Golden Gate Theatre

Single strip Cinerama installed 1 July 1965 until 11 No 1969.Twinned from Dec 1966

The Golden Gate opened 03/26/1922 with seats for 2844 people. The sister theatre to the Golden Gate is The RKO Hillstreet theatre in Downtown Los Angeles (razed in the 60's). The Hill Street was located at 8th. & Hill Street (A sporting goods store & a bank now stands in it's place. The Golden Gate was slightly more elaborate than the Hill Street theatre was. Both theatres had a Gothic look to it. The Hill Street was remodeled in the mid 50's to modernize it's look.

The Golden Gate had been almost destroyed by the time of the renovation. The interior of the auditorium had to be rebuilt but the original design had to be partly guessed at. The only remaining section of the interior is the ceiling of the lobby, which was found when the modern lobby was removed. The interior of the auditorium is cheap looking with acoustic tiles taking the place of where murals and the chandelier would have been originally. It is a sad place to go for people that want to see true beauty. It would be wonderful if the interior could be redone to live up to the standards that the exterior of this building sets. The Golden Gate is currently used to house the touring companies of Broadway Shows.

The architect for the Golden Gate Theater and the RKO Hillstreet was G. Albert Lansburgh.

I'm hoping you can answer a question for. I was in the First National Tour of, La Cage aux Folles which opened at the Golden Gate Theatre. I'm trying to define some dates here for a piece I'm writing. When did La Cage open at the Golden Gate. When was the first preview? Can you give me any help? Thank you... Joseph Breen

Not much of the original interior of the Golden Gate survives. Much of what is seen today is a recreation. The cieling of the lobby was found to be intact when the newer lobby was gutted. In place of much of the fine details of the original design are sound boards.

I have always been very dissapointed in the renovation of the Golden Gate. The Curran and the Orpheum are lovely but the Golden Gate needs some work. It would be nice if the current owners would even bother to put the neon back on the two vertical signs. More RESTORATION WAS DONE IN THE lobby than the auditorium. It would be nice if at least an attempt was made to make the auditorium more pleasing.Its been this way for many years. Bruce

The RKO Golden Gate Theatre was luckier than it's sister theatre the RKO Hillstreet Theatre which only lasted till around 1963. When the Golden Gate opened in 1922, they installed a Moller Theatre organ (opus#3131) 3/13.
When they twinned the theatre in 1966, they called the second theatre the Penthouse.

Cinerama did operate this theater from 1965 to about 1970. In the 1970's, it went from showing first-run "reserved seat engagement" films to showing blaxploitation and kung-fu films. It also showed some X-rated(non-hardcore) films in the late 1960's-early 1970's as well. DeSade(AIP's only X-rated film) premiered here as well as Myra Breckinridge(on both screens playing "every hour on the hour").

Before the renovation the former RKO Golden Gate Theatre seated 2844 people. It's sister theatre the RKO Hillstreet Theatre in Los Angeles seated 2890 people. Both facades of the theatres looked the same, but during the mid-50's modification of the Hillstreet Theatre's entry area was changed to a Art-Deco/Moderne.

Saw "The Sand Pebbles", "Myra Breckinridge" and "The Exorcist" in the upstairs theatre which was called The Penthouse, in the late 60's. An escalator had been installed from the lobby to the mezzanine. The downstairs theatre showed Cinerama films - "2001" played there for a couple of years. The last time I remember going into the downstairs theatre for a film was a double bill - "Zacharia" a rock western, was being shown on a conventional wide screen, and a sneak preview of "The Andromeda Strain" (with Hollywood bigwigs in the audience), was shown on the Cinerama screen.

Distant images/memories from child hood 48-51, when travelled by bus to SF from Mill Valley area, were seeing huge banners hanging down tower facade adversiting Cinderella, which say there, and Alice in Wonderland, sitting in balcony. Mixed with recollections was seeing Cable car being turned around, a big Owl Marque creature for some store, and billboard with smoke rings being blown for cigarettes--are/were these things in same genral local at the theatre, or am I combining kid collected observations into one related impression while going down streets to go to the real movies in the big city? Haven't been there over 50 years.

The cable car turnaround is actually 2 blocks east of the Golden Gate theater at the intersection of Powell & Market. At the turnaround, the following theaters were once located there: Powell(now a perfume store), Esquire(demolished), Pix(demolished), St Francis(soon to be demolished as part of a new shopping center on the site of the old Emporium store). The Owl Marque was near that theater however.

