3630 Balboa St. |
map |
Opened: February 27, 1926, a project of Joseph L. Levin's San Francisco Theatres. The location is near 38th Ave. The photo by Nikki Collister for Hoodline appeared with their 2017 article "Citing Attendance, Richmond's Balboa Theater Reduces Special Programming"
that discussed the difficulties dealing with declining attendance and
maintenance issues in a 100 year old building. Thanks to Rob Doughty for
spotting the article.
Website: www.cinemasf.com/balboa | www.cinemasf.com/balboa/gallery
Seating: 800 initially. It now a twin with capacities of 307 and 226 for a total of 533.
Architects: Reid Brothers. Head to the bottom of the page for 12 images from the original blueprints that are in the Gary Parks collection.
A rendering of the proposed theatre from Reid Brothers, the architects. The elaborate second facade over on the left was greatly simplified in the completed project. The drawing is from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Newspaper coverage on the theatre's opening day, November 27, 1926. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the item.
A January 1928 schedule discovered in the Balboa's attic by "Projectionist Par Excellance" Jim Cassedy. His report:
"Sometime around 2007 when I was working for Gary Meyer as Balboa's 'chief projection-guy' and tracing some speaker wiring to find a ground fault, I was crawling through the attic space, above what was left of the Balboa's original plaster ceiling, now hidden by the suspended ceiling tiles which I assume were put in when they twinned the building after the 1970's fire. Although that fire was decades ago, a lot of the steel beams and stuff up there were still covered with what appeared to be some soot and ash, along with bits of burned/charred wood and other debris. Somewhere not far from the area toward the stage end of what is now Auditorium #1, I noticed what appeared to be some old newspapers.
"On closer inspection it turned out to be a small pile of what was left of some very old Balboa handbills. It was obvious from their condition that they had been there through the fire. They ones on top were charred to the point where the paper pretty much disintegrated on touch. The ones a bit further down were not as 'crispy,' but their ink had run and become illegible, from being waterlogged either by fire hoses or as a result of the Balboa's perennially leaky roof and our Richmond District dampness. But, the next to the last program in the bottom of the pile, although badly charred, was intact and somewhat legible. The program on the bottom of the stack had pretty much half dissolved into the ceiling plaster."
1948 and 1949 Balboa tickets from Jack Tillmany's collection.
"The Year's Two Worst Pictures." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the March 23, 1949 Examiner ad. He comments: "The TRUTH pays off, as long as you don't try it too often! We attended that show. The place was FULL."
A March/April 1953 calendar from the Jack Tillmany collection.
For decades the Balboa was a second run house, sometimes changing programs several times a week. All films first played Market St. and only later went to outlying theatres. As distribution patterns changed in the 60s the Balboa started enjoying longer runs of more recently released films.
After its 92 week roadshow run at the United Artists, "The Sound of Music" moved directly to the Balboa in 1966 for an extended 21 week run for a total of 113 consecutive weeks. Immediately thereafter, "Doctor Zhivago" completed its 66 week run at the Orpheum, and moved over to the Balboa for a 30 week extended run, for a total of 96 consecutive weeks. As a result the Balboa only changed its bill twice in one year.
Mike Thomas, who later went on to operate many theatres, comments:
"I was assistant manager at the Balboa back in the 60s when they were running 'Sound of Music' and 'Dr. Zhivago' off their Market St. engagements. Our presentations were roadshow, with overture and intermission but monaural sound. I don’t think anyone noticed because it was loud, rich and resonant. Wooden floor I believe. The charming interior had indirect cove lighting along the auditorium ceiling, and simple ornate plaster work similar to the lobby, all painted a sand color as I recall."
The theatre was twinned in 1978. The reopening on April 21 was with a multiple run of the iconic Joan Rivers classic "The Rabbit Test" and "Quackster Fortune" on side 1 and "Crossed Swords" and "Swashbuckler" on side 2. Jack Tillmany comments that none of these should have been taken out of the can.
Gary Meyer took over the operation in 2001 at the request of the Levin family.
