Empire Cinema
85 West Portal Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94127
85 West Portal Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94127
7 people
favorited this theater
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
Thanks Slevin for the up date info on the Empire Theatre San Francisco. I only go to the large Theatre #1 downstairs. The two tiny up stair old balcony theatres did finaly add Stereo. Can you imagine the Syufy’s Century guys ran the place mono up stairs till just 2 years ago. And they mounted the up stairs projectors down so they didn’t move and shake. They no longer book just art films but everything else. Also they no longer close the curtain in the main theatre. The Syufy’s Century people or is it Cinemark now have no use for any showmanship at the theatres they run that still have curtains that work. A year ago a manager candy type person told me that they don’t close the curtain because they don’t wan’t it to get stuck like what happend on a Saturday night once. Please bring in some curtain people and oil it up! At least the Syufy’s didn’t chop up the downstairs in the middle like they have done at some of the Domes in San Jose. Good news the great Mexican restaurant is still open across and up a little; they are closed on Mondays. Have dinner and a drink and check out Theatre #1 at the Empire. They still have day time showing’s as many SF Landmark Art Theatres only open in the late afternoon or early eve on the weekdays now. Tell them to fix the curtain with all the $ they make from popcorn and drink sales. Even Landmark’s Bridge Theatre in SF has a great little curtain that opens very slow and now has digital projection. Time for the SF Empire to go into remodel again. Look up at the ceiling in Theatre #1 and see the old brown paint coming off from the last paint job they tried to cover over some old vents or lights. The seats are new in Theatre #1 and nice with cupholders and plenty of leg room. The leg room upstairs in Theatre #2 and #3 is not so great if your a tall person.
As noted above, Irving Morrow and William Garren were the architects. They were not major players in the local theatre scene. I know of only one other theatre by them: the San Mateo (1925), the first Art Deco theatre in the US, and maybe the first Deco building of any kind. Morrow, better known as a critic than as an architect, went on to better things: he is generally credited with the detailing on the Golden Gate Bridge. His wife, Gertrude Comfort Morrow, also an architect, is alleged to have suggested the “International Orange” color. For pix of some of her residential work, see the Arcadia book on West Portal.
An early drawing of the whole site, which extended to the exit alley on West Portal, shows a courtyard in place of the lobby and the stage at the Vicente St. end. The entrance should have been on the corner, but that would have entailed more excavation than the developers were willing to pay for.
Of all the theatres my family was asssociated with over 80 years, the Empire is the only one still showing movies. A couple of years ago I was in it for the first time since 1974. Aud. 1 is passable; the rest is dreck.
The theatre is a hideous inside and out. The triplexing is a travesty. They might as well tear it down
This is a December 2007 night view.
Here is a photo from the opening in 1926:
http://tinyurl.com/ytjjjc
1980 Photo
1987 Photo
The 1970 renovation mentioned by Slevin in a comment above was designed by architect Bernard G. Nobler, according to an item in Boxoffice of March 2, 1970.
Per my visit today, maximum seating capacity for screens 1, 2, and 3 are 295, 158, and 152, respectively, totaling 605 seats.
I’ve posted information and photos from a recent visit here.
Finally made it out here for a showing back in November of 2011. It was a Sunday and I shelled out the dough for “Puss N Boots in 3D”. Wow, I need to agree with the above poster that the triplexing is a travesty.
One of the more bizarre set ups of a theatre I had been in. I was concerned how the 3D would work with this odd seating configuration, but it was fine. Bit of sticker shock too $14 for a 3D movie on Sunday night.
Going to this theatre was something to knock off my to-do list. I did it and was glad to get it out of my system.