The Pix Theatre

938 Market St. | map |

Opened:  April 4, 1946 in former retail space in the Garfield Building. It was on the north side of the street just east of Mason. Down the block to the east were the Esquire and Telenews.

This photo from the Open SF History Project was taken in July 1946 when the Pix was running "Li'l Abner" along with a "Big Cartoon Carnival." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the photo in the collection. He comments: "A rainy but happier time, when the newborn Pix was just 3 months old. Nobody in those days would ever have believed what would happen to Market Street!" At the time of the photo Market St. still had four sets of tracks.

Seating: 280

Architects: Vincent G. Raney designed the theatre for Robert Lippert. The Garfield Building is a 1907 design by the Reid Brothers.

 

An April 4, 1946 ad for the new theatre offering "Riding on Air" with Joe E. Brown along with the Roy Rogers film "Border Legion." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the ad. He notes:

"The Pix was the first post-World War II film theatre to emerge, and was so small it didn’t even issue tickets. You just walked through a turnstyle which the cashier activated after you paid for your admission. There was no lobby to speak of, and the rest rooms, lounge & snack bar were all located downstairs. Entering the auditorium, you found yourself on the center aisle, with six seats on each side to choose from. Amazingly, when wide screen presentation became a necessity in the mid-1950’s, the Pix was able to accommodate its own miniature, but properly proportioned version of CinemaScope in an acceptable manner.

"The theatre had been converted from retail space by entrepreneur Robert L. Lippert and, though small, boasted refrigerated air conditioning, unique at the time, and rare still now, in San Francisco, which prides referring to itself as 'The Air Conditioned City' but is often in need of just that when the occasional hot spell arrives and stays for a few days. For the humble admission price of fifty cents, a Pix patron could enjoy no less than '3 Action Hits,' 6 Color Cartoons, and actually cool off at the same time that bejeweled patrons of the non-air-conditioned Opera House up on Van Ness Avenue were roasting like ducks on a spit (and still are!)."

 In 1950 the theatre was rebranded as the Newsvue:

It was called the Newsvue beginning August 25, 1950. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating this reopening day ad. He comments:

"The Newsvue adopted a policy of nothing but newsreels Monday thru Friday, and nothing but cartoons (25) on Saturdays and Sundays. Apparently the novelty soon wore off and soon the former grind policy resumed."

The theatre reverted to the Pix name in March 1955 and ran as a triple-feature grind house before going to porno in 1971. Jack comments:

"In the building upstairs, local street photographer Joseph Seele maintained his office, and so passers-by often found themselves snapped by Seele downstairs on Market Street, with the Pix Theatre in the background.

"Manny Levin, who also had the Hub, was running the theatre until it went porno in December 1971. In the early 1970’s, all buildings in the block East of the Pix were torn down in order to accommodate the Powell Street BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station and surrounding plaza. However, the Garfield Building and the Pix survived the wrecker’s ball and the Pix remained open with 'adult' films."

Closed: December 1972

Status: After closing Jack notes that "it was almost immediately converted back into retail space." For years it was a Radio Shack but they're now gone.

 

More street views: 

 

A 1946 photo from the Aaron Isaacson collection shared by Dave Gallagher on the SFMemory.org site. It was taken during the last week of July when the Pix was running "The Lone Wolf Strikes" (1940), "Passport To Suez" (1943) and "Arizona Bound" (1941). Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the photo on the site.  

A November 1947 look east from the Open SF History Project. 

 

 

A May 2, 1948 shot of the left side of the ticket lobby from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "The narrow area between the '10 Cartoons' display in the center and 'Untamed Fury' on the right is actually a door leading to a stairway leading to the projection booth, which is how films were delivered and projectionists gained direct access and egress. 'Untamed Fury' - a turgid tale of the romantic ups and downs (mostly downs) and escapades of the Louisiana swamp folk is pretty painful to endure. 10 cartoons would be a pleasant change, but an unlikely respite."

A July 28, 1949 view of the Pix, Esquire and Telenews from the Jack Tillmany collection.

 

A 1951 photo from the Vintage Kodachrome Slides Facebook page. The Pix (with signage saying "News") is running "The Secret of Convict Lake," an August release with Glenn Ford. At the Esquire it's Howard Hughes "Outlaw" with Jane Russell along with Ingrid Bergman in "Stromboli."  

 

 

The Pix, Esquire and Telenews in July 1954. It's a shot from 5 minutes of great footage that Jack Tillmany spotted in a colorized version on YouTube from Vivid History. Jack's date for the footage comes from a view we get of "Executive Suite" playing at the Nob Hill Theatre. 

 

 

This November 1955 News Call Bulletin photo looking east at the Pix and its neighbors the Esquire and Telenews is in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library. The copy printed with the photo: "EARLY END OF THIS PROMISED--Work such as this, blocking the crosswalk at Market and Mason streets, will be all cleaned up by Dec. 1, the city's Public Works Department has promised, at least in the downtown shopping area. This utilities company job is just one of several now under way."