There are other theaters that are/were near the Golden Gate west of there(most on Market Street itself): Warfield(now a concert hall), Orpheum(live plays, once operated as a Cinerama theater), Crest(underwent several name changes over the years, now the Crazy Horse strip club), Regal(now the Deja Vu strip club), Guild(now retail, last theater incarnation was as Pussycat), Centre(now retail), Embassy(demolished after 1989 quake), the Strand(closed in April 2003, a long time revival house that went downhill into a porn theater & shuttered by the City as a public nuisance) and the United
Artists(aka Market Street Cinema, now a live sex show emporium). Market Street was once a thriving movie theater street.

I recently saw "Mama Mia" at the Golden Gate and little work has been done on the theatre since the last time I was in it back in the 1980's. I noticed on my ticket stub that at $3.00 restoration fee was charged. I would like to know where this money is going. Are we paying for the renovation of the Orpheum from a few years ago. None of the drinking fountains worked properly. I hope this money is going to upgrade this theatre which badly needs it. I hope a little restoration work is done in the Auditorium and the proper colors are used to accent the architecture that is there. I will think twice before forking out the money to see another show at this theatre. Please Shorentein/Nederlander relight the marquee. Its only under your watch that the marquee has not been lit. The Golden Gate has not one but two Verticals that spell out Golden Gate. Its the only large Vertical left in the Market Street Area Downtown.brucec

For Joeseph Breen. La Cage...opened at the Golden Gate in 1986, I believe. I remember attending the Premiere where my good friend, Sylvester, arrived in drag, alighting from a limousine to great applause. It was mentioned in Herb Caen's column the next morning.

Photo http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/FindingAids/dynaweb/calher/berk_oak/figures/I0041460B.jpg

Glory days (1944):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/goldengate.jpg

Warren thats a great old picture with all the sailors and their girls :)

From the SF Public Library website:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8833.jpg

You may remember this film as a Howard Hughes production filmed in Utah, near the atomic testing area. Most of the principals died of cancer years later, including Wayne and Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and director Dick Powell.

This theater must have been a fun place to hang around...

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8834.jpg

1944 war bond rally at the Golden Gate:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8832.jpg

Interior, 1922:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8844.jpg

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8846.jpg

Undated photo:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8831.jpg

1930:
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAB-3835.jpg

I understand that the Golden Gate was the last theatre in the Bay Area to have vaudeville shows. Supposedly they did these between the movies well into the late 1950s. Can anyone confirm this, or point me to the last theatre that did do vaudeville?

One of the last movies to play here was the original Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds.

I saw Battle of the Bulge there too.

George Senda
Concord Ca

I recently took a walk on Market Street from the Orpheum down to the closed St Francis theatre. I found it seedy,dangerous and disgusting. Boston,Cleveland and Chicago have cleaned up there theatre districts in recent years with a lot of success. I was ashamed of San Francisco's old theatre district. I will never attend another event at the Golden Gate until the city gets its act together.The city has allowed a very seedy element to take over this area and I was nervous walking between the homeless,drug dealers and dangerous appearing individuals. I blame City Hall and its a black eye for the City. The Golden Gate has to have a lot of security when they have a show in this area. The city has allowed this part of Market Street to look this way for decades. I don't know of another major American City that has allowed there main street to stay this way for so long without trying to clean it up and make it safer. It looks worse than the last time I was down there a couple of years ago.bruce

Bruce
Well the "namesake" of SF's Market Street, Philadelphia is pretty bad as well. There's active businesses, but ones with a definate urban flavor.

I rode the F line down near 8th street and walked down Market to Montgomery one morning when I was in San Francisco. DEPLORABLE. It has gotten worse, not better over the years I have been going down. Strange all of the money going into the expansion of the San Francisco Shopping Centre and theatres like the Strand and surrounding areas including the Carls Jr allowed to go to pot, literally and figuratively. I hope when I go back in November, its a little better, but Im not holding my breath..

Photo of the corner tower here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/424142065/

Like Bruce says It is a sad thing about the front of The RKO Golden Gate. The Shorensteins have so much money, they can't even put some in the fix up of the front of the RKO Golden Gate. When they took over they got rid of the nice neon marquee and painted everying brown out front. Can't they buy some blue,green and golden red paint and redue the signs. The part of the block It is on is one of worst parts of downtown SF. If you park in the area your car will get broken into. Most people take Bart and rush in the door. I remember at one time SF had this as a second Super 70mm Cinerama Theatre. They did the worst job, they put the big Cinerama curved screen back on the stage. So they had flat curtains and it opened to a small size poor mans Cinerama show. The up stairs balcony had road show 70mm but the keystone was so bad I got my money back.

