Ghirardelli Square Cinema
901 Beach Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94109
901 Beach Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94109
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Closed on December 7, 1986 with “Dancing In The Dark”.
The address is incorrect. It should be 901 Beach St. The address above is around the corner and for the historic Ghirardelli Building on the North Point St side of the building. Photos added including a rendering of the entire Ghirardelli complex. The theater was in the old Power House. The Fantastics played here on stage for quite a long time as well as a touring production of Oh Calcutta! that starred William Macy aka Walter on the hit TV show Maude.
Street views don’t seem to show much of this theatre. Any pointers to it’s OG status are greatly appreciated.
This opened on August 20th, 1971. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
I remember the jazzy General Cinema (?) teaser reel that opened shows in this vaulted theater. Great place to see films, though the cavernous interior reflected laughter so much that I could barely catch every third line in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. It was close to home (North Beach), so walking distance for me.
I loved this theater. I remember seeing the David Byrne concert “Stop Making Sense” with a friend here in the early 80’s, and we had a blast. Wish some of these smaller theaters were still open, I think they would have a substantial audience.
An article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle mentioned that the film Cruising was supposed to open here on Feb 15, 1980. Due to vandalism & protests, General Cinema cancelled the booking & it opened at the St Francis on Market Street instead.
I think Cosmo is referring to the “Hungry i”, a noted comedy club, and not the country in Eastern Europe.
I was the projectionist at the Ghiradelli on and off in the 70’s It had the best projection booth of any theater I have been in. The theater was bulit to be the new “Hungary I” A nightclub. When that failded it became the Ghiradrlli Cinema, and the manager’s office became the projection booth.It had air conditioning,a large bathroom with a shower.
I think the trouble it had was the fact that parking was almost impossible.It was in a tourist part of town.
Ghirardeli’s status should be “Closed;” its number of screens should state “Single Screen.”
The Ghirardelli was a single-screen theater.
The Ghirardelli Cinema opened on 20 August 1971 with the first run feature, Two Lane Blacktop, and continued to operate as a first run venue until it closed in late 1986. In April 1987 it briefly reopened as the Waterfront Theatre.
This theater closed in the 1980’s. Last operator was General Cinema Corp. It was located in the Ghiradelli complex, which was once the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory in San Francisco and is now a popular shopping complex on the west end of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. The theater itself had a red brick interior and was single screen. I had seen the film “Rollercoaster” in Sensurround in 1977 here, great sound system.