Warfield Theatre
982 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
982 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
11 people
favorited this theater
The Loew’s Warfield Theatre opened on April 13, 1922. Located in the Tenderloin district of downtown San Francisco. Since closing as a movie theatre in the 1970’s, it is alive and kicking as a venue for live acts and concerts.
Contributed by
William Gabel
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 65 comments)
William………… Many thanks! That was one busy theatre in the 60’s and 70’s. Believe it or not, there were times when it out-grossed the Fox Warfield.
Great history and photos, looks as if it had several different vertical signs over the years,like the double vertical and roof signs.
An interesting fact thatI have never read on C.T. that many theatres like this one,the building was just not a theatre but an office building too.Even in those days Loews and many other theatre companys knew that a theatre was not a good way to make money.The rent on the offices and storefronts paid for the buildings.When I worked for Loews it was called Loews Theatres and Realty Co.The Real Estate was where the money really came in.
The district office for National General Theatres/later Mann Theatres was just upstairs in the office building of the Fox Warfield Building. The company did a lot of storefront leases on theatres and buildings they owned.
To answer John Dereszewski’s post of Nov. 2009: Yes, Lefty O'Douls' was originally a movie theatre. It was designed by the Reid Bros. I don’t have the name handy, but it may have been called Rialto.
Gary, thanks so much for your comments. This is really a moment on CT when a bottle with a message in it is cast into the sea and actually produces a response! While there is still more work to do – the only “Rialto” in SF, at least according to CT, was actually situated in the Mission district and every one of my Google searches for Lefty O'Doul’s Geary St. address have come up empty – at least we have a lead. Hopefully, someone else will now come forward with additional information.
In addressing this, I believe that we should start from the premise that the Lefty O'Doul’s building probably began its life as a live theater venue and only converted to film in its later life. In fact, its cinema career might very well have been brief. Anyhow, let’s see what comes up.
John—
Actually, there was one other Rialto in San Francisco—briefly. The Embassy on Market St. was called that, having been the American prior to that. Up until its mid-1990s demolition, painted letters, “RIALTO THEATRE,” could be seen on the exterior auditoirum sidewall, above the roofline of the Strand Theatre, next door.
From what I have heard and read, the theatre that is now Lefty O'Doul’s was a purpose-built movie theatre, not a legit house.
From what I was told by the staff during my recent visit regarding the existence of dressing rooms and other uses in the basement associated with a legitimate theater, I believe that the Lefty O'Douls' building did begin – and perhaps even ended its theatrical life – as a non-cinematic entity. However, since most of these places did become movie theaters before moving on to other things, I am pretty sure that movies were shown there for at least a few years. But, when did this occur and what was the theater named? The plot thickens.
Back then, even purpose-built movie theaters had a little stage and a few dressing rooms, just for versatility so that would explain the existence of such.
I first heard of this theatre in the early 80s, when I read the book “Splendid Survivors” which is a catalog of San Francisco’s architecturally significant buildings. The Lefty O'Doul’s/theatre building is listed and pictured (with a then-contemporary photo) in there. I don’t have the book, I checked it out of the Santa Cruz Library, but our Theatre Historical Society Archive in Elmhurst has a copy. I was there a few weeks ago, and if I’d known of this thread then, I’d’ve looked it up!