A poster that was displayed in the lobby for the theatre's 77th birthday celebration in 2003. It's from Gary's collection.
"Saving the Balboa" was an article by Sam Whiting that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine on October 5, 2003. Thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing this from his collection.
A flyer for the birthday celebration in 2004. It's from Gary's collection.
Gary
Meyer in the lobby, on the left, with manager Roger Paul in a photo
taken by Chris Hardy for the Chronicle. It appeared with the January 9,
2005 article titled "A Beauty Restored."
The cover for the January - February 2005 calendar. Thanks to Gary Meyer for scanning this calendar and the many others from his collection that appear on this page.
The inside of the January - February 2005 "Noir City" flyer.
A lobby display for the Garbo Festival running in February and March 2005.
The front of the 2005 March - April calendar.
The April - May 2005 "Reel SF" lineup.
The front of the May to July 2005 calendar. It's from Gary's collection.
The cover of the August to October 2005 calendar.
The October - December 2005 cover.
The November 2005 "Sin in Soft Focus" lineup. Thanks, Gary!
The cover of the January - February 2006 calendar.
Part of the inside of the February - March 2006 calendar.
A flyer for the 80th Birthday celebration in 2006. It's from Gary Meyer's collection.
The front of the March - April 2006 calendar.
Part of the April 2006 "Reel SF" lineup.
The May and June 2006 calendar from the Gary Meyer collection.
The listings for the June 2006 Karloff retrospective. Thanks to Gary Meyer for scanning the copy of this that's in his collection. He comments: "Karloff's daughter Sara came several nights to the Karloff tribute which she told me was the biggest series ever done about her father. I was very proud of that one."
A flyer for the 2009 screening of "The Creature Walks Among Us." It's from Gary Meyer's collection.
Gary's decision to leave the Balboa was covered in "
Gary Meyer leaving Balboa Theatre," a July 21, 2011 SF Gate story by Peter Hartlaub that included six photos. Hartlaub's story:
"Balboa Theatre operator Gary Meyer said Wednesday that this summer will be his last at the Richmond District movie house, leaving the future of the scrappy independent theater in doubt. The news comes as the Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco is in its last week of screenings, one of several locally owned theaters in the Bay Area that have closed in recent years. Meyer, a co-director of the Telluride Film Festival, said his duties there have made it difficult to continue as owner of the Balboa.
"The decision was expedited by the need for a $200,000 digital conversion, after a National Association of Theatre Owners executive said in a speech this year that film prints of movies might not be available in a couple of years. 'I can't rationalize doing that. Maybe somebody else can,' Meyer said. 'I made the decision that in mid-August I will be giving up the theater. My hope is that the theater will survive.' The two-screen theater at 3630 Balboa St. has offered an eclectic community-friendly mix of movies in recent years, with first- and second-run films, but also repertory programming, events and appearances. Next week, the magic documentary 'Make Believe' is playing, with magicians performing live before some of the shows. Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton also comes to the Balboa next week.
"The uncertain future is a special concern for moviemakers who depend on the theater's dedication to eclectic programming. Filmmaker Tom Wyrsch is finishing a documentary about the Sutro Baths, which he wants to screen at the Balboa. 'I hope it stays and I hope it continues to serve the community,' said Wyrsch, whose 'Remembering Playland' documentary enjoyed a successful five-month run at the Balboa two years ago. 'It would be a shame if they're not there ... turn it into a damn Laundromat or something.'
"The Balboa opened in 1926, and was operated until 2001 by the Levin family, which still holds the lease, which, in turn, they granted to Meyer. The theater was remodeled after fires in the 1940s and 1970s. After the latter blaze, the single-screen theater was split in two. Meyer, who had co-founded the Landmark Theatre chain before leaving in the 1990s, took over the Balboa in February 2001. He started out running double features, switched to repertory programming and in recent years has mixed first-run films with special events. The theater's owners, listed in city records as Lanton and Julianne Lee, couldn't be reached for comment.