The opening description to this theater states that "the neighborhood has remained a little seedy". A Little Seedy?!! This area is disgusting and San Francisco should be ashamed of itself for doing nothing to stem the tide of decay around the Golden Gate Theater. I was there just a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at the concentration of homeless people. On one corner (one block from the theater) there must have been around 40 homeless people loitering. Even worse, the homeless in San Francisco are also aggressive in panhandling. I also saw a man injecting heroin on the street and another snorting some other substance.

The Golden Gate was dark while I was there and I'm not surprised.

I live in New York and there are quite a few people here to wax poetic over the "Old Seedy Times Square" and mourn its passing into Disneyland East. I have to admit that I, on ocassion, was one of those people until I visited San Francisco 4 years ago and found myself walking around the Tenderloin (Golden Gate Theater) district. I saw hookers, drug dealers, homeless, porno theaters, etc. and I realized very quickly that I did not miss the old Times Square at all! I really like feeling safe and secure when I'm walking around and when everyone feels secure, new businesses open, people move in, tourists arrive and the city thrives. Now I totally embrace the New Times Square.

Now back to visit SF after 4 years and I actually think it's gotten worse! Few, if any, cities have the attributes that San Francisco has in its favor yet I can't remember being is a city area that I felt more unsafe and disgusted. (No, I have not been to Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles which is probably the worst in the country). What is wrong with the SF city government that allows this to go on? New York's problems were just as bad (or worse when you look just at the old 42nd Street). Yet almost all of the grime has been swept away in less than 10 years. If New York can do it, why not San Francisco?

Here is a recent close-up view of the Golden Gate Theater.

Question: Why does everyone keep saying this is an "art deco" house? Looking at the website and the virtual tour this seems to be a classical Lansburgh house. What do you all think makes it "deco"? Just curious - it is such a subjective thing!

I say it was more Gothic in design than Art Deco.

I also guess it's the vertical sign and the old marquee that was more Art Deco than the theatre.

Wow, that was quick! Thanks, William, for confirming my thoughts. The term "art deco" does cover a wide variety of styles and eras, but this is definitely not one of them! : )

Another photo can be seen here.

The details on the outside of the Golden Gate look more Renaissance-Baroque than anything else to me. The interior is similar to the original interior of Lansburgh's Hillstreet Theatre in Los Angeles, which had an predominantly Gothic style in both its auditorium and other areas, until it got a remodel in the late 1940s.

But Lansburgh did put these Gothic elements into a highly classicized framework, which made the auditoriums look almost like Renaissance designs with Gothic detailing. The Golden Gate's auditorium seems to me to have a strong Venetian Gothic influence, though, while the Hillstreet has overall more eccentric features that are hard to pin down as any particular sort of Gothic. I think Albert may have been on the pipe when he designed the Hillstreet.

It's often difficult to classify movie theatres according to standard styles as they are usually defined by architecture critics, because so many palace architects mixed together various elements of various styles from different periods or different cultures, and sometimes added novel and unprecedented stylistic flourishes of their own invention. Plus it's not uncommon for the interior style of a theatre and the exterior style of its building to differ, even when they were designed by the same architect.

Because of their eclecticism, and their frequently fantastical stylistic elements, I don't think we'll ever get a truly precise nomenclature for describing movie theatre architecture. Way too many theatres were sui generis.

I went to the Golden Gate with the Royal Shakespeare Company to play 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' back in the mid 90s for 2 weeks. The area is disgusting and a shame on San Francisco for letting a central area of its city be like this. We had an armed bus taking us to and from the theatre every performance. The theatre is in dire need of renovation inside and out. It could be a real jewel like the Curran. If they are taking $3 for rennovations and your not seeing any work dont pay it!

