Uptown Theatre

2101 Sutter Street,
San Francisco, CA 94115

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.

Firms: Fabre & Hildebrand

Styles: Art Deco, Atmospheric, Mission Revival

Previous Names: New Alcazar Theatre, Republic Theatre, Sutter Theatre, Lloyd Downton's Uptown Theatre,

Nearby Theaters

Uptown Theatre exterior

Located on the southwest corner of Sutter Street and Steiner Street. Opened in 1908 as the New Alcazar Theatre with a Mission Revival style. It was remodeled in 1930 in an Atmospheric/Art Deco style. The Uptown Theatre was closed in 1970. The building was ‘To Lease’ in September 1977, but was demolished in 1978.

Contributed by William Gabel

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

William
William on August 5, 2011 at 1:50 pm

You can see the marquee near the start of the film “The Last Waltz” (1978). The full concert and Thanksgiving dinner was held at Bill Graham’s Winterland arena.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 16, 2011 at 7:45 am

This list of San Francisco theaters and dancehalls has the following timeline for the Uptown Theatre:

New Alcazar 1908-1911; 1912-1925 Republic; Sutter 1926; Uptown 1930-1970
The August, 1931 issue of Architect and Engineer had two interior photos of the Uptown Theatre: two interior photos of the Uptown The first shows the staircase to Mezzanine, and the second (scroll down) the Spanish-atmospheric auditorium. The architects of the Uptown were Fabre & Hildebrand.

robertcampbell
robertcampbell on March 14, 2013 at 5:14 pm

The Uptown, in my opinion, was San Francisco’s first luxurious dirty movie theater. The center curved section of the marquee had a painted glass overlay that read “movies for mature swinging adults”. Winterland next door was thriving with great rock bands, with the Uptown getting many customers after the concerts. It was said that a undercover check revealed “leud conduct” in the balcony and they raided the place. The operators lost their appeals on obsenity charges and the City shut the Uptown down. I don’t remember if it reopened after that.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 2, 2017 at 1:22 am

June 6, 1972 photo & copy added courtesy of George A. Dibble III‎.

Crowd for the 2nd Rolling Stones show lining up in front of the Uptown Theater, across from Winterland at Steiner & Sutter. I had just come out of the first show. Stevie Wonder was the warm up.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 29, 2018 at 1:22 pm

Opened as the New Alcazar on March 18th, 1907. Ad in the photo section.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 31, 2018 at 1:31 pm

March 1st, 1930 grand opening ad as Uptown in the photo section.

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