"Meyer said his lease allows him to walk away from the theater, but he's working to help find someone to take his place. 'I have reached out and gotten intrigued interest,' Meyer said. 'It needs to be taken a step further.' Film publicist Karen Larsen, who has had several clients screen films at the Balboa, pointed to the success of the Roxie Theater in the Mission District, where a young couple with a lot of energy have revitalized the theater. She also pointed to the location of the Balboa, which is in a lesser-traveled section of the city. 'It's a cute little theater,' Larsen said. 'Sometimes when we open a film there, we wonder "Who's going to go?"'
"Meyer said he thought the same thing when he took over the Balboa, but has been pleasantly surprised. He says the theater does OK, and in the right hands could turn a profit. Still, Meyer said, he gets the feeling that some of the theater's biggest fans are making other plans. He'll run into people who say they love the Balboa, and then acknowledge the last film they viewed there was 'The Best of Youth' - which screened several years ago. 'If there's a message for people, it's "Don't take your neighborhood theater for granted,"' he said. 'They really need you to be paying attention to them if they're going to survive.'"
Adam Bergeron's San Francisco Neighborhood Theatre Foundation assumed the management in 2011. Their lease from the Levin family runs until 2024. The SFNTF also operates the
Vogue Theatre and the
4 Star.
"SF Neon and Noir" in 2015. Thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing the image.
Status: Alive and more or less surviving as a two screen first-run operation.
See "Trio of SF indie movie theaters need #100K to keep doors open," Marcus White's March 2023 story about the Balboa, Vogue and 4 Star for the Examiner. Heather Knight discussed Cinema SF and specifically the 4 Star's financial problems in her March Chronicle article "S.F. cinema lovers gambled on bringing back a neighborhood movie house. It’s not going well."
Marcus White had a wrap on the fundraising with his March 29, 2023 Examiner story "3 indie theaters get $100K boost to keep film reels rolling in SF." Adam Bravo had an upbeat take in his May 2023 Datebook article "S.F. is one of the best cities in the world. Need a reminder? Just go to the movies."
Showtime at the Balboa: A one and a half minute trailer about trash and cell phone use shot at the theatre is on YouTube.
Thanks to Terry Wade for sending it along. Long time projectionist Jim
Cassedy is featured as the guy eating his popcorn with his cell phone
on.
Jim reports:
"Some time around 2010-11 a couple of Balboa Theater employees decided to make a 'policy video' to discourage people from bringing in outside snacks & using cell phones. They asked me to be in it. All I remember is that we spent all night doing this, and the scene I'm in wasn't shot till 3 or 4 in the morning, after which I got soaked to the bone walking home in a torrential downpour and caught a cold that lasted the rest of the week. Ah Choo!
"Quite frankly, I thought the finished product sucked, for a variety of reasons. I know they were still using it as of a couple of years ago because one day I was on the bus and I noticed a couple seemed to be staring at me. When I looked back at them, they said 'We saw you last night.' For a moment, I nearly froze, because I knew where I was and what I was doing the previous evening, and I didn't think anybody had seen me. (Don't Ask!) Fortunately they explained themselves and I breathed a sigh of relief."
Lobby views:
A 2018 look in from the entrance doors from John Grant on the Facebook
page "I Grew Up in SF's Richmond District.." Thanks to Bob Talley for
spotting it for a share on the
BAHT Facebook page.
Another view from the entrance. This one's by Pawel on
Yelp.
A 2011 shot of Lizzy Compean taking a call at the bar. It's one of five photos by Liz Hafalia for the Chronicle that appeared with "
Gary Meyer leaving Balboa Theatre," Peter Hartlaub's July 21 SF Gate article. They note: "She grew up in the neighborhood and remembers her dad bringing her to the theater on her birthdays."
A closer look at the Ten-O-Win wheel seen on the right in the previous photo. It's a 2011 photo by Liz Hafalia for the Chronicle that appeared with "
Gary Meyer leaving Balboa Theatre," Peter Hartlaub's July SF Gate article that year.
Thanks to Andra Young for spotting this shot on Hoodline and including it with seven other Balboa views in an August 2020 post on the BAHT Facebook page.
