sacked up, nice and hot with lots of creamy butter on top.”
The Strand Theatre was a fun place to see a movie. There was always a triple bill and had a great snack bar. The sunrise coffee shop, next to the Embassy gave you ½ off their meals if you showed a ticket stub. The auditorium was a dismal atmosphere, with dark red walls and rusty light fixtures above the exit signs. What lit up the house were two light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. They had bingo there and when you won you had to go up front and climb a rikkety platform and choose a star from a board. Behind those stars were money up to $20.00 and free passes. A steep marble staircase in the lobby went to the loge and balcony areas, with entrances to the restrooms half way up. Mens restroom was filthy. There were only two stalls with no doors and usually homeless guys were sitting on the toilets. YUCK. The womens had a little lounge with the restrooms having 5 stalls made of marble walls. I went in just before it closed while showing porn, just to see the inside. The candy counter was converted to sex toys and videos, and a big wooden sign over the staircase to the balcony said “NO DRUGS IN BALCONY” (yeah right) I went up there, and was immediately approached by a dealer wanting to sell me some crack. Up at the top of the balcony
were hookers turning the most horrible looking homeless tricks. The smell was horrible and there were rats!!!!! This theatre has always been known for gay sex, but at least when there was gay sex the place was clean. I was glad when it was shut down. Sad because when it was legitimate it packed good crowds.
I think that George Lucas, who openly stated that the Coronet was one of his favorite theatres, doesn’t step in to intervene. He’s got millions, and what a tax deduction! To save a theatre with his backing? I am very surprised, and dissapointed that he did not at least arrange his Star Wars screening there. With the Alexandra gone and now the Coronet, the Bridge is the last remaining open movie house on Geary Street. It is amazing that such a huge populace such as San Francisco, would not patronize such a wonderful theatre. In a city rich with culture and entertainment, this is a travesty.
In the movie “U Turn” starring Jennifer Lopez, it was filmed in the downtown area of Superior, with excellent exterior shots of the uptown. It still looks like a theatre, rather tattered. Don’t know if it is still there.
The Palace Theatre which was located on East 14th Street and torn down in the late forties, primarily because of a land purchase, and the theatres “horrible reputation” at the time. My Aunt was a San Leandrian and went to the Palace. She said there was a murder there of great magnitude. It was of a city official supposedly. The theatre then was called “the bucket of blood” by some of the locals, and after the murder, hardly anyone would go to it, they were going to the Del Mar instead. San Leandro, as huge as it is now, was just a small town then and the gossip was abound. I was told hit was a beautiful theatre, with huge marble staircases and chandeliers. My aunt said the stage curtains were gold and they gave away free groceries redeemable at the Palma Plaza Market.
The Avenue Theatre was a beautiful theatre. The vertical blade of the marquee, closely resembled the Metro on Union Street. When i attended it, it was showing Greek films during the week and silent classics with the Organ on weekends. Warren Lubich was a great organist there. “On the Avenue” a 33 lp recorded at the Avenue with the organ is great. Very spacious auditorium with a nice sized stadium style balcony area. The projection booth was accessible by a metal staircase right out side in the balcony, the build very similar to the York on 24th Street. The ceiling had a beautiful dome lighting fixture, with signs of the zodiac circling around it. In the movie “Nightmare In Blood” filmed mostly in the Fox Oakland, has a great exterior shot of the Avenue at night lit up, and great views of the long gone island marquee.
I went to the Sunnyvale Theater when it showed porno. It was huge inside with red opera curtains on the stage. The screen had a hole in it, taped over. Two side entrances took you to the auditorium with the main floor, and a stadium style balcony in the rear. The balcony section had huge leather style chairs which went up to the back of your neck and they rocked. The lighting fixtures in the rear part of the balcony were burnt out. It was very dark up there and you wouldn’t believe what went on up there! Even the projectionist joined in. He ran the projectors and box office at the same time, the projector was once of the first platter styles. When the theatre converted from porno to mainstream the little display in the window said PORNO IS NO MO! I went to a screening of DAS Boot there afterwards a few years later and the attendance was poor. I didn’t recall seeing any murals on the walls, and at that time the walls of the lobby were covered over with fake brown trailer style stuff.