Lots of photos from the THSA 2008 Conclave here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/sets/72157606184953729/


Here are links to their photos of the Gonden Gate Theater:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685802370/in/set-72157606184953729/ - outer lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2684973909/in/set-72157606184953729/ - inner lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2684980419/in/set-72157606184953729/ - inner lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2684984623/in/set-72157606184953729/ - outer lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2684990989/in/set-72157606184953729/ - auditorium - from stage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2684992565/in/set-72157606184953729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685784122/in/set-72157606184953729/ - balcony
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685787098/in/set-72157606184953729/ - inner lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685797956/in/set-72157606184953729/ - stairs to balcony
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685804788/in/set-72157606184953729/ - proscenium
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685805950/in/set-72157606184953729/ - balcony from stage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685807306/in/set-72157606184953729/ - balcony from stage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thsa/2685809152/in/set-72157606184953729/ - stage rigging

Many of the comments above are very critical of the area immediately surrounding this theater. My personal experiences over a four year period was that the area had actually gotten worse and not better. It's been over a year since I was last in San Francisco and was wondering if anything has gotten better. San Francisco's handling of the disgusting neighborhood has been shameful especially considering the city's reliance on tourism.

LuisV... San Francisco WAS known as "The City That Knows How"... it has just about let everything go to hell in a hand basket and we'll worry about tomorrow another day!

My wife is a native and was once proud to have supported many of the beautiful cinemas and theaters; skipping school numerous times, with punishment, just to be IN the 5,000 + seat FOX... to SEE its cavernous magnificence, HEAR the organ, STAIR at the gold leaf or WATCH the glorious curtains in motion floodlit in assorted colors!

She cries today, 45 years later, watching the video and senseless destruction of what was GIVEN to San Francisco by William Fox, thanks to the crooked leadership of Mayor George Christopher. Damn him to hell, too!

Simon, thanks for your comments. Had I had the opportunity to have actually seen the Roxy, Capitol, Brooklyn Fox, Center, Paramount, Rivoli, Proctor's 58th Street, the list goes on and on, I would probably still be crying as well for what we have lost in New York.

Alas, my appreciation for movie palaces came later in my life when I realized, too late, how special they were and that they will never be built like this again. As it is, my appreciation for the old theaters grew back in my disco days when many of New York's best discos were in old theaters. The Saint (Loews Commodore), Palladium (Academy of Music), Studio 54 (Gallo Opera House), Xenon (Miller Theater), Club USA (The Forum). These were all beautiful theaters and I was able to appreciate the architecture from a different perspective than as a moviegoer.

It's too bad that, ultimately, only Studio 54 was able to survive long enough to be saved. It has since reverted back to the legitmate stage and I have seen many productions there.

The pain of what was lost in New York is tempered somewhat by what we have been able to save and what can potentially be saved. We still have Radio City, The Beacon, 4 out the 5 Loews Wonder Theaters (Paradise, 175th Street, Valencia, Jersey), St. George, Beacon, Apollo, New Amsterdam, Hollywood, Ziegfeld and the Paris. In addition, there are about 2 dozen landmarked Broadway houses many of which have played films in their past. Waiting in the wings?....The Loews Kings, The Brooklyn Paramount, The Liberty and others.

No other city still has this kind of inventory (except arguably Los Angeles). That is why it is so shameful when other cities don't protect what little they have left. Philadelphia is struggling to protect its lone remaining palace, The Boyd. Most cities, have just one or two restored palaces.

In San Francisco, it's not just the Golden Gate that needs protection. There are other theaters in the neighborhood but the surrounding neighborhood is just awful. Others have said that SF is hesitant to address the homeless issue because of its liberal values and I think that's nonsense. Very few cities are more liberal than New York, and this city has cleaned up Times Square and, by law, provides shelter to the homeless which is why it is not very noticeable here. The theaters have to be able to attract clientele and it is difficult for them to do so with such aggressive panhandling and open drug use on the streets. It's a shame. I feel that if New york could do it (and it was really bad here), any city could do it!

Simon, thanks for your comments. Had I had the opportunity to have actually seen the Roxy, Capitol, Brooklyn Fox, Center, Paramount, Rivoli, Proctor's 58th Street, the list goes on and on, I would probably still be crying as well for what we have lost in New York.

Alas, my appreciation for movie palaces came later in my life when I realized, too late, how special they were and that they will never be built like this again. As it is, my appreciation for the old theaters grew back in my disco days when many of New York's best discos were in old theaters. The Saint (Loews Commodore), Palladium (Academy of Music), Studio 54 (Gallo Opera House), Xenon (Miller Theater), Club USA (The Forum). These were all beautiful theaters and I was able to appreciate the architecture from a different perspective than as a moviegoer.

It's too bad that, ultimately, only Studio 54 was able to survive long enough to be saved. It has since reverted back to the legitmate stage and I have seen many productions there.

