Strand Theatre
1127 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94103
1127 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94103
10 people
favorited this theater
This theatre opened on October 27, 1917 as part of the Grauman chain. It changed hands shortly thereafter and would change hands again in 1925 and 1939.
The West Side Theatre Company operated the Strand Theatre 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 theatre 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 Theatre in 1977. (Thomas would also acquire and operate several other Market Street theatres around this time: the Warfield Theatre, the Crest Theatre, and the Embassy Theatre. He would later start up the independent film distributor Strand Releasing.) Thomas redid the theatre and hired security to help clear out undesirables. In June 1977, Thomas reopened the Strand Theatre with a revival of the Howard Hughes production of “The Outlaw” (which premiered originally down the street in 1943 at the United Artists Theatre aka Market Street Cinema). The show sold out and the Strand Theatre would become a well-known venue for revival cinema. The Strand Theatre also became a popular venue for midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
The mid-1980’s took a toll on the Strand Theatre. Home video took a bite into the revival theater business. Market Street would decline further. Then the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake would cause the Strand Theatre to close temporarily. (Its neighbor, the Embassy Theatre, wasn’t so lucky, as it was too badly damaged to reopen.) When the Strand Theatre reopened, it was sold to Silver Screen Amusements. (Thomas would still book the theatre.)
In June 1994, the Strand Theatre closed, only to reopen weeks later as a porn theatre showing projected video. The theatre 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 theatre and shut it down for good. This was also the end to theatres that showed movies on Market Street.
Contributed by
scottfavareille
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Recent comments (view all 73 comments)
Residences possibly at the site of the Strand?
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Here’s a December 2009 photo of the outside of the Strand.
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Here is a marquee photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yesboh8
Back in San Francisco a few weeks back and I notice The Strand is still there. Is there any attempt whatsoever being made to ‘save it’? I find it curious that it hasn’t been levelled as it’s been destitute for so long.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE MEMORIES!!!! Especially those of you who included photos and the movie sheets!
I first went to the Strand in late summer early autumn ‘78. My father did not allow me to listen to rock n roll…..so my dear stoner friend Larry took me to the Strand to see Tommy. I was 15. From then until; my mid 20s I lived for the grindhouse scene on Market Street. The Strand was always my favorite…..especially weekends! Triple bills of Clint Eastwood westerns////science fiction such as Rollerball<>Logan’s Run<>Laserblast///horror movies, etc. I used to love the quadruple bills of Russ Meyer flicks and Ilsa movies. Every so often I would wander in to the wrong movie for me such as Score or Fortune and Men’s Eyes but it was all good. I remember the sneak preview of The Road Warrior was at a midnight showing there.
My friends and I always sat mid-balcony. You could smoke what you wanted and nobody harassed you. When somebody came up the stairs their heads would block part of the screen…..so a few carefully aimed M&Ms or other candy would get them seated quickly. The occasional pedophile popped up but you were safe in groups. Never had the guts to venture into the back of the balcony as it was dark and emitted strange sounds you did not want to investigate.
I keep seeing mention of a bingo nights there. Unless this was before ’78 I don’t remember any such thing. There was the Ten-O-Win wheel of fortune game and the Embassy Theater next door and that might be what everyone is mentioning.
30 something years later a lot of the movie “classics†I saw there I now own on DVD. I have grown accustomed to multi-plexes and my home theater system is second to none. Still I miss that wonderful smelly place. Someone should get Quentin Tarantino to buy the place and restore it. Something tells me he would understand.
Then I hear it. A sound from above, the second level.
“Click … click, click … click, click, click.â€
I look up. I see a haze of smoke sixty feet up hovering near the ceiling. The ceiling lights shine through the haze, creating a hellish orange glow. Then I realize what the sound is- it’s the sound of dozens of lighters firing off.
I hear a woman’s “Ahhh … ughhh … ahhh!†not from the movie, but a live voice from above. Then I hear a man’s voice: “Yeahhh take it all bitch!â€
I look up. There' s something peaking over the second floor railing above. My eyes focus. Those are a chick‘s breasts flopping over the railing. Somebody unseen is pounding her from behind. This is unrestrained chaos, blatantly defying the laws of decent civilization. I love it.
I return to the lobby. The Indian guy’s reading a magazine and doesn’t look up. Above him is a sign: “No Smoking, No Drugs, No Lewd Conduct- No Exceptions!†I walk up two flights of stairs to the upper level and push through the ratty red curtain.
I can’t see. There’s no additional lighting beyond the residual light from the movie screen below. My eyes adjust slightly, but it’s still like walking in a dark tomb. I trip on a step. The air smells different somehow, I can guess the reason, a blend of crack smoke and stale semen. I reach the top where the theater seats stop and there are two rows of metal benches like you’d find at a high school football game. In the darkness, I stumble over someone who’s on the floor with their legs sticking into the aisle. He or she doesn’t move.
“I’m very sorry, please excuse me,†I say wondering whether the legs belong to someone who’s dead or dying
It’s a day he had at the Strand. During the porno days of the theatre.
In the early 80s my primary way to visit SF was by bus, and the old Greyhound station was at 7th and Market. I mostly visited for concerts but occasionally would go to see movies at the art houses, and went to the Strand a few times. They had the best theatre calendars I can remember (which were an art form unto themselves). I hope it can be saved before it’s gone forever.
Okay, let’s reflect a moment here: looking at an old Strand schedule from Nov. of ‘78… one Sunday Nov. 25 showed a QUADRUPLE feature of Deliverance, Sorcerer, Marathon Man, and Bite the Bullet. What!?!?! AND, Lana Turner & Jane Fonda made appearances at 2 separate events at the theater!?!! Beyond incredible.
I renovated the Strand in 1977, and operated and programmed it until the late eighties. I’m appearing at Yerba Buena Center on February 16, 2012 for a screening of a film I directed (in 1968) called “Meat Rack” (which features many Market Street theatres) and hope to also talk about my experiences with the Strand. -Mike Thomas