Opening: The building, constructed for the Native Sons of the Golden West, has been around since 1912. This early image appeared on a now-vanished Rootsweb page. There's a Native Sons website but it no longer seems to have anything about the building's history. See a separate page here on this site about the building's basement theatre at 430 Mason.
USO Shows: In the 40s the auditorium was a venue for USO shows called the Stage Door Canteen. The announcement about the building owners agreeing to a lease was on page 8 of the February 10, 1943 Chronicle. It was a project of the American Theatre Wing. The auditorium had been used for religious services -- those got moved up to another auditorium on the fifth floor.
Page 6 of the April 28, 1943 Chronicle carried a pre-opening announcement. Eddie Cantor was scheduled to be the Master of Ceremonies. The April 29, 1943 Chronicle ran an opening day story. Closing of the Canteeen was December 25, 1945. The December 27, 1945 Chronicle had a final story. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for all the research.
Opening as a film house: It became the Stage Door Theatre in 1946. Jack Tillmany comments:
"As a 'prestige' house it benefited from healthy patronage and many films enjoyed long runs: 'Henry V' (1946-1947, their opening attraction, 33 weeks), 'Hamlet' (1948-1949, 28 weeks), 'The Red Shoes' (1949, 31 weeks) and 'Hans Christian Andersen' (1953, 30 weeks).
"MGM used the Stage Door as the site of their roadshow, reserved seat engagements of both 'Guys and Dolls' (1955, 23 weeks) and Gigi (1958, 69 weeks). Later long runs included 'Born Free' (1966, 25 weeks) -- my favorite, which I saw there twice -- as well as 'A Man for All Seasons' (1967-1968, 60 weeks) and 'Z' (1970, 34 weeks).
Walter Reade was the operator in the 60s and 70s but that circuit ended up in bankruptcy. Mel Novikoff took over the theatre on March 16, 1977, leasing from the Native Sons of the Golden West. In a post on the BAHT Facebook page Gary Meyer recounts:
"His plan was to open with Oshima's 'In the Realm of the Senses,' a sexually explicit drama. With local critics ready to offer raves and a lot of controversy started at the NY Film Festival, it was shaping up to be a hit in SF. A few days before opening the Native Sons were told it had an 'X' rating and they pointed out that the lease forbid such films, a little fact Mel's lawyer had overlooked. The film quickly was moved to the Clay."
Michael Petrelis adds:
"The US customs inspectors seized the reels shipped from Tokyo, I believe, before screening at the NYFF. A bonanza of free publicity. I saw it recently and it holds up well. The lead actress was amazing."
An Examiner article that appeared the week following Novikoff's closure of the theatre in 1978. Thanks to TJ Fisher for locating it.
It didn't go legit. The Blumenfeld circuit took over the lease in 1978. Gary Meyer comments:
"I will never forget a run of double bills with 'Watership Down' (1978). You could always put 'Har(e)old & Maude' with anything and it would sell tickets. It worked for a few weeks. (Maybe they should have tried 'Rabbit Test,' 'Bunny O'Hare,' or 'Night of the Lepus.') Then they added Cheech & Chong in 'Up in Smoke' and I will never get the logic of that."
The theatre operated as a film house until September 1979. It then closed for a makeover to house "The San Francisco Experience," the third location for the show. A version of it had opened in 1970 atop Ghirardelli Square. There's a bit about it on the page about the Ghirardelli Square Cinema, another venue in that complex. In 1974 it had moved about three blocks to location #2 - 333 Jefferson St., a building called Anchorage Square between Jones and Leavenworth. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the research.
The Stage Door was then re-branded as Blumenfeld's Regency III and reopened with first-run films, operating until 1989. In 1989 A.C.T. moved in and renamed it the Stage Door. They used it for their shows while the Geary was being rebuilt following earthquake damage.
Seating: 300 as a film house.
