70mm in San Francisco

Theatres equipped for 70mm:

Alexandria
-- The 2nd 70mm house in town. The Coronet was the first. 
"South Pacific" -- a 48 week run

Alhambra
-- 70 equipped after the untwinning. "Roger Rabbit" was the first show in 70. Gary Meyer comments: 

"The Alhambra installed it when they untwinned the theater for 'Roger Rabbit' but in trying to counter criticisms from the horrible twinning job, they restored the original proscenium meaning the 70mm image was very small and almost looked like 16mm in a theater that once had some of the best wide-screen presentations in the city."

Castro
-- Century JJ2s

Cinema 21

Coronet
-- The first 70 equipped house in San Francosco
"Oklahoma!" -- February 1956
"Around the World in 80 Days"
"Sleeping Beauty"
"Porgy and Bess"
"Ben-Hur"

Galaxy
-- 2 screens 70mm equipped

Golden Gate
"Khartoum"
"Gone With the Wind" -- see the American Widescreen Museum article
"2001"

Golden Gate Penthouse
-- Jack Tillmany: "The worst keystone problem I ever encountered."
"2001"- moveover
"Far From the Madding Crowd"

Kabuki
-- One screen 70mm and THX
-- Gary Meyer: 

"The Kabuki set-up for 'Hateful 8' may or may not be used for 'Dunkirk' according to projectionist Jim Cassedy who is on standby to operate it."

Metreon
-- 70mm 15 perf Imax in one house. Recent runs include "Oppenheimer," a February 2024 "Tenet" reissue and "Dune: Part 2" in February and March 2024.
-- At least one other house is 5 perf 70mm capable.

Metro

Movies ??
-- On the In70mm list

New Mission

-- Following the 2015 5-plex reopening, the main floor house had 35mm capability with Simplex XLs on Strong consoles. The machines they opened with were later swapped out for a pair of Century JJ2 35/70s. Their head technician/projectionist Jim Cassedy notes: 

 

"The New Mission has 70mm change-over projection using a pair of Century JJ's, and is also one of the few 70mm theaters that can still play 'classic' 70mm films using any of the older/obsolete 'magnetic sound' formats. The NuMish played several mag sound titles in the summer of 2023 in the weeks leading up to their 'Oppenheimer' engagement. Until the Castro re-opens, I'm pretty sure that this is the only theater in SF that has a working 35 and 70mm magnetic sound system."

Northpoint
"Lawrence of Arabia" - 1989 reissue

Orpheum
"Mad,Mad, Mad, Mad World"
"Dr. Zhivago"

Parkside
-- 70 after the 1960s renovation. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"Parkside's sound system was terrible; we joked that they got it in the bargain basement at Radio Shack."

Presidio
-- A Century JJ, which would up in auditorium #1 after the theatre was 4-plexed

Regency 1
"Rollerball"

Regency II
-- A Norelco DP 75 and a platter

Regency III / Stage Door

 Royal
-- A late install -- got a pair of Century machines from the Esquire in Sacramento.
"The Wind and the Lion"

St. Francis

-- The downstairs hous got 70mm equipment during the 1968 twinning project.  

"Sweet Charity" 

"Paint Your Wagon" - opened October 29, 1969 

 

United Artists

-- 70 installed as part of the 1959 renovation by Metropolitan Theatres.  

"Lawrence of Arabia"

"West Side Story"

"Sound of Music"

Warfield
-- Mike Thomas installed 70 there
"Star Wars" - moveover
"Close Encounters" - moveover



East Bay

Grand Lake
-- 70 both upstairs and down
"Hateful Eight" - upstairs
"Wonder Woman" - downstairs


More data and stories:

See the long thread on the BAHT Facebook page started by a question from Matt Spero: "What theatres in San Francisco were able to show films in 70mm?"

See the Red Balloon page 70mm - Capable Theatre Listing.

And don't miss the Michael Coate / William Kallay article "70mm Cinemas in San Francisco" on the site In70mm.com.

On Film Score: "35 to 70mm Oddities of the 60s-70s."

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