A 2021 view of the augmented memorabilia collection. Thanks to TJ Fisher for sharing his photo on the
BAHT Facebook page. He visited the theatre when it reopened in May after Covid restrictions had been eased. He commented: "The Balboa looks fantastic! Everything got a deep clean during the 400+ days indoor movies were suspended."
A Hoodline photo that was spotted by Andra Young and included in her
August 2020 post on the BAHT Facebook page. Thanks, Andra!
A view toward the entrance from Pawel W. on
Yelp. It appeared with a 2017
Hoodline
article.
Another look back toward the entrance. Photo: TJ Fisher - May 2021
The lobby during the August 2022 Godzilla Fest. It's a photo from theatre operator Adam Bergeron that Gary Meyer shared in a post on the
BAHT Facebook page.
Auditorium photos: No photos have surfaced of the auditorium before the twinning. Gary Meyer, who took over the management around 2001, notes that he's never seen any. The original blueprints do exist, in the collection of Gary Parks. He notes:
"What’s interesting about the blueprints is that they show that the auditorium ceiling was perfectly flat, which was really unusual. Typically, Reid Bros. did vaulted or domed ceilings. Also, the concrete pillars which are painted blue-gray and divide the present soundfolded wall surfaces were just as they are today—exposed concrete, painted. They did have plaster ornamental capitals on them though. The proscenium and organ grilles were somewhat similar to those in the Amazon, and Roosevelt (York)."
Auditorium #1, house left. Thanks to Terry Wade for the photo. Head to the
Cinema Treasures page about the Balboa for 53 photos that he shot in 2019.
Auditorium #2, house right. This is the larger of the two. Photo: Terry Wade - 2019
Booth stories: Projectionist Jim Cassedy made another attic discovery:
"I found a number of empty beer bottles from The Rainier Brewing Company (here in SF), which according to some info printed on the labels, as well as other info I found online, I was able to date back to right after Prohibition ended in 1933. Based on their location in the ceiling, (right inside an attic access hatch which opened into the projection room), I can only assume that they were tossed up there long ago by some brew-thirsty projectionist."
Gary Meyer notes:
"In the booth for auditorium #2 (the lower booth) you can see the original ornamental wall at ceiling molding and the design around the ceiling light fixture. You can get above the lowered ceilings from the upstairs booth."
More exterior photos:
The theatre is seen on the far left running the 1938 release "The Lady Vanishes." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the photo on a
Market Street Railway Facebook post.
A
1941 look at the theatre running "Four Mothers" with Claude Rains and
Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane. "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum," a
1940 release, completed the bill. The photo, from OldSF.org, appears on the Balboa Theatre Facebook page.
A 1949 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection of a billboard for the Balboa. He comments:
"Once upon a time all the major first run venues and even some of
the nabes, such as New Mission and New Fillmore, promoted their films
with colorful 24-sheet billboards, maintained by Foster & Kleiser,
at high visibility locations all over the City, in the days when there
was an abundance of such vacant lots, which, before they were 'developed,' provided no other source of revenue
for their owners.
"Lesser nabes opted for 6 sheet boards, promoting split week
programs, of 2nd and 3rd run programs, located nearer the actual site
of the venue, such as this May 1949 example, on the NW corner of Geary
Blvd. & 33rd Avenue, announcing the Balboa's Sunday-Monday-Tuesday double feature. [which, believe it or not, I actually recall seeing there, on Sunday afternoon!] This one's particularly interesting because the adjoining board,
partially cut off on the right side of the photo, announces the opening
of El Rancho Drive-In Thursday 26 May 1949. 'Letter
to Three Wives' was very popular at the time, and has since become
recognized as a classic of its era. The less said about 'Whiplash' the
better. Both of them are now frequent flyers on Turner Classic Movies."
A December 16, 1956 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. The theatre was running "Toward the Unknown" and "The Best Things in Life Are Free." Jack
comments:
"We lived on 26th Avenue & used to go to the Balboa most Sunday
afternoons. It was a nice walk, and saving 15 cents on the streetcar
meant a box of popcorn. Rail
service on Line B would end two weeks after the photo was taken."
