Alhambra Theater

Did see the inside of this theater recently on a news station & it looks like a nice renovation was done.

Other notes: The theater was twinned in the 1970's and then a few years before it closed as a theater, it was re-converted back to single screen. Blumenfeld ran this theater in the later years.

When the Alhambra Theatre was a single screen it seated 1625 people.

I'm afraid to look, since it has recently been converted into a HEALTH CLUB!!!! An amazingly enjoyable theater for film. I only hope we can reclaim it one of these days.

I saw the last showing of "Wag the Dog" on the closing night of the Alhambra. After the film ended they turned on the houselight. Unfortunately it looked as though the restoration that had been done for the "Roger Rabbit" reopening had already begun to age. During the restoration (back to a single screen theatre) part of the orginal proscenium was revealed behind another renovation and the results can be seen in the above photo. On foggy damp nights its minarets glowed beautifully. For "Roger Rabbit" a new sound system was installed - the theatre had great accoustics.

The biggest problem the Alhambra had was parking. I think in later years it would have been more successful if parking hadn't been so difficult. What a beautiful neighberhood movie palace. Its marquee is still a delight.brucec

Will the health nut idiots ever be kicked out and it be converted back to a theatre? Roger Rabbit was a great movie, must of been great in this theatre.

I live two blocks from the Alhambra Theater and am thrilled that it has been preserved -- albeit as a health club. However, for those of you not in the area, I want to assure you that the conversion was extremely sensitive. In fact, the theater could easily be converted back to its original use with a very high percentage of its original detail in place. It is a delight to walk past the theater at night as it lights up the neighborhood. Its red minarets and marquee are a real focal point. And it is even a pleasure to work out in the club. As a preservationist, I would much rather see this kind of adaptive re-use of theaters than the out-and-out closure and demolition that has been the fate of so many great theaters in San Francisco and beyond. I attended one movie at the Alhambra one week after moving to San Francisco in 1997 -- Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. While it was a thrill to see the theater, it was obvious that the previous renovation was fading.

Doug,
I agree with you 100% on this sensitive conversion. In NYC too many picture palaces have been gutted for oversized drugstores and other retail venues. If only all buisness owners would take time to restore embellishments on formerly grand buildings, they would attract more custostomers who enjoy surrounding themselves in oppulence. Recently a vacant bank building in the Bronx NYC has been turned into an upscale Mexican restaurant/nightclub and it has been applauded by the community for all of the restoration work done on the elaborate grillwork, as well as the delicious food and goregeous mariachi singers in decadent costume.

The Alhambra was operating as a twin screen cinema in November 1976.

Fabulous theatre! When was it built? Does anyone know of/remember the Palace on Columbus Ave.?

I believe that this theater opened in 1926. I'm not sure of the build date. There are photos of the Alhambra Theater at the following sites. The first photo is an old one:
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8560.jpg

http://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/pics/alhambra/alhambra.html

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

I was a projectionist in San Francisco for 32 years. I did my training at the Alhambra in 1970,with Virgil Morgan. I did the day off shift there till they twined it,then I went back a few times when they put it back to a single screen. It was one of my favorite theater to work . I am glad they save most of it for the gym

Newer photos:
http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf217.asp

The Alhambra opened on November 5, 1926, was twinned in 1976, restored to a single screen in 1988. The theatre closed on February 22, 1998.

From the SF Public Library:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8551.jpg

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8552.jpg

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8563.jpg

These two photos show different Alhambra theaters in San Francisco, presumably. The first shot was taken after the 1906 earthquake.

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAC-3797.jpg

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8555.jpg

Here is an expanded version of the photo at the top of the page:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8561.jpg

Here is a link from France which shows the Alhambra after it was twinned. Click on the San Francisco page and scroll down:

http://www.silverscreens.com/main.html

I absolutely loved this theatre. I lived on Nob Hill from 1982 to 2001 and would go here when i could. I remember in 82 it was a triplex and really do not remember the interior. Can't remember what I saw, but "Dune" was playing in one of the other parts so this must have been 82 or 83. When it reverted back to a single screen, I remember seeing "Dances with Wolves" here when it first came out, so it did become a first run theatre. Saw "The Replacements" here and scores of others.

I am sooo surprised nobody mentioned the incredible ceiling. It was greenish and reddish lights in a very intricate moorish design and when the lights went down for the movie, the ceiling lights would become very faint and twinkly with a reddish and green hue. It was incredible.

I do wonder what the health club has done with it.

Aerick-You are right about the beautiful ceiling, but it was not a triplex, It was a twin.

