Star Wars Episode VII will be the first attraction at the Alamo’s New Mission when it opens Dec 17. The first few days of showings are already sold out.
As I recall the last time I was in the Empire (one of the upstairs theaters – Bad Education – that’s how long ago it was) the auditorium seating was cramped and the seats not aligned properly with the screen forcing you to look somewhat towards your shoulder to see the screen. The downstairs auditorium is fine. The theater is close to the West Portal Metro station which makes it fairly easy to get to.
I was looking for photos of Hollywood in the 30’s and 40’s recently and came across this wonderful website – Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photo Collection – which has 8 pages of photos of the Chinese Theater from construction to late 1970’s:
Hi terrywade – Thanks for your comments. Somewhere in my slide collection I have a shot of manager Dan McLean onstage with the Ten-0-Win wheel. Will post it when I find it. I am still in SF, 46+ years now, and also lament the lack of movie theaters on Market St.
I recently bought a scanner and have started going through 55+ years (got my first camera at age 8) of slides and negatives to digitalize. Was surprised to come across several B&W photos I took of the Embassy’s front entrance in March 1977 and have posted 2 of them in the Photos section. Maybe someone knows the lady in the box office? I believe that the ticket taker is manager Dan McLean (who also would spin the 10-0-Win wheel at evening shows).
SF Chronicle architectural writer John King’s story (with photos) on the reopened Strand Theater. Scroll to the bottom for a 1950 photo of the marquee.
The (single screen) Hyatt Cinema never showed Cinerama films. I saw a production of South Pacific (with Mary Martin) there when it was a theater in the round in the mid 60’s. After it became a single screen theater in ‘67 or '68 I saw Doctor Zhivago there on it’s very impressive large curved screen. After it was twinned I never went back.
First copy the link. Then in the comment box here Title the link in brackets [title of link], paste link in parenthesis(paste here). Note there is no space between ](. When you click Add Comment it should turn into a live link.
According to the Chronicle story in the link I posted May 28 Alamo founder and CEO Tim League is looking for a fall 2015 opening. No exact date set yet.
This article + photos on the progress at the New Mission was published a couple of days ago in the SF Chronicle and was also in their on line edition. If the link does not work because it requires a subscription and password would someone let me know and I’ll remove this post. I have been waiting a few days to see if the Chronicle would also post this story on their free SFGate but so far has not happened.
In 1971 the Cockettes, a San Francisco hippy drag troupe, brought their show to the Anderson which turned out to be a disaster for them. From the website NoeHill, a photo of the marquee and a hand drawn playbill for Pearls Over Shanghai and their film Tricia’s Wedding both of which failed to wow the crowds:
The current name of the shopping center is Westfield San Francisco Centre. The theatre’s address on their website is 845 Market. On Fandango the address is listed as 845 Market #500.
In this morning’s SF Chronicle John King details the Mid Market push for more high-rise housing/office and the lack of esthetics of some of them. A few of the addresses sounded familiar. The project for 1066 Market (across the street from the Market St Cinema) will replace a small building and parking lot that was once the long ago demolished Paramount. The empty lot mentioned at 1125 Market is the site of the quake damaged, then demolished Embassy Theater.
2 new photos added today – one of the marquee and blade shrouded in netting and with a banner claiming a 2015 opening and the other taken from the corner of 22nd and Mission showing the changing landscape in the Mission.
Star Wars Episode VII will be the first attraction at the Alamo’s New Mission when it opens Dec 17. The first few days of showings are already sold out.
SF Gate – New Mission
As I recall the last time I was in the Empire (one of the upstairs theaters – Bad Education – that’s how long ago it was) the auditorium seating was cramped and the seats not aligned properly with the screen forcing you to look somewhat towards your shoulder to see the screen. The downstairs auditorium is fine. The theater is close to the West Portal Metro station which makes it fairly easy to get to.
I was looking for photos of Hollywood in the 30’s and 40’s recently and came across this wonderful website – Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photo Collection – which has 8 pages of photos of the Chinese Theater from construction to late 1970’s:
Chinese Theater
I’ve added 3 black and white photos taken in August 1977.
Photo taken in August 1977.
Photo taken in August 1977.
Photo taken in August 1977.
Hi terrywade – Thanks for your comments. Somewhere in my slide collection I have a shot of manager Dan McLean onstage with the Ten-0-Win wheel. Will post it when I find it. I am still in SF, 46+ years now, and also lament the lack of movie theaters on Market St.
I recently bought a scanner and have started going through 55+ years (got my first camera at age 8) of slides and negatives to digitalize. Was surprised to come across several B&W photos I took of the Embassy’s front entrance in March 1977 and have posted 2 of them in the Photos section. Maybe someone knows the lady in the box office? I believe that the ticket taker is manager Dan McLean (who also would spin the 10-0-Win wheel at evening shows).
The link above does not work. Here is a direct link:
Great Opera Houses
SF Chronicle architectural writer John King’s story (with photos) on the reopened Strand Theater. Scroll to the bottom for a 1950 photo of the marquee.
Strand
The (single screen) Hyatt Cinema never showed Cinerama films. I saw a production of South Pacific (with Mary Martin) there when it was a theater in the round in the mid 60’s. After it became a single screen theater in ‘67 or '68 I saw Doctor Zhivago there on it’s very impressive large curved screen. After it was twinned I never went back.
March 8, 1968 was the opening night of Fillmore East.
bazookadave…
First copy the link. Then in the comment box here Title the link in brackets [title of link], paste link in parenthesis(paste here). Note there is no space between ](. When you click Add Comment it should turn into a live link.
According to the Chronicle story in the link I posted May 28 Alamo founder and CEO Tim League is looking for a fall 2015 opening. No exact date set yet.
This article + photos on the progress at the New Mission was published a couple of days ago in the SF Chronicle and was also in their on line edition. If the link does not work because it requires a subscription and password would someone let me know and I’ll remove this post. I have been waiting a few days to see if the Chronicle would also post this story on their free SFGate but so far has not happened.
New Mission
Would like to add Vivian Maier’s website where more of her stunningly beautiful work can be seen:
vivianmaier.com
The comment I just made refers to Orlando’s post of 3/23/15. It was in today’s NYTimes.
Restored Furniture
In 1971 the Cockettes, a San Francisco hippy drag troupe, brought their show to the Anderson which turned out to be a disaster for them. From the website NoeHill, a photo of the marquee and a hand drawn playbill for Pearls Over Shanghai and their film Tricia’s Wedding both of which failed to wow the crowds:
Cockettes 1971
From today’s SFGate:
New Parkway
The current name of the shopping center is Westfield San Francisco Centre. The theatre’s address on their website is 845 Market. On Fandango the address is listed as 845 Market #500.
Market St Theaters
In this morning’s SF Chronicle John King details the Mid Market push for more high-rise housing/office and the lack of esthetics of some of them. A few of the addresses sounded familiar. The project for 1066 Market (across the street from the Market St Cinema) will replace a small building and parking lot that was once the long ago demolished Paramount. The empty lot mentioned at 1125 Market is the site of the quake damaged, then demolished Embassy Theater.
This theater’s status should be “open”. Gray Area has a 10 year lease on the theater and has been presenting events since May 31, 2014.
grayarea.org
3 new pictures posted.
2 new photos added today – one of the marquee and blade shrouded in netting and with a banner claiming a 2015 opening and the other taken from the corner of 22nd and Mission showing the changing landscape in the Mission.