I went to the Centre theatre on my 18th birthday to see Deep Throat! Nice little lobby, with a candy counter and the entrance to the auditorium was on the left. When you walked in a single aisle went all the way down to the screen with seats on both sides. Place was packed! murals of mule teams were on the walls, with great looking light fixtures. Long and narrow, and a bare screen on the walls, no curtains or anything. Last time i saw it,it was a store, but the marquee was still there.
The Neptune, located off of webster on central, was right next to the foster freeze. It was a dismal place, never heated half the time and had a kind of moldy smell, was told that it flooded numerous times because of a water line problem. The vertical blade and marquee were very similar to the New Fruitvale on East 14th Street. When you walked in there was the candy counter with staircases to the left and right that led to a little mezannine section. The Balcony and loge entrance was sealed off with plywood so you couldn’t get in there. There wasn’t much to see in there as far as artwork, although the center ceiling dome was quite impressive. In the late 60’s we went to the foster freeze next door and noticed that the side exit door was open, a few of us walked inside and saw that the seats were gone, and a few homeless people were inside. I’m sure that in its heyday it was a good theatre, but not when we were in it. Webster street at the time was run down and mostly transients and hard on their luck sailors would go to movies there just to get out of the elements.
The Laurel was not a single floor theatre, it had stadium style seating, with one of the original opera style theatre curtains on the peninsula (besides the Palm). It was a beautiful theatre, and did show porn. I worked there briefly and the owners at the time started to refuse to pay us workers, so while the picketers were outside the theatre protesting the porn, we were letting everyone in for free that was over 18! The Laurel even had a wooden marquee on the El Camino Real to display what was playing. That practice was abandoned in the late 70’s when it went Porn. Pretty Peaches and Amanda By Night didn’t look good on the El Camino. The lease was too expensive and porno left the Laurel, but continued to show double bills until its closure. It was closed for a long time. Sad to see it go, I understand that it was turned into what is called the “Laurel Condos” and the marquee that was supposed to be saved, is gone.
The El Camino was on San Mateo Avenue close to the El Camino Real in San Bruno. It was called “the el camino 50 cent” theatre, as all seats were 50 cents! It had a vertical sign, in blue, with El Camino in white letters. The marquee was blue and they used black letters that fell off all the time, or the kids would go by and change them around. It had an island box office, that they never used, and you purchased your tickets inside. The auditorium actually was beautiful inside, with murals of covered wagons, western style. When i went there, (we are talking 1968) it was crowded with kids and family. during the intermission you would see the kids climb up on the stage and play around and no one would say anything. The curtain was red, but broken, the screen had a piece of tape dead center when someone threw a can through it. there was a loge section, but it was closed off. Was only in there once, but remember it well. It then was converted to a office building.
The Encore, was a beautiful theatre. It was one of a kind, with a projection system that was fully automated (dimmed the lights opened the curtains) with one of the very first automated platter systems, which became a white elephant, made by Bell and Howell. I saw the movie “The Other Side Of Midnight” there. Unfortunately for the theatre, it was in a area where the ground, that became saturated by the rains, would flood the interior of the theatre. Pumping system was too expensive to maintain, and horrible mold and mildew infested the place. Rev could not keep up with the insurance. The vertical “Encore” sign had like a 1880’s saloon style look. There were train tracks nearby and the Theatre would rumble a little. Magnificent interior with gold grilles, and busts of ladies everywhere. Seating was very comfortable.
The Cento Cedar was a very cozy movie house, in the Cento Cedar alley. Very well kept and clean. The projection system was rear projection, like the Richileu. My very first movie I saw there was called “Salo” by producer Pasolini, who was murdered 6 months after the film was made. It was advertised in the paper as “the most horrifying movie ever made” I thought it was a horror movie, it wasn’t by a long shot. Derived by a book written by De Sade, it depicted amputations, scalpings etc, and half the audience walked out of it in disgust. The Cento had a little snack bar that served great coffee. Small cozy house with no interior of any significance Films there were offbeat, foreign, and attracted a very cultured crowd. Miss the theatre very much
The Delta was a single screen for years, before it was twinned, it showed Spanish films. What was odd, was that the original vertical blade, had a clock on it. When the blade was restored, the clock was removed. It is very well kept and gets good crowds there. The restored marquee is very impressive.