Here are 5 photographs courtesy of the archive of the Cinema Theatre Association, UK. Taken in 1997 just prior to the closure of the Alhambra:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754690/in/photostream/
http;//flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754710/in/photostream/
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754734/in/photostream/
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754746/in/photostream/
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754763/in/photostream/

OOooops, sorry... here is the 2nd link again:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/89754710/in/photostream/

After I moved to SF in 1992, I bragged to everyone in my hometown about the Alhambra. It was a real movie palace. I loved seeing the great Disney pictures there. I even managed a showing of "Scream" at this wonderful place.
How it HURT to see it go! You just didn't have the problems with movie-going back then! No cellphones, pushy patrons, rude youth...I had the best experiences here and it made seeing a movie special! This was a HUGE loss to us movie-goers, but multiplex patrons could care less which is sad.
I miss this theater!

The Alhambra Theater was designated an official San Francisco landmark on February 21, 1996.

I walked by the Alhambra today, and it no longer Gorilla Sports. It is now being operated by Crunch Fitness. Who knows, someday it may even be a movie theater again.

My photograph of the ALHAMBRA http://www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/202076875/

I lived in the Frisco Bay area from 1971 to 1978 after moving out there from Chicago and I attended this theatre. Kinda reminds me of the great movie palaces of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

It's always society's fault:
http://tinyurl.com/sdprn

i've been planning for years to catch a movie at the Alhambra, only to see it, on the news, invaded by a horde of narcissistic healthnuts jumping around like a bunch of monkeys on meth. where is st. francis, patron saint of san francisco and the disadvantaged- which in this case are the vintage movie houses that are being robbed, raped and pillaged by ruthless real estate interests aided and abetted by an insensitve, ignorant gaggle of myopic philistines hellbent on destroying our precious cultural legacy. the 1906 earthquake did less damage to sf than the current mob of selfserving culture vultures.

In the late 1990's, while I was a doorman at the CASTRO, my son Richard worked the Concession Stand at the ALHAMBRA until the theater closed for good.
He, like everyone else before him, really loved the whole atmosphere of being there as worker or movie-goer.
Yes, now it's full of sweaty jocks but at least this historic registered movie palace has been saved... until the next bunch of money-hungry clowns enter the scene with a demolition attitude.

My father Elmer Thomas Davis worked for the Alhambra Theater in the late 20's . At that time all the first run theaters had one or more full time artists that produced beautiful posters of the upcoming attractions. They also created other lobby displays appropriate for the movie of the day. My father was a talented artist and worked for a number of theaters in this capacity in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Cleveland in the thirties. He was known as a lobby display man (per the union). I wonder what happened to all these wonderful posters that were made during this time?

Continued: In addition to painting wonderful huge posters of the old silent stars and the new talkies these artists had to be excellent lettering men. All the posters were hand lettered with the stars names, the movie title, the co-stars, the directors, etc. This was a special talent my dad had.

Here is a recent photo of Crunch Fitness.

Another photo of Crunch Fitness is here.

Here is part of a lawsuit from the early 1980s. Plaintiff lost.

On March 24, 1979, Jocelyn Vargas attended a movie, "Boulevard Nights," at the Alhambra Theatre on Polk Street in San Francisco. After leaving the theater, as she and her friends were walking down the street to catch a bus, she was shot by someone who, it is alleged, was a "member of the general public prone to violence . . . who had been attracted to said Alhambra Theatre by the showing of said violent movie . . . ." Through her mother, as guardian, she has sued various defendants, including petitioners, who are alleged to be the producers of the movie. Her mother, alleging damage for medical treatment and loss of services, is also a plaintiff. Their complaint, as relevant here, is that petitioners "knew, or should have known, that said movie was a violent movie and would attract certain members of the public to view said movie who were prone to violence and who carried weapons . . . [and] would, or were likely to cause grave bodily injury upon other members of the general public at or near the showing of said movie," but that petitioners "negligently failed to warn" Jocelyn of these facts, and "negligently failed to take sufficient steps to protect patrons," such as herself, "at and near said Alhambra Theatre." In a second cause of action, plaintiffs allege in addition that petitioners "willfully allowed the showing of said movie to the general public, knowing and thereby impliedly representing to members of the general public . . . that said movie could be viewed in safety," that they "intended that patrons, such as Jocelyn Vargas, should rely on their representations," and she did so rely, to her detriment.

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/c7woo2

1980 Photo

1986 Photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26541422@N04/sets/72157617793705514/

spent a long weekend in SF checked out a bunch of old theaters...considering how many have been demolished or are rotting away in a building for 30+ years (newark) it is fine by me to be able to wander around a theater for free even if it currently has a new purpose (like the stanley in jersey city) missing in all of the previous pictures on this site is a good view of the beautiful interior dome...enjoy...too bad i didnt get any other good ones