Paris Theatre

The Portola Theatre opened around September 1909, one of the first larger and more important theatres to be built on Market Street after the devastating fire and earthquake of April 1906. As films quickly grew in popularity it soon became a popular first run venue. But the larger and grander movie palaces that were soon to be built, particularly the 2,000-seat California/State Theatre just a few doors away (qv), soon ended the Portola Theatre’s days as a popular venue and it closed in 1928.

The building was then converted into a bus station for Gray Line Tours and so it lasted until the early-1940’s.

In 1944 it re-opened once again as a film theatre, catering to the wartime crowds that filled every Market Street theatre night and day. Its policy seemed to be to run just about anything that moved that people were willing to pay fifty cents to watch.

A six week sub-run of “The Outlaw” in early 1947 established its identity as a outlet for anything that was just not quite appropriate for mainstream houses, foreign and domestic. Titles like “Whirlpool of Desire”, “The Widow Misbehaves”, “The Foolish Virgin” and “Wages of Sin” started popping up on its marquee, and the rest, as they say, was history. Exploitation was the name of the game.

In 1957, its owner, Harry Farros, changed the name to Farros Theatre, and in 1961 it was renamed the Paris Theatre. It closed in August 1971, not for lack of business, but as part of the Market Street Redevelopment plan; it was immediately torn down.

Recent comments (view all 15 comments)

kencmcintyre on December 12, 2005 at 4:28 pm

Here are some photos of the Portola and its successor:

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kencmcintyre on December 20, 2005 at 2:24 pm

Another photo from the same source:

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kencmcintyre on January 9, 2006 at 4:24 pm

Night view, 1967:
http://206.103.49.193/sf/htm/sf287.htm

GSenda on May 12, 2006 at 6:35 am

Where the Paris stood is now the back entrance to a hotel.

The former Bank of America branch is now a Marshalls or Ross store and an atm is in the wall.

For years this site stood vacant and boarded up.

George Senda
Concord, Ca.

lostmemory on June 23, 2007 at 10:40 am

An interior view of a Portola Theater can be seen here.

lostmemory on September 7, 2007 at 6:32 pm

A Robert-Morton theater organ was installed in the Portola (Farros) (Paris) Theater in 1923.

Rodney on October 28, 2007 at 11:34 am

Adult film “FLESH and LACE” must have been quite the controversial boxoffice blockbuster for photos to be made of theatres exhibiting it. Below is a photo of the Sooner Theater (a former WB house), Oklahoma City.
OKC Sooner c1966 -
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SF Paris c1966 -
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and
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raybradley on October 28, 2007 at 1:55 pm

Other vintage views as seen beside the California (AKA-State) Theatre -
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kencmcintyre on August 27, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Here is a 1960 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/nb93uv

Joe Vogel on August 13, 2011 at 4:19 am

I’ve been unable to discover the original architect of the Portola Theatre, but the February 27, 1918, issue of Building and Engineering News said that architect Alfred Henry Jacobs had prepared plans for a $5,000 renovation of the house, to include redecoration, new marble and tile work, and some plumbing.