When the Alhambra Theatre was restored back to a single screen, their premiere screening was “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. What was odd, all the money that was spent restoring it, they never used the curtain on the stage. I asked the Manager, and he explained that it was too expensive to fix? What? When the movie “An Innocent Man” starring Tom Selleck played there, he was there in the audience, all 25 of them. I sat in the loge with my date and we were the only ones up there. Selleck came up and said hello, really nice guy. Beautiful Theatre
The Screening Room was a interesting place. You paid your ticket and walked into the lobby with stairs to the left that led to a room with couches. Another staircase, which led to the basement, is where DeRenzy made his movies. The main auditorium which was quite spacious had around a couple of hundred seats with a huge movie screen. The Screening Room then converted to porn, and renamed Savages. It stayed Savages for a few years then turned into the Campus Cinema.
The Spartan Theatre was a very interesting place. It played gay movies. When you walked in there was a restroom to the left and a little cozy lobby. You walked into the auditorium which was a fairly good sized auditorium, about 300 seats, with a quite large movie screen and stage. On the left of the stage there was a doorway, with restrooms and next to that, a huge room with cubicles the size of horse stalls with huge leather curtains blocking each one. It was gutted by a fire, and when the fire hit the counter with the poppers enclosed, it caused a massive explosion that shook the buildings around like a earthquake.
The Tea Room theatre, was a store at sometime. It is a dingy place inside, you pay your money and walk thru the curtain to the small auditorium, which has the screen and a disco ball in the ceiling, where they used to do live nude gay shows inbetween movies. A aisle went down the center kind of and to the left of the screen was a curtain where you walked through, and the restrooms were there, with two rooms that are very dark which sexual activity went on. The place was filthy, with it’s patrons being mostly homeless. Been there for years, and it does well.
I remember going to the New Follies theatre, aka 16th Street Follies. It was a blast back then. You paid your ticket and walked in and in the center was the candy counter, with rickety looking wooden staircases leading to the loge and balcony. I remember seeing the SF cops go up there a lot. The strippers were called the Follies Dollies, and had names like Silver Dollar, Lelani, The Snake Lady, and the Human Salad Bowl, she would be wheeled on stage ina gurney and fruits and vegetables were piled on her. The curtains would close and you hear a loud thump when the screen was lowered down. Porn movies were shown in between shows. At midnight all the strippers would come out all at once and bump and grind on the stage, it was a lot of fun. It was boarded up for a few years, then reopened as the Victoria. Horrible location on 16th & Capp which is a drug filled neighborhood. Still open, and doing well.
The New Mission was a beautiful theatre. It had a long lobby entrance with a staircase to the left that led you to the loge and balcony sections. Before entering the main floor auditorium, there was a little candy counter to the left. When you entered the auditorium, you entered it from the left side. The New Mission, was one of the few theaters (like the T&D in Oakland) that the projection booth was on the main floor. Behind the projection booth were the restrooms, and staircases that led you to the loge and balcony sections. The stage and arch are kinda similiar to the Castro, but the whole layout is entirely different. It mostly played 80’s gore flicks but it was a fun place to go see a movie. Once and awhile they would open the balcony, but otherwise you were not allowed up there.
The Cine Latino was a interesting theatre. For those who were ever fortunate enough to attend the Fruitvale Theatre in Oakland, The Cine Latino’s layout was an exact duplicate! A massive mezzanine area on the second floor, with the restrooms located there. The interior of the auditorium was massive and pie shaped. The murals at that time were painted over with blue paint, however the center dome had beautiful etchings of a sunstar. Pictures of Mexican film actors were plastered everywhere. Gigantic screen and a beautiful arch that was gold leaf. The loma-prieta earthquake damaged the theatres interior and would have been too costly to rehab. It remained shut down until the interior was gutted and now houses a rock climbing gym type thing.