The pain of what was lost in New York is tempered somewhat by what we have been able to save and what can potentially be saved. We still have Radio City, The Beacon, 4 out the 5 Loews Wonder Theaters (Paradise, 175th Street, Valencia, Jersey), St. George, Beacon, Apollo, New Amsterdam, Hollywood, Ziegfeld and the Paris. In addition, there are about 2 dozen landmarked Broadway houses many of which have played films in their past. Waiting in the wings?....The Loews Kings, The Brooklyn Paramount, The Liberty and others.

No other city still has this kind of inventory (except arguably Los Angeles). That is why it is so shameful when other cities don't protect what little they have left. Philadelphia is struggling to protect its lone remaining palace, The Boyd. Most cities, have just one or two restored palaces.

In San Francisco, it's not just the Golden Gate that needs protection. There are other theaters in the neighborhood but the surrounding neighborhood is just awful. Others have said that SF is hesitant to address the homeless issue because of its liberal values and I think that's nonsense. Very few cities are more liberal than New York, and this city has cleaned up Times Square and, by law, provides shelter to the homeless which is why it is not very noticeable here. The theaters have to be able to attract clientele and it is difficult for them to do so with such aggressive panhandling and open drug use on the streets. It's a shame. I feel that if New york could do it (and it was really bad here), any city could do it!

Golden Gate Theater photo

There's no bums in front of it!

It might have been their day off, or they all headed to the liquor store when the photo was taken.

:-)

While ordering tickets online the other day to the upcoming "Monty Python's Spamalot" at the Golden Gate, I noticed that SHN has a dusk view of the Golden Gate on their site, and it looks like the letters on the Golden Gate vertical signs are lit. This may be just a photoshop job. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether neon has indeed (rightfully) returned to the letters on the Golden Gate's verticals? I will likely not be by the theatre until we see that show in May, and I'm itching to know if it was just a bit of photoshop wizardry fulfilling my wishful thinking, or if indeed this refurbishment has very recently been done. I do know that plans are underway to refurbish the whole office block portion of the Golden Gate. I hope the signs can be part of that. I would not complain at all if the letters "SHN" were placed in the blank spaces at the top where "RKO" was once written.

1973 Photo

1983 Photo

took some pics last weekend, my fave is the descending/ascending windows balconies...did not see any neon but the spamalot run had not started yet and the theater was "dark"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26541422@N04/sets/72157617796813996/

Hello,
I first stepped foot in the Golden Gate to see a sit down production of ANNIE in 1981 when I was 12. It was magical to me. I was not aware of how bad the area was because we got out of a cab right in front of the theater. That was my first experience inside a big theater like that and I have vidid memories of it. We sat in the front of the Loge seating area. Not many theaters have a section that uses that title. In New York that area is always called Front Mez. I didn't know it was built as a movie theater primarily, but obviously it was built to allow for live stage shows because it handles all the biggest touring Broadway shows. I guess it was due to the popularity of Vaudeville that so many movie palaces were built as full stage theaters. Over my teen years I returned to the Golden Gate often to see other musicals and the area was always bad. I'm amazed that nothing has been done to clean it up since other areas not far away are pretty nice.

I don't know whether the marquee and the vertical are supposed to be brown, but they sure look that way. The interior is also dreary despite some good architectural points. What a difference a creative paint job would do. The place is really depressing, no matter how lively or colorful any stage presentation might be.

The paint job is a product of what was otherwise a fine late 1970s refurbishing and partial restoration. Those were the colors of the times. Before the refurbishing, the vertical signs were painted in aqua, white, and yellow, and perhaps more. There was neon on both them and the marquee. Originally, all that signage was a darker scheme, but I've only seen black and white photos, so I don't know what the original colors were. The 1920s interior colors had long ago been painted over in a flat pastel scheme--I believe in the 50s. I agree that the Golden Gate is long overdue for a fine 1920s repainting throughout, of the sort that a company like Evergreene Decorative Painting does so perfectly. (no, I don't work for them, but have seen many examples of what they've done in theatres)

Regarding the whole issue of how lousy the neighborhood is around the Golden Gate: I can't resist summarizing the reson in a nutshell. The "City That Knows How" has become "The City That Deliberates." And as for Mayor Christopher and the Fox, well, there hasn't been a Republican mayor since. 'Nuff said. (not that Democrats have exactly been the answer to the city's prayers, either)