The Egyptian / Studio / Guild / Pussycat Theatre

1069 Market St. | map |

Opened: As the Egyptian Theatre on March 14, 1925 with "The Last Man on Earth." The location is on the south side of Market St. opposite Jones. It's mid block between 6th and 7th. The Egyptian was in the same building as the much later Centre Theatre next door at 1071 Market St. The Centre opened as the Round Up in 1944.

In this September 1925 photo we're looking east on Market with the Imperial Theatre on the right playing "Pony Express." The Egyptian, just beyond, is playing "Rugged Water." The San Francisco Public Library photo appears with Mark Ellinger's Up From The Deep article about mid-Market area architecture. Note the sign for the Egyptian on the building's wall. Gary Parks comments:

"As late as the 1980s, that painted sign on the side of the Egyptian Theatre could be seen, showing through subsequent layers of peeling paint. And to this day, the terrazzo entrance sidewalks of both theatres are still in there, fully visible. The Centre's office safe is still on the premises, and the staff will show it to you if you ask. The terrazzo of the Egyptian/Guild is harder to see. Most of it is visible in an area to the left which is now an entrance to the offices above--and may have always been. Display and merchandise is pretty thick, I recall, over the rest--maybe some permanent partitions as well. But--in the entry of the Round Up/Centre--it's all exposed, including the sunken brass capped holes where stanchions once could be inserted into the floor."

Also opening the same day as the Egyptian, and playing the same program, was the Aztec Theatre at 1181 Market St. Jack Tillmany comments:  

"Market Street's 'Twin Theatres' opened with the first run showing of 'The Last Man on Earth.' As fate would have it, the Egyptian ran more or less continually for the next 60 years, ending up as the Pussycat, whereas the Aztec only lasted about 5 months."  

See the page on the Aztec Theatre for more about that ill-fated venture. The two theatres were operated by Max and Louis Graf. Another Graf project on Market St. was the Pompeii, later known as the Regal. 

Architects: Possibly the Rosseau Brothers. They were mentioned as having "opened" the Aztec and Egyptian in a trade magazine item located by Jack Tillmany. If this is accurate, they may have also been involved in the conversion of existing store space into the Pompeii Theatre. Arthur F. Rousseau and Oliver M. Rousseau were prominent San Francisco architects best known for designing downtown apartment houses. 

Seating: 400 in later years.

An ad for the Egyptian and its sister house up the street that appeared in the March 12, 1925 Chronicle. An article on the same page titled "Twin Theaters Open Saturday" noted that other than their decor both theatres were identical. The Chronicle couldn't keep them straight -- the locations they give in the article are reversed. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the ad via Newsbank. He notes: 

"In April, the two theatres experimented with an all comedy program of short features, promoted in the trade magazines of the era but otherwise of little consequence, followed by Lon Chaney in 'The Monster,' actually more of a spoof than a horror film, with Chaney not even appearing until the film was more than half way over, and a big disappointment to his fans, especially because of the promising title."

A program opening May 16 at both theatres mentioned in the Chronicle was "Daddy's Gone a Hunting" backed up by a presentation of Stereoskopics, a pioneer 3D series of short subject motion pictures. 

 

 

The comedy program evidently worked well as there was later a second program assembled for a week's run. In July there was a third program to begin the week of July 25 at both the Aztec and Egyptian. This trade magazine item from the Jack Tillmany collection is about that third comedy week's bill that was headed with the Harry Langdon feature "Horace Greeley, Jr." The image on the right was taken at the Egyptian. Regarding the two photos on the left, Jack comments: 

 

"Interestingly, if you look at the Egyptian/Aztec photos carefully, you will see the one for the Aztec has been 'photoshopped' (1925 style), using one that's actually the Egyptian, with just the name of the venue changed and a other few modifications."

 

A closer look at the shot of the Egyptian from the photo spread above. "Yes, Yes, Nanette" starred Lyle Tayo, James Finlayson and Grant Gorman. 

 

An ad for the third of the all comedy programs at the Egyptian appearing in the July 25, 1925 Chronicle. Programs one and two ran at both the Egyptian and the Aztec. And program three was supposed to but evidently they decided to close the under-performing Aztec. This ad for just the Egyptian is on page 8 while an article in the same day's paper on page 9 says the program will be at both theatres. The issue is on Newsbank. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the research. He notes: 

"That's probably why the trade magazine photo photo had to be faked."

In 1925, sometime before August 1, the Grafs leased out the Egyptian and their not-yet-opened Pompeii Theatre on a ten year deal to Dan S. and Morris L. Markowitz. The word was that the Grafs had decided to concentrate their energies on motion picture production.

