Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Cinema

2550 Mission Street,
San Francisco, CA 94110

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Showing 51 - 75 of 79 comments

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 24, 2010 at 5:58 pm

I drove down Mission Street last month when I went to the 49ers-Eagles game. I didn’t realize that all the theaters on this street were so close together. Must have been spectacular in its time.

darquil
darquil on July 31, 2010 at 7:37 am

I’ve posted some recent photos here.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 20, 2010 at 11:49 am

An earlier Mission Theatre was operating in San Francisco in 1907. Did the New Mission replace it? The earlier Mission was listed in an ad for the architectural firm O'Brien & Werner in the 1907-1908 edition of Henry’s Official Western Theatrical Guide. The Mission was one of five O'Brien & Werner designed houses listed in the ad. The others were the Orpheum, Princess, Valencia Street, and 16th Street theaters.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on April 12, 2010 at 10:12 pm

The a nice (but quick) shot of the vertical blade and dilapidated marquee near the beginning of the new movie “La Mission,” now in limited release in theaters.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on March 20, 2010 at 6:14 am

There has been very little news about the New Mission for nearly four years; there has not been an update in the SF Neighborhood Theaters Foundation site (http://www.sfneighborhoodtheater.org/) for quite some time and there isn’t much more on the www.friendsof1800.org site either, both of which were actively watching for news and reporting developments up until, oh, about 2005 or so. Apparently City College dropped plans to recycle the site for its uses. There was a proposal to convert the theater into a restaurant/nightclub/performance space that would preserve some of the theater’s architectural features, and there was a report that the condos that were to be built adjacent to the theater were going to be taller than originally proposed. I did find this item from March 10 of this year: View link

Simon Overton
Simon Overton on March 20, 2010 at 5:14 am

Back in the late 1990’s, I attended a meeting about trying to save and (hopefully) restore the New Mission along with a lot of hype about City College possibly taking over the premises for their theatrical programs.

Can someone of authority please fill in the blanks about the future of this venerable theater?

As to the above article from GERMAINE ROGERS on Mar 20, 2007 about his impressive collection of Box Office Reports, etc., saved from the New Mission, Castro, Royal, Alhambra, these theaters (and others) were under the direction of Blumenfeld Enterprises.

As a former Castro doorman I suggest he contact Don Nasser who heads the Castro’s Board of Directors and ask him if he would like part of them for their historical records or to display them in the lobby with “The Castro Past”.

Jermaine
Jermaine on March 21, 2007 at 2:43 am

Hi…

Im a collector of various movie paper…old one sheets, lobby cards and other incidental items. I am in my mid-30’s but feel like i was born QUITE out of time. I am fascinated with the old movie palaces and have quite a collection of items from these…thought you all would be interested in the following: i have several of the original, bound volumes of daily box reports from the New Mission, Castro, Alhambra, and Royal Theaters…all San Francisco movie palaces. The years I have are all 1929-1939…I have MANY volumes. EVERY single day is represented, with deposit slips and every single report…including film titles, opening marks, ticket sales and deposits, refund slips (if any…including reasons for refunds), and also a listing of the features that competitors were playing for each day. Its very interesting, for instance, to see the bad day that one theater had…then you notice that the competitor was playing ‘FRANKENSTEIN’ or ‘THE VAGABOND’. All marked by hand, signed by the managers…including deposit slips pasted onto the back of each days receipts. I got these from a collector in trade for some other paper…and it’s fascinating. A personal treat was seeing ‘Charlie Chans Chance’ listed in one of the daily reports: it played for 3 days and did pretty well. It’s now a lost film. It gives me chills.

-jermaine

William
William on October 23, 2006 at 3:40 pm

If you go to ken mc’s post from Dec. 26, 2005 click the last photo #8977 to see what it looked like in 1943.

paneolo50
paneolo50 on September 7, 2006 at 9:48 pm

A great movie theater of my childhood, I grew up in the Mission District of San Francisco. The New Mission was a great family theater with balcony seating and a large foyer in the rear of the theater. They used to play the organ on Friday and Saturday nights when they had a talent show. Sometimes they had bingo and in those days they would pay in silver dollars and count them in a metal bucket, which clanged when they dropped the money in the bucket. The Ten Commandments, El Cid, West Side Story all where exclusive engagements. I loved the balcony seating.

guillyca
guillyca on April 20, 2006 at 3:53 am

I remember this theatre as being really big. You would buy you’re ticket & walk throught the doors up the hallway. The refreshment counter was on the right hand side before the doord into the auditorium. I remember watching all sorts of movies here such as Scanners & Visitng Hours, Friday the 13th The final chapter & Cujo, Alpahbet City, Several La India Maria movies. The list goes on & on. :)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 27, 2005 at 1:05 am

Here’s another puzzle. The market in this 1954 photo is at Mission and Rolph Streets. I would argue that this was a theater at some point. Any ideas?

View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 27, 2005 at 12:54 am

Tom, the Crown is listed under Cine Latino, which would also be your listing for the New Latino.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 23, 2005 at 3:23 pm

Thanks for the info. Both the Tower and the Grand on Mission are listed.

tjmayerinsf
tjmayerinsf on December 21, 2005 at 12:50 am

Ken, the theater across the street was the Crown and later the New Latino, I don’t see any listings for those. Down the same side of Mission Street was the Grand and the Tower, there’s a listing for just one of those latter two. Email me at for more info. Tom Mayer

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 21, 2005 at 12:46 am

Here is another view of the Mission and the Rialto, from 1944:

View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 21, 2005 at 12:41 am

This 1936 picture shows the New Mission and the Rialto across the street. I would be curious to know if the Rialto is listed here under another name:

View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 28, 2005 at 11:58 pm

From the SF Public Library website:

View link

robertgippy
robertgippy on June 25, 2005 at 11:41 pm

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.

bago1
bago1 on April 30, 2005 at 12:51 pm

i remember going to see movies at this theater back in the mid 80s it was a big hang out for the latino teenagers in the mission district back then

tjmayerinsf
tjmayerinsf on November 4, 2004 at 11:11 pm

The New Mission Theater was designated SF Landmark #245 on 18 May 2004. For updates on the current situation with the theater and possible restoration, go to www.friendsof1800.org

Laloba
Laloba on October 16, 2004 at 5:42 am

You may see pictures of the New Mission Theatre that were taken in 1943 here: View link

These pictures are part of the San Francisco Library on-line archives. My father Don Leon and his Petite Orchestra played there between the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. You may view his Showbill here: http://lotsofsites.com/gen/showbill.shtml

sdoerr
sdoerr on September 18, 2004 at 11:00 pm

Here’s a news article about saving the theater and some pictures, including the marquee:
News Article