A detail from the 1956 photo. Thanks to Jack for sharing it in a post on the
BAHT Facebook page.
"Goldfinger" and "Robin and the Seven Hoods" running in 1964. Many thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing this photo from his collection.
An
August 1964 look at the theatre running "Tom Jones." It's an Alan J.
Canterbury photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection. The photo also appears on the Balboa Theatre Facebook page.
Thanks
to Robert Muller for spotting this 1969 photo by Tom Gray on the Lost San Francisco Facebook page. The Jack Tillmany
collection photo appears on a Western Neighborhoods Project page. "Wild in the Streets" was out in May 1968.
A 1969 photo by Clay Geerdes. "True Grit" was a June release. Thanks to David Miller for sharing it on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. Thanks to Kevin Walsh for spotting the post.
This 1972 view of the
theatre appears on the Facebook page Growing Up In San Francisco's Western Neighborhoods. The photo, credited to the San Francisco Public Library, also appears with a 2015 story on the UpOut blog about San Francisco's remaining historic movie theatres The twinning of the Balboa happened in 1977 and 1978. Jack Tillmany has the story:
"The single screen Balboa closed, as a result of a fire, in mid-September 1977. They would have been showing an interesting revival of 'War of the Worlds' and 'When Worlds Collide.' I could find no mention of the fire in the Chronicle. Their last ads were Friday-Saturday-Sunday, all of which had to have been placed at least 3 days earlier. The deadline for Sunday was Tuesday, the deadline for Monday was Thursday. There was no ad Monday
or afterwards, so the fire may have occurred sometime in the middle of
the preceding week. Maybe it was mentioned in the Examiner or elsewhere.
Maybe not.
"It re-opened, with no fanfare, as a twin on Friday 21 April 1978,
with a citywide multiple run of one of the what was expected to be one
of the season's big successes, 'The Rabbit Test,' the story of the world's
first pregnant man, written and directed by Joan Rivers. Anticipation ran high for this one, so it opened simultaneously at
the Balboa, New Mission, Empire, Alhambra, Serramonte 6, and Geneva
Drive-In and at 22 suburban sites, also listed in the ad. [Running stuff like this in order to fill screens was just one more
plus of multi-plexing, since all of the above, except for New Mission,
were multiple screened by this time.] Sadly, I missed it. So did most people. Just about everybody, in fact.
"Obviously, there was no need for a second feature, but the Balboa
was not niggardly in giving its patrons maximum return for their box
office dollars, and backed it up with a re-run of the cult favorite
'Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx' (1970), so how could they
lose? 'Crossed Swords' and 'Swashbuckler' provided enough racket on Side Two to keep patrons awake on Side One, both of them."
An April 1974 photo. Thanks to Jack for sharing it in a post on the
BAHT Facebook page. He comments: "Muni 3340, in service on Line 38. The Balboa was still a single screen theatre, offering Glenda Jackson's Academy Award winning performance in 'Touch of Class.' Photo: Frank Lichtanski, Jim Husing collection."
A look toward the entrance doors when the theatre was running "Bolt" in 2008. Thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing this from his collection.
Before and after the 2011 marquee and vertical repaint. Thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing the photos.
A 2011 photo by Liz Hafalia for the Chronicle that appeared with "
Gary Meyer leaving Balboa Theatre," Peter Hartlaub's July 21 SF Gate article. The caption: "Balboa Theatre is one of the last independent movie theaters in San Francisco in San Francisco, Calif., as long time manager Nick Campbell works on the marquee on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. The two-screen Sunset District theater, which opened in 1926, does decent business, but will be needing expensive upgrades."
Long-time projectionist Eric Goebel, who grew up in the neighborhood. The photo by Liz Hafalia appeared with Peter Hartlaub's July 21, 2011 SF Gate article.
Manager Nick Campbell with marquee letters. It's another 2011 photo by Liz Hafalia for the Chronicle that appeared with Peter Hartlaub's
July 21 SF Gate article.
