This theater opened in 1916 as part of the Grauman chain. It changed hands shortly thereafter and would change hands again in 1925 and 1939. The West Side Theater Company operated the Strand from 1940-1977. With the advent of television in the 1950's and Market Street starting to decline in the 1960's, the attendance at the theater dropped (along with a change in the audience). Programming was triple bills, changed daily, with nightly bingo games.
Mike Thomas and a partner bought the Strand in 1977. (Thomas would also acquire and operate several other Market Street theaters around this time: the Warfield, the Crest, and the Embassy. He would later start up the independent film distributor Strand Releasing.) Thomas redid the theater and hired security to help clear out undesirables. In June 1977, Thomas reopened the Strand with a revival of the Howard Hughes production of The Outlaw (which premiered originally down the street in 1943 at the United Artists Theater aka the Market Street Cinema). The show sold out and the Strand would become a well-known venue for revival cinema. Occasionally, celebrities such as Lana Turner, Sophia Loren, Mae West, and Rudy Ray Moore would make appearances. The Strand also became a popular venue for midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
The mid-1980's took a toll on the Strand. Home video took a bite into the revival theater business. Market Street would decline further. Then the Oct 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake would cause the Strand to close temporarily. (Its neighbor, the Embassy, wasn't so lucky, as it was too damaged to reopen.) When the Strand reopened, it was sold to Silver Screen Amusements. (Thomas would still book the theater.)
In June 1994, the Strand closed, only to reopen weeks later as a porn theater showing projected video. The theater deteriorated even further as it became a haven for crack dealers and hookers. Finally, in early 2003, the city of San Francisco would raid the theater and shut it down for good. This was also the end to theaters that showed movies on Market Street.
Contributed by scottfavareille
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(The Empress was down the street about three blocks, opened in 1910,
and was later known as the Strand (but not THIS Strand), and
was permanently renamed the St. Francis in 1925. It closed in 2000.)
The Strand we are dealing with here opened October 27, 1917 as the JEWEL, and was re-named the SUN on January 24, 1920, and then the COLLEGE on August 14, 1920. It became the FRANCESCA on November 5, 1921, and (finally) the STRAND in 1928.
Contrary to the above comments, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Sophia Loren did not appear there. They all appeared at the WARFIELD,a different theatre entirely, q.v.
However, under the auspices of Mike Thomas, Jane Russell did indeed appear for a presentation of The Outlaw, & Carroll Baker did likewise for a revival of Baby Doll.