The Powell was a wonderful theatre. i can still see the red walls. When you walked in, there were doors to your left to enter the auditorium, and to the right, a long hallway that led to the womens restroom, that had a nice little lounge inside, and the mens room at the end of the hall, that just had black walls and a wooden toilet booth. In the auditorium one aisle went down the middle and seats were on both sides. In the left rear, the area was called the “sin section because of sex that went on in there. The walls had murals of gold miners. The theatre had a interesting curtain, it went from left to right and was gold. The Powell did show main porn, then went to gay porn. The local businesses did not like that idea of tourists walking by and seeing "the magnificant cowboys” and “the experiment” on the marquee. The Powell then, managed by John Stefanelli, showed classic films, and the rocky horror picture show at midnight. “Tommy” the movie did well at midnight there. It remained classic movies until its closure. It was gutted out and a Burger King took its place. The old timers still call the rear left section the “sin section”. A very fine theatre.
The Ritz theatre was a single screen theatre, with padded loges style chairs in the first i guess 20 rows, then regular seating towards the front. You had to pay extra to sit there. Green walls at the time, with square light fixtures on the walls. Gold colored curtain on the stage. No murals to think of. The marquee, however had a huge huge vertical, very unique looking. At a distance you were thinking you were coming to a huge movie palace. The first day the Mitchell Bros took over the theatre, prior to their screening of Behind The Green Door, the first X rated movie shown there at midnight was called XXX Sensory Perception. For about 2 months after, the Ritz had midnight movies like “the big TNT” “Carmen Baby the Female Animal” and “Mark of The Devil” During the Mitchells run, it was well kept, clean, and the parking lot was immaculate. Prior to it’s closing the parking lot, especially behind the theatre, were areas where hookers had sex with the customers. Even when the theatre closed an reopened as a thrift store, the sex in the lot still continued until extra patrol by the Hayward Police put a stop to all that.
I thought that the New Fillmore was still there I guess i was mistaken, when you turned off Divisadero onto Fillmore there was a church on the right side a few blocks up that was a theatre. I went inside once during the late 70’s and it was beautiful inside. Unfortunately I don’t remember the interior (usually i’m good at that). If it wasn’t the New Fillmore then what was it?
The El Rey was a nice theatre, as a child, we would go there, and also to the Oakley Theatre in Oakley. When lit up you could see the vertical all the way down Yosemite. On the marquee, it always said, “completely air conditioned”. One time, the curtain broke while closing and it sounded like the counterweights in the back fell through the floor. Two workers went up and pulled the curtains back, it was very hard to do as the curtains were extremely heavy. The audience was geering and screaming really loud. This little girl in the row ahead was eating a chocolate covered banana from Foster Freeze down the street put the ½ eaten banana on a seat in the next row. This big fat lady sat down on it and it made a loud squishing noise. When she got up the banana was sticking on her butt. The interior was pretty with blue stars and it looked like mermaids on the walls. When it caught on fire, the theatre closed and the marquee was still there for a few years, but dismantled later. Funny, during the intermission they played “A Beautiful Morning” by the Rascals.
i just had to make another comment. I loved the way, during the Ten Win Game, Dan McClean would say “if you’d like a big bag of popcorn absolutely free, just head to the candy counter right now, where it is all sacked up, nice and hot with lots of creamy butter on top.”