The Egyptian became the Studio Theatre on Christmas Eve 1943 under Robert Lippert management. Jack Tillmany found an article in the November 3, 1943 Chronicle noting that Lippert had purchased the Egyptian property for $250,000 from the Hibernia Bank. The Studio's opening was covered in the December 24 Chronicle. It's on Newsbank. The article noted that Lippert was doing double features and earlier openings than anyone else on Market -- 9am. And also planning "special swing shift shows" starting at midnight every day.

"Every Seat a Loge." The Studio's opening bill was Betty Grable in "College Swing" along with "Fighting Tough Guys" featuring the Dead End Kids. It's an ad in the December 25, 1943 Chronicle located by Jack Tillmany. Jack comments: 

"The Studio's opening program was more or less typical of the grind policy that followed. 'College Swing' was a 1938 title which had originally credited George Burns and Gracie Allen in the leading roles, followed by Martha Raye, Bob Hope (in 4th position), Betty Grable (in 8th position), and John Payne (in 10th position). By 1943, Grable's and Hope's popularity had peaked, Payne had become a star, and it was revived with up to date, rearranged credits to fog its age. 

" 'Fighting Tough Guys' was simply the Studio's choice for a fresh title of 'Junior Army' (in small print directly below), released 12 months earlier. Except for these opening announcements, neither the Studio nor the Round Up bothered to advertise in the Chronicle, until 1 January 1945, relying solely on walk-in trade from the horde of Market Street passersby."

In 1944 Lippert converted the west storefront into the Round Up Theatre. The programming at the Studio started drifting more toward action oriented films to appeal to servicemen and other Market St. walk-in trade. The Round Up, of course, was an all-western house.

 

A 1945 ad with both theatres running westerns. The attraction at the Studio, "Bells of Rosarita," was a June release. Thanks to the Facebook page All Movie Theatres for featuring this in a post about the Round Up.

The Studio Theatre became the Guild in 1947, reopening June 6 with a nine week run of a re-release of  MGM’s "The Great Waltz." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the ad. Gary Parks comments: "'Luxuriously Intimate.' Yeah—that’s about the only way you could spin it." 

"The Great Waltz" was followed by a fourteen week run of "Gone with the Wind." By late 1947 second run action films were back with the policy eventually becoming that of a triple feature grind house. It's unknown when Lippert exited the operation.  

In 1969 the Guild got a moveover run of "I Am Curious, Yellow." Jack Tillmany discusses the bookings of that film:  

"It opened with much publicity (and business to match) at the Presidio in May 1969, running from 11 am to past midnight. Sometime during its 4th (!!!) month (August), it opened an 'exclusive East Bay Engagement' at... wait for it... the Fox Oakland!!! Finally in October, after 20 weeks, it was replaced at the Presidio by Andy Warhohl's 'Flesh,' but continued in the East Bay at the Fox Oakland. In SF it moved over to to the 'New Guild' [sic], where it refused to leave, until it was finally replaced on Christmas by (you're going to LOVE this!) 'Funny Girl' at popular prices! At the Presidio, its 20 week run matched 'Exodus' at the Alexandria, 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Stage Door, and 'El Cid' at the Alexandria and outdistanced 'Paint Your Wagon' at the St. Francis, 'Porgy and Bess' at the Coronet, and 'Can Can' at the Alexandria, and it wasn't even a MUSICAL!"

Serious porno arrived in 1972 with the first porno double feature in December 1972 being "Deep Throat" and "Teenage Fantasies." Both the Guild and Centre Theatres were then operated by Walnut Properties, the corporate name of the Pussycat chain. Upstairs, the projection booths were across the hall from each other and shared a projectionist. The signage as the Pussycat Theatre didn't go up until 1973. Projectionist Donald Johanson comments: 

 

"We had a contract with Pussycat, the woman we dealt with during contract talks called herself the chief pussy (really)!"

 

 

A January 18, 1973 ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. 

Status: The theatre closed in 1987. It's been through several retail tenants. As of 2022 it was vacant.  

An August 1925 parade celebrating "Greater Movie Season" passes the Egyptian and Imperial. The Imperial is running "Don Q Son of Zorro" with Douglas Fairbanks. It's a shot from three minutes and forty seconds of Fox Movietone News outtakes in the collection of the University of South Carolina. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for locating it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.  

A detail from the September 1925 photo at the top of the page. The Egyptian's marquee is off to the left of the Imperial's. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for providing the photo.