"Though I've never seen photos of the interior
before twinning, the original blueprints I have show a very nice, but
typical Reid Bros. Spanish house, with
tall twisted Corinthian columns flanking the proscenium, and little
ornaments along the sidewalls. The blue-painted concrete columns we see
today between the panels of ochre soundfold were exactly the same then,
no plaster covered them. The ceiling was completely flat, though, no
vaulted surface like the Roosevelt/York or Varsity. The proscenium was
the usual graceful Reid arch, with a little filagree around it."
A 2015 photo by Eugene Kim that appeared with "Neon Dreams: 16 old theater marquees around the Bay Area," a February 2018 article on Curbed SF.
With the theatre closed due to the Coronavirus, the staff painted a mural on the boarded up front. With appropriate social distancing, of course. It's an April 2020 photo from the theatre's operators, Cinema SF. They noted that the boardup was necessary as there had been a series of break-ins along the Balboa corridor. The blackboard on the right would later get the legend saying "What movies do you want to see when we return?" Thanks to Gary Meyer for forwarding the photo.
"Bay Area movie theaters are reopening. Is it safe to go?" This shot of
the Balboa by Santiago Mejia was included with Aidin Vaziri's June 22, 2020
article for the Chronicle. Thanks to Terry Wade for spotting the article.
Thanks to Andra Young for this August 2020 photo, one of eight Balboa photos in a post on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page. She comments: "The Balboa has created the 'Balboa Popcorn Parklet' which is right outside the theatre and sells popcorn and Balboa merchandise."
Merchandise for sale at the "Balboa Popcorn Parklet." Photo: Andra Young -
BAHT Facebook page - August 2020. Thanks, Andra!
The reopened theatre in May 2021. Thanks to TJ Fisher for sharing his photo on the BAHT Facebook page.
The August 2022 2nd Annual Godzilla Fest. It's a photo from
theatre operator Adam Bergeron that Gary Meyer shared in a post on the
BAHT Facebook page.
An August 2022 Godzilla Fest shot by Gary Meyer that he shared on the BAHT Facebook page. See his post for some comments about the fun he had watching 1975's "Terror of Mechagodzilla."
A screening of "So I Married an Axe Murderer" was a fundraiser for CinemaSF.
It's an April 2023 Scott Strazzante photo taken for the Chronicle that appeared with "
S.F. is one of the best cities in the world. Need a reminder? Just go to the movies," Adam Bravo's May 2023 Datebook article.
The mural episode:
The mural that was painted on the back of the theatre in 1980 or 1981 by David Warren and others. It's a photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection. Jack comments: "Here's
the mural in all its grandeur. It eventually faded and deteriorated
badly. There's the usual sad story about its demise which I'll let
somebody else tell." It was painted over when work on the wall needed to be done in 2005. Gary Meyer tells the story:
"We spent over a year trying to find people connected with it. One guy
claimed to have helped paint but then he turned out to be a crazy who
made up lots of stories. We know that the Levins paid for the paint and
supplies bought from Crown Hardware but the store's owner at the time
had long been dead and his son knew little. Several people whose homes faced the mural begged us to get rid of it. When the time came that the wall work had to be done (to prevent the place from being shut down) we took a detailed photographic survey of the mural so that it could be used as a reference for possible recreation. A few weeks after the wall repair project started Mrs. Levin's lawyer got a call that a lawsuit was being filed by the muralist.
"I didn't know about it until after the 90ish Mrs. Levin had agreed to a very large cash settlement. We could have redone the mural for less than she paid and put the balance towards other improvements. It turns out she was one of several people who worked on it and may have had some design input. I could never get a straight answer
as to when it was painted. She claimed to be an art professor at SF State but when I looked into
it she was a teacher's assistant. She lived in Alameda and claimed to
have drawings and other materials. I said I'd love to see them and
create a permanent or temporary lobby exhibit with them and the photos.
She did not want me to come to her house so we met for lunch in SF but
she conveniently forgot to bring her work. She agreed to it all, went back to her home in Alameda and was never heard from again despite many attempts by me to keep the project going. I wonder what paradise she moved to with her winnings?"