The Strand Theatre was a fun place to see a movie. There was always a triple bill and had a great snack bar. The sunrise coffee shop, next to the Embassy gave you ½ off their meals if you showed a ticket stub. The auditorium was a dismal atmosphere, with dark red walls and rusty light fixtures above the exit signs. What lit up the house were two light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. They had bingo there and when you won you had to go up front and climb a rikkety platform and choose a star from a board. Behind those stars were money up to $20.00 and free passes. A steep marble staircase in the lobby went to the loge and balcony areas, with entrances to the restrooms half way up. Mens restroom was filthy. There were only two stalls with no doors and usually homeless guys were sitting on the toilets. YUCK. The womens had a little lounge with the restrooms having 5 stalls made of marble walls. I went in just before it closed while showing porn, just to see the inside. The candy counter was converted to sex toys and videos, and a big wooden sign over the staircase to the balcony said “NO DRUGS IN BALCONY” (yeah right) I went up there, and was immediately approached by a dealer wanting to sell me some crack. Up at the top of the balcony
were hookers turning the most horrible looking homeless tricks. The smell was horrible and there were rats!!!!! This theatre has always been known for gay sex, but at least when there was gay sex the place was clean. I was glad when it was shut down. Sad because when it was legitimate it packed good crowds.
I think that George Lucas, who openly stated that the Coronet was one of his favorite theatres, doesn’t step in to intervene. He’s got millions, and what a tax deduction! To save a theatre with his backing? I am very surprised, and dissapointed that he did not at least arrange his Star Wars screening there. With the Alexandra gone and now the Coronet, the Bridge is the last remaining open movie house on Geary Street. It is amazing that such a huge populace such as San Francisco, would not patronize such a wonderful theatre. In a city rich with culture and entertainment, this is a travesty.
In the movie “U Turn” starring Jennifer Lopez, it was filmed in the downtown area of Superior, with excellent exterior shots of the uptown. It still looks like a theatre, rather tattered. Don’t know if it is still there.
The Palace Theatre which was located on East 14th Street and torn down in the late forties, primarily because of a land purchase, and the theatres “horrible reputation” at the time. My Aunt was a San Leandrian and went to the Palace. She said there was a murder there of great magnitude. It was of a city official supposedly. The theatre then was called “the bucket of blood” by some of the locals, and after the murder, hardly anyone would go to it, they were going to the Del Mar instead. San Leandro, as huge as it is now, was just a small town then and the gossip was abound. I was told hit was a beautiful theatre, with huge marble staircases and chandeliers. My aunt said the stage curtains were gold and they gave away free groceries redeemable at the Palma Plaza Market.
The Avenue Theatre was a beautiful theatre. The vertical blade of the marquee, closely resembled the Metro on Union Street. When i attended it, it was showing Greek films during the week and silent classics with the Organ on weekends. Warren Lubich was a great organist there. “On the Avenue” a 33 lp recorded at the Avenue with the organ is great. Very spacious auditorium with a nice sized stadium style balcony area. The projection booth was accessible by a metal staircase right out side in the balcony, the build very similar to the York on 24th Street. The ceiling had a beautiful dome lighting fixture, with signs of the zodiac circling around it. In the movie “Nightmare In Blood” filmed mostly in the Fox Oakland, has a great exterior shot of the Avenue at night lit up, and great views of the long gone island marquee.
I went to the Sunnyvale Theater when it showed porno. It was huge inside with red opera curtains on the stage. The screen had a hole in it, taped over. Two side entrances took you to the auditorium with the main floor, and a stadium style balcony in the rear. The balcony section had huge leather style chairs which went up to the back of your neck and they rocked. The lighting fixtures in the rear part of the balcony were burnt out. It was very dark up there and you wouldn’t believe what went on up there! Even the projectionist joined in. He ran the projectors and box office at the same time, the projector was once of the first platter styles. When the theatre converted from porno to mainstream the little display in the window said PORNO IS NO MO! I went to a screening of DAS Boot there afterwards a few years later and the attendance was poor. I didn’t recall seeing any murals on the walls, and at that time the walls of the lobby were covered over with fake brown trailer style stuff.
I went to the Centre theatre on my 18th birthday to see Deep Throat! Nice little lobby, with a candy counter and the entrance to the auditorium was on the left. When you walked in a single aisle went all the way down to the screen with seats on both sides. Place was packed! murals of mule teams were on the walls, with great looking light fixtures. Long and narrow, and a bare screen on the walls, no curtains or anything. Last time i saw it,it was a store, but the marquee was still there.