It later became a nightclub called Ruby Skye but that closed in the spring of 2017. There was also a smaller facility the club ran downstairs called Slide Lounge. Curbed S.F. had a March 2017 story. There were also stories on Hoodline and SF Gate. SF Weekly had a December 2017 story "This Is What's Going To Replace Ruby Skye."
Status: It reopened in 2018 as August Hall. Nate Valentine, Scott Murphy, Justin Roja, and Chad Donnelly are the operators. Live Nation is also involved. It's a live band music hall upstairs and a restaurant and bowling alley in the basement called the Fifth Arrow. See "A Historic Union Square Building, Revitalized," a March 2018 Bay City Beacon story about the new management.
Website: www.augusthallsf.com
Downstairs:
Just north of the theatre entrance is a doorway going to a separate
space downstairs. Jack Tillmany notes that it had been called the Turnabout Theatre, the Encore, the Showcase, the One Act Theatre and the Cable Car Theatre. See the separate page about the 430 Mason venue for a history.
Interior views:
An early photo of the Native Sons Auditorium from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "Yes, believe it or not, as the Stage Door, they still kept the screen with the confines of that original narrow proscenium, which meant severe top drop for things like 'Around the World in 80 Days.' Obviously, David Niven would have needed to take some of the air out of his balloon. But the screen size, as such, was quite acceptable in relation to the size of the auditorium. They didn't use those side balconies for seating, just the main floor, and a little raised 'loge' section in back."
There's also a version of the card from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection appearing on the website of the Open SF History Project. Also in the collection see c.1915 postcard views of the ladies parlor, a lodge room, the library of the Grizzly Bear Club and a gents' lounging room.
A 40s view as the Stage Door Canteen. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the photo. As noted on the image, the installation was designed by Timothy Pflueger. Gary Parks comments: "I can see the familiar plasterwork of the sidewalls of the Stage Door peeking out just below the bottom edge of the tent."
The former Native Sons Auditorium in nightclub mode as the Ruby Skye. The photo appeared on a 2013 post on the blog Leisure Systems.
The rear of the room as August Hall. The photo appeared with "A Historic Union Square Building, Revitalized," a March 2018 Bay City Beacon story about the new management. Thanks to Dan Mart for spotting it.
A stage view by Dina Rosenberg appearing with "This Is What's Going To Replace Ruby Skye," a December 2017 SF Weekly story.
A 2018 photo from the August Hall website.
A 2018 photo from the August Hall website.
More exterior views:
A 1961 array of charter buses to see "Question 7." It's from a set of 46 photos of the film and the theatres where it played in an album on Flickr. "An action-packed adventure of courage against unbeatable odds."
A May 1968 look at the theatre during a "popular prices" run of "Around The World in 80 Days." Jack Tillmany notes: "It was brought in as a last minute replacement after the disastrous one-week run of the much heralded 'Half a Sixpence' crashed and burned." The 70mm roadshow engagement of "80 Days" began in 1956 at the Coronet and lasted 94 weeks. The photo appears on Cinema Treasures as a post by Bill Gabel.
A 1970 photo by Clay Geerdes. Thanks to David Miller for sharing it on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. And thanks to Kevin Walsh for spotting the post.
Well, other than those "Ruby Skye" panels on the marquee it doesn't look much different from when it was a Blumenfeld film house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015
A facade detail. It's scenes from California history in the panels. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015
A facade detail taken in 2023 by Mike Hume. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for thousands of terrific photos of theatres he's explored around the world as well as historical and tech data. Thanks, Mike!
More information: Cinema Treasures has a page on the theatre. The Phoenix Arts Association has two small theatre spaces on the 6th floor of the building. See the separate page here on this site for 430 Mason, the basement theatre space in the building.
See Carrie Sistos 2017 Hoodline article "3 Centuries of History in 8 Stories." The Pacific Coast Architecture Database has a page about the building.
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.
A minor quibble: "Novocento" is the Italian title of Bertolucci's "1900". It's the same movie.
ReplyDeleteHi, finn. Thanks for catching that. Always good to hear about goofs large and small. I fixed it up.
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