Saw “The Sand Pebbles”, “Myra Breckinridge” and “The Exorcist” in the upstairs theatre which was called The Penthouse, in the late 60’s. An escalator had been installed from the lobby to the mezzanine. The downstairs theatre showed Cinerama films – “2001” played there for a couple of years. The last time I remember going into the downstairs theatre for a film was a double bill – “Zacharia” a rock western, was being shown on a conventional wide screen, and a sneak preview of “The Andromeda Strain” (with Hollywood bigwigs in the audience), was shown on the Cinerama screen.
I saw the last showing of “Wag the Dog” on the closing night of the Alhambra. After the film ended they turned on the houselight. Unfortunately it looked as though the restoration that had been done for the “Roger Rabbit” reopening had already begun to age. During the restoration (back to a single screen theatre) part of the orginal proscenium was revealed behind another renovation and the results can be seen in the above photo. On foggy damp nights its minarets glowed beautifully. For “Roger Rabbit” a new sound system was installed – the theatre had great accoustics.
In the late 1970’s a friend of mine and I snuck inside the empty Fox. The open side front door down near the stage provided the only light inside the cavernous auditorium. All the seats had been removed but the two big gold Buddahs that flank the stage were still standing guard and it looked like homeless people were using the stage to camp on. And now with the marquee restored it looks like the Fox will be coming back to life.
The Carlos usually showed 2nd run films after the 1st run engagements had finished in San Francisco. It also featured “kiddie matinees” on Saturday afternoons in the 50’s and 60’s. At one of those kiddie shows in the 50’s the projectionist mistakenly played the trailer for “And God Created Women” instead of the “kiddie film” for the following week. The full house of mainly kids and their mothers shreiked at the sight of all that Bardot flesh!!! Longest running film in the theatre’s history was “Goldfinger” which ran for over 2 months.
Run by Mel Novikov in the 60’s thru mid 80’s, this was a neighborhood art house and one of the Surf Theatre Group (which also included the Castro, Bridge, Clay and Lumiere). By the mid 80’s, it was one of the last of the “independant” theatres in SF and after closing became a childrens day care center. It was located just a couple of blocks from Ocean Beach.
Saw “The Sand Pebbles”, “Myra Breckinridge” and “The Exorcist” in the upstairs theatre which was called The Penthouse, in the late 60’s. An escalator had been installed from the lobby to the mezzanine. The downstairs theatre showed Cinerama films – “2001” played there for a couple of years. The last time I remember going into the downstairs theatre for a film was a double bill – “Zacharia” a rock western, was being shown on a conventional wide screen, and a sneak preview of “The Andromeda Strain” (with Hollywood bigwigs in the audience), was shown on the Cinerama screen.
I saw the last showing of “Wag the Dog” on the closing night of the Alhambra. After the film ended they turned on the houselight. Unfortunately it looked as though the restoration that had been done for the “Roger Rabbit” reopening had already begun to age. During the restoration (back to a single screen theatre) part of the orginal proscenium was revealed behind another renovation and the results can be seen in the above photo. On foggy damp nights its minarets glowed beautifully. For “Roger Rabbit” a new sound system was installed – the theatre had great accoustics.
In the late 1970’s a friend of mine and I snuck inside the empty Fox. The open side front door down near the stage provided the only light inside the cavernous auditorium. All the seats had been removed but the two big gold Buddahs that flank the stage were still standing guard and it looked like homeless people were using the stage to camp on. And now with the marquee restored it looks like the Fox will be coming back to life.
The Carlos usually showed 2nd run films after the 1st run engagements had finished in San Francisco. It also featured “kiddie matinees” on Saturday afternoons in the 50’s and 60’s. At one of those kiddie shows in the 50’s the projectionist mistakenly played the trailer for “And God Created Women” instead of the “kiddie film” for the following week. The full house of mainly kids and their mothers shreiked at the sight of all that Bardot flesh!!! Longest running film in the theatre’s history was “Goldfinger” which ran for over 2 months.
Run by Mel Novikov in the 60’s thru mid 80’s, this was a neighborhood art house and one of the Surf Theatre Group (which also included the Castro, Bridge, Clay and Lumiere). By the mid 80’s, it was one of the last of the “independant” theatres in SF and after closing became a childrens day care center. It was located just a couple of blocks from Ocean Beach.