A photo from the Jack Tillmany collection taken during the last week of August 1960.

Photographer Joseph Selle: This photo is by street photographer Joseph Selle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sending a whole bundle of Selle's work along. For more about the strange career of this photographer and his business Fox Movie Flash, see the page on the website of Andrew Eskind about the collection of his photos. There's also a Chronicle article on Selle: www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Photographer-shot-slices-of-life-on-SF-streets-11109071.php

Jack notes: "Here's a typical example of the countless photos Selle took in front of the Pix. You also get a slice of the Esquire which helps date the photo. This one is September 1960. Really captures the moment!

"Since his office was in the Garfield Building, he usually stood out front, under the lighted Pix Theatre marquee at night, so his collection includes tons of photos showing the Pix (also other daytime Market Street locations). Andrew Eskind, who now owns the collection, with the help of Eastman House in Rochester NY, where he lives, has digitized about 10,000 of the 100,000 images, and I have helped him date them by what's playing at the theatres visible in the photos.

"Bad news is, of course, the Pix was not included in the Chronicle Movie Guide. Good news is, the Esquire is most often in the same shot, with at least enough of the marquee showing to identify what's playing, and that makes it easy."

A June 25, 1962 photo from the Open SF History project. Jack Tillmany comments: "Here's Funland, home of the iconic foot long 19 cent hot dogs, wedged between the Pix and the Esquire ('El Cid' at Popular Prices). Sniff."

 

 

November 1963. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this on the BAHT Facebook page. He comments: "Street photographer Joseph Selle captures the sad faces of San Franciscans, as they pass the Pix Theatre, clutching their newspapers carrying the tragic news of JFK's assassination in Dallas TX 22 November 1963.

A January 1964 photo by John Harder appearing on the Open SF History Project website.

 

 

A May 1967 photo taken by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. 

An August 1967 photo of the Pix, Esquire and Telenews from the Jack Tillmany collection.

 

 

Another summer 1967 view, also with "Hell's Angels on Wheels" at the Esquire. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for this screenshot from a 1967 home movie, posted on the BAHT Facebook page.  

A closer look at the Pix in 1967. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks, Jack!

 

 

A 1968 photo by Clay Geerdes. The Esquire was running "How I Won the War," an October 1967 release. Thanks to David Miller for sharing the photo on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. 

 

An April 1968 photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. It can be seen on the Open SF History Project website, where they date it as 1965.

 

 

A detail from Tom's April 1968 photo. "Samson and Delilah" with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature was a 1949 release. "The Sons of Katie Elder" was a 1965 release starring Dean Martin and John Wayne. Note that the vertical sign has been taken off the Telenews. 

 

 

The Pix is over in the shadows in this shot which also shows the Esquire playing "Blue," a May 1968 release, along with "The President's Analyst." The Telenews has vanished. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.

A June 19, 1968 photo by an unknown photographer. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting it on the Open SF History Project site. "Villa Rides" is playing at the Esquire. Its neighbor the Telenews has been demolished.

A great 1968 photo of the theatre from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

 

 

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this c.1968 image from his collection. 

 

 

A 1970 photo by Clay Geerdes. "Cincinnatti Kid" is one of the titles playing the Pix. Beyond, at the Esquire, it's "Midnight Cowboy" and "I Love You, Alas B. Toklas." Plus they're plugging the roadshow run of "Hello, Dolly!" at the Cinema 21, aka the Marina Theatre. Beyond the Esquire one can see a bit of the construction fence where the Telenews Theatre had been. It was demolished in 1968. Thanks to David Miller for sharing the photo on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page.

It's a June 1970 photo appearing as part of the Open San Francisco History Project courtesy of a private collector. Both the Pix and the Esquire theatres would soon close. The Pix to again become retail space, the Esquire to be demolished for the Hallidie Plaza / Powell St. BART station. At the Esquire: "The Adventurers" plus "Downhill Racer."  Jack Tillmany notes that that bill at the Esquire opened June 24. At the Pix we get 3 Top Action Hits: "Kenner," "The Girl & The General" and "If He Hollers, Let Him Go." 

A September 2, 1972 photo from the Open SF History Project. Jack Tillmany comments: "The Esquire closed 30 July 1972 and the Pix hung on to December 1972, so this photo really marks a sad farewell moment in theatrical history for that block! Sad to behold now, but try to imagine living thru it all and seeing it happen from one place to the next, from one week to the next. Poor little Pix 49 cents to noon; 99 cents to closing!" 

 

 

The Pix location in 2015. The Garfield building survives but the Esquire and Telenews, once on the right, were sacrificed for BART construction. Photo: Bill Counter

More Pix information: Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.

Also see the Cinema Treasures page on the Pix.

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