A May 2, 1941 photo taken during a parade for a three day Chinese Rice Bowl party. The Egyptian was running "Panama Lady" with Lucille Ball and Allan Lane (a May 1939 release) along with "Renegade Trail" with William Boyd (a July 1939 release). The United Artists had "The Great Dictator," a film they opened November 12, 1940. It was back for a return engagement. It's one of many photos from the Chronicle archives that was included in Bob Bragman's 2017 SF Gate story "In 1953 'outsiders' were invited to SF Chinese New Year Parade - 140,000 showed up." The Rice Bowl festivities were detailed in a front page article in the May 2, 1941 Chronicle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for dating the image. 

Looking east at the crowd for "The Outlaw" at the United Artists in June 1946. Thanks to John Bosko for the photo from his collection, a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Note the marquee for the Guild Theatre on the left, here called the Studio, a name it got in 1943.

A detail from a July 1946 photo by Waldemar Sievers. It's in the Open SF History Project collection. 

A mid 40s look at the theatre. Next door (in the same building) we see a banner for something with Hopalong Cassidy at the Round Up Theatre, later called the Centre. It's a photo by Haas and Company that's in the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Digital Library. 

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this rainy March 1947 photo looking west.

An April 1947 view from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: 

 

"A positively delicious shot of the Studio that speaks for itself. Notice how the genteel females passing by walk with their eyes cast downward, so as not to corrupt the sanctity of their womanhood with the evils that lurk within these unholy walls. 'Narcotic' is a an exploitation favorite that had been around since 1933; 'Girls of the Street' might be anything; titles of these things were changed frequently. Don Red Barry seems to be in charge of law & order at the Roundup."

A June 1947 photo of the Guild and Round-Up by Vic Reina that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. A wider version of the photo, credited to Waldemar Sievers, can be seen on the Open SF History Project website. Jack reports that he was in line at the Guild in June 1947 to see "The Great Waltz" and adds:

"On 6 June 1947, the renamed and remodeled Egyptian/Studio reopened as the Guild with a sensationally successful re-release of MGM's 'The Great Waltz' (1938), which ran for two months, followed by the re-release of MGM's 'Gone with the Wind' (1939), which ran for three months! Re-releases of less prestigious films which followed fell short of expectations, and by December, more pedestrian sub-run double features became the more familiar norm.

"The Round-Up was enjoying its last days as a Western venue before becoming the Centre. A couple Market Street jaywalkers, on a summer vacation spree, seem to be on their way to check out Johnny Mack Brown in 'Six Gun Gospel.'The United Artists is offering a four week first run of David Lean's now classic version of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations.'" 

Another June 1947 view taken during the engagement of "The Great Waltz" at the Guild. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the photo by Waldemar Sievers on the Open SF History Project site. 

The entrance of the remodeled theatre in the summer of 1947. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing his rare photo. He comments: 

 

"The photo shows the redesigned entrance of the Guild, with the name of the film spelled out in NEON over the entrance and back-lit plastic greenery enhancing the gentle ramp up to the welcoming snack bar."

Regarding the decor on the left wall in the lobby Gary Parks adds: 

 

"Those are plastic plants in front of backlit panels. Quite popular for theatre remodels (and new ones) in the 40s and 50s." 

An August 1947 photo by Waldemar Sievers appearing on the Open SF History Project site. 

 

 

 

The Guild running "High Wall" in May 1948. It's a shot from nine minutes of Prelinger Archives footage that was posted, in a colorized version, by Nass on YouTube. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for spotting it and getting this shot from it as well as views of the Fox, Embassy and Paramount theatres for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Jack Tillmany notes that in the footage "Winter Meeting" is seen playing at the Paramount. David Boyll spotted "Fort Apache" on the Golden Gate marquee.  

Sorry about the streetcars -- they're hiding the theatres in this 1948 view. The photo is on a Bold Italic page of Market St. views from 1920-1956 from the San Francisco Public Library collection. 

Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for this 1949 photo looking west. In addition to the Guild's marquee and the verticals for the Centre and the UA, we also get the top of the Embassy's vertical beyond the streetcar on the right. The photo was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.

Thanks to Lily Castello for spotting this view on eBay and posting it on the BAHT Facebook page. "Hellraiders of the Deep" was a July 1954 release. Note the doorway on the left to get upstairs to the "Lippert Building." Robert Lippert had many theatres up and down the west coast including the Pix on Market St. Jack Tillmany comments: 

 

"The photo is circa December 1955. The other two films on the program are Gary Cooper in a re-release of 'The Adventures of Marco Polo' (1938) and Gregory Peck in a re-release of 'The Gunfighter' (1950)." 

