Swastika Theatre
621 Bridgeway,
Sausalito,
CA
94965
621 Bridgeway,
Sausalito,
CA
94965
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Previous Names: Best Theatre
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The Swastika Theatre was located on Water Street, (today renamed Bridgeway). It was opened in 1910 and was sold to John Elliot in 1913. It was briefly renamed Best Theatre in on June 18, 1915, returning to the Swastika Theatre name in October 1915. It fell out of use in May 1916. John Elliot died in January 1917 and the Swastika Theatre was briefly reopened in September 1917.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
At the time it opened the address was 815 Water Street. Today that would be 621 Bridgeway. Early on it faced competition from the nearby Princess Theater which opened in 1915 and had electric powered projectors while those of the Swastika were hand cranked. To up their game they did a renovation and reopened on June 18, 1915. Despite this they couldn’t survive and the space was used for lectures and other events. They tried to reintroduce movies in 1917 but gave up after only being opened for 3 days. The building was subsequently used for other purposes and is not Angelinos Restaurant.
Prior to the rise of Hitler the Swastika was a symbol of good luck and happiness. More on the Swastika, the symbol and the theater, can be found in an article published by the Sausalito Historical Society call The History of the Swastika in Sausalito.
The Swastika Theatre dates to 1910, when it was opened by two Frenchmen, Messrs. Cailleux and Cavet. There is a brief mention of them in the August 15 issue of The Nickelodeon, saying they had opened another theatre in nearby Mill Valley. By the spring of 1913, Cailleux was the sole operator and when he had to return to France due to the ill health of his father, he sold the Swastika to a local man, John Elliot. This was reported in the May 24 issue of the “Sausalito News”, the article also mentioned Cailleux and his partner had opened the theatre “about three years ago”.
In 1915, Elliot opened the Princess Theatre (listed on Cinema Treasures by its later name, the Gate) and gave up operation of the Swastika effective April 1st, at which time it was taken over by A. C. Pabst, who also operated a theatre in Mill Valley. Pabst took a 5-year lease with option to buy, did an extensive remodel, changed the name to “Best Theatre” and reopened on June 18th. However, he left before the summer was out to concentrate on his new Mill Valley venue.
In early October, Elliot again took over the building, signing a two-year lease. Its original name was also used again. No longer showing movies, the Swastika became home to numerous lectures, but spent most of its time dark and seems to have fallen out of use by May of 1916.
Elliot died in January of 1917, having left the Princess to his niece. In May an item appeared in the Sausalito News that the owner of the Swastika Theatre had leased it to two gentlemen who planned to open it up “as a moving picture show”. In September, a small item appeared in the “News” saying that “the old Swastika Theatre” had closed after only three nights, having found “there was not room” in town for two theatres