Gary Parks adds:
"From
what I
was told, at the time the Balboa was due for repainting,
ownership/management did all sorts of due diligence in trying to locate
the muralist, who's name was on the mural,
as it was something that they wanted to preserve, but needed to be
redone, as concrete needs periodic repainting, especially when one has
salt air and wind to contend with in that part of town. The individual
in question did not surface, so, after a time, with reluctance, the
mural was painted over. AFTER that, all of a sudden, the muralist
contacted the theatre, understandably upset. It's a classic case of
'Where were you when the page was blank?' As a some-time muralist
myself, I have witnessed three of my works obliterated by subsequent
business or property owners. In those three cases, the murals lasted a
very brief time, but I got my fee upon completion, and took photos, and
that's all an artist can expect. The creator of this whimsical tribute
to Playland and the neighborhood can rest assured that her work was
enjoyed for many years--which is more than I can say for a few of mine."
John Law discusses the artist:
"David Warren painted the mural on the backside of the Balboa Theater in 1980 or 81...Chris [de Monterey] worked on it a bit with David at the time. I remember stopping by a couple of times while he was painting it...Regardless of whatever the aesthetic value of the mural at the Balboa may or may not have been, David was nothing if not a true and powerfully eccentric San Francisco character. According to Chris, David signed the mural 'R.J. Mololopozy.' This was one of David’s many stage names, including Irving Glikk, Flammo LeGrande, etc. David was indeed an afflicted alcoholic. With that said, over the course of his life he accomplished quite a bit, despite his never terribly plush checkbook.
"During his first marriage, while living in Florida, David and his wife were heavily involved in the Federal Head Start Program. David was vocally pro integration at a time when that was not a very popular stance. Upon returning to the San Francisco area, David started a thing called Playland Research Corporation through which he did his best to collect and archive Playland memorabilia. Much of this went to Dick Tuck at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach. David was instrumental in a handful of local historical projects, including rescuing the windmills in Golden Gate Park, and restoring and operating, along with Chris de Monterey, the Giant Camera at the Cliffhouse. Their tenure at the Camera was over 20 years. It was their effort to include the holograms. David inspired generations of artist show and film makers and the like.
"Among his other notable activities I must include his involvement in Communiversity, the long lived 'free' school that came out of SF State in the late 60s. David along with three others was the cofounder of the San Francisco Suicide Club. This group is now regarded as a major progenitor of flash mobs, urban exploration, culture jamming, and any number of other (sub)cultural activities. In my book, Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society, David is noted for these and other of his activities. David was a fire eater among other talents. He ignited the Burning Man figure the last year on Baker Beach 1989 and the first year that it burned on the Black Rock Desert, 1990. David’s papers are in the possession of me Steve [Mobia] and Chris. They will eventually be housed in special collections libraries at either Stanford, Nevada Museum of Art or some other suitable institution. I’ve been in negotiations with archivists at these institutions they are hoping to house this history...I’m telling you all of this, to point out for your edification who David Warren was and why he is important to the history of the Richmond District as well as the rest of the Bay Area and beyond..."
A photo by Steve Mobia. Thanks to John Law for sending it along.
A photo of the mural that appears on the Western Neighborhoods page about the Balboa courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke.
From the blueprints for the theatre that are in the Gary Parks collection:
A 38th Ave. elevation, a section through the lobby and auditorium, another auditorium section looking toward house right, and a facade elevation.
A closer look at the facade from the previous image.
A closer look at the backstage wall on 38th Ave. It's a detail from the top image.
The entrance arch separating the lobby from the auditorium.
The area to the right of the proscenium. It's a detail from the lower section seen in the first image.
An even closer look house right.
A closer look at the section through the lobby and front of the auditorium that's in the top image.
A detail of a wall section at the inner end of the lobby from the previous image.
The organ grille area left of the proscenium.
A floorplan.
Marquee and other exterior details.
A closer look at some marquee items. Thanks, Gary!
| back to top | San Francisco Theatres: by address and neighborhood | alphabetical list | list by architect | pre-1906 theatre list | home |
No comments:
Post a Comment