A July 1957 view by the Morton-Waters Co. from the SCRAP Negatives Collection that appears on the Open SF History Project website. Woody LaBounty notes that their SCRAP collection was just that: a bunch of photos given to some school to be cut up for collages or other art projects that were saved from the scissors just in the nick of time. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the photo in the collection. He comments: 

"Programming was NOT as haphazard as you might think, actually, quite the opposite. The intent was not to match films by type but to give the greatest variety possible so something on the program would appeal to everyone. Playing at the Guild we have: 1) 'Taza, Son of Cochise,' a top-of-the-line western with Rock Hudson that was a retread from the 1953 3D era. 2) 'Unidentified Flying Objects' (aka 'U.F.O.') from 1956, a pseudo-documentary of the Sci-Fi era. 3) 'Miami Exposé' with Lee J. Cobb from 1954, one of a long line of ripping-the-lid-off crime dramas, also typical of the era."

Looking west toward the Guild running "The Lonely Man," a 1957 release with Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins. It's a photo by street photographer Joseph Selle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sending it 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.  

A 1960 view at Market and Jones with the Centre (on the far right) in the soft core porn business while the Guild is doing a triple feature policy. "Who Was That Lady?" was an April 1960 release. The photo by John Harder appears on the Open SF History site courtesy of a private collector. 

The view east from under the marquee of the United Artists. The Guild is running "The Wackiest Ship in the Army," a December 1960 release.  Between the Guild and the UA is the Centre Theatre. The photo is by Joseph Selle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for making it available.

"West Side Story" at the United Artists and "La Dolce Vita" at the Guild. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting this August 1962 shot by an unknown photographer on the Open SF History Project site. 

A December 1962 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection, taken as the theatre slides into the adult film era. Note the verticals for the Centre and the UA just beyond. At the left, Jack notes that the building the Brass Rail is in was formerly the Premium Theatre. Gary Parks comments: 

 

"All that neon lit up in the foggy pre-dusk. Magic. Love how Don’s Beauty School of Hair Styling is juxtaposed over the stuff on the Guild’s readerboards. I like that little Brass Rail front, too…a touch of manufactured Rustic Americana next to all that lit Modernity." 

 A 1963 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks, Jack!

An August 1964 Alan J. Canterbury photo from the San Francisco Public Library. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for some work on the image.

A very religious July 1967 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: 

 

"The UA is six months into the much heralded film version of 'The Bible,' which replaced the two year run of 'Sound of Music' the previous December, and had kept the wickets turning, many suspect, due in no small way to that nude mural of Michael Parks as Adam, with the usual knee raised just enough to attract attention but not trouble; and the Guild is once again running the re-release of 'The Ten Commandments' which also enjoyed renewed popularity the previous year. Wedged between these 2 Cathedrals of Holy Writ, the Centre politely offers an alternate view, 'Flesh and Lace' and 'Nudes-a-Rama.' Decisions! Decisions!" 

 

 

A March 1969 photo by Tom Gray with "Charge of the Light Brigade" at the Guild and "Where Eagles Dare" at the UA. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this photo from his collection. It was included in a post on the BAHT Facebook page.  

 

A detail from another March 1969 photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Here we get to see that the Centre had the exciting program of "Love Camp Number 7" and "Looking Through a Mirror." See the full photo.

 

 

"Ninety Nine Women" and "Dayton's Devils" in 1969. The latter film starred Rory Calhoun and Leslie Nielson. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the shot for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. 

 

 

A very late 1969 or early 1970 photo by Clay Geerdes of the Guild running "Funny Girl" along with, of all things, "Barbarella." "Funny Girl" was running as a roadshow at the Coronet until December 1969. Just beyond, the United Artists has "The Secret of Santa Vittoria," an October 1969 release. Thanks to David Miller for posting the shot on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered. And thanks to Kevin Walsh for spotting the post. 

An April 1970 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

 

 

A detail from a May 1973 Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Here the Guild had become a Pussycat operation but hadn't yet done the name change. Loew's had left town and the theatre on the right had become General Cinema's Market St. Cinema.  See the full photo. 

 

 

A 1974 Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

 

 

A photo of the Pussycat and Centre taken by Tom Gray. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing it. TJ Fisher comments: "It appears this was June 1975. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when because neither the Chronicle nor the Examiner printed adult listings daily and sometimes they don't seem to agree with each other."

 

 

A 1981 entrance view by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks, Jack!

A March 1986 look at three in a row. The photo comes from chapter 13 of Jay Allen Sanford's "Pussycat Theatres: The Inside Story," a 2010 article on the Pussycat chain originally appearing in the San Diego Reader. 

Thanks to John Rice for this 80s photo appearing on the Cinema Treasures page for the Centre Theatre. 

 

 

Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this 1988 photo from his collection. 

A c.2010 photo by Mark Ellinger of the building once housing the Guild and Centre theatres. It appears with his Up From The Deep study of mid-Market architecture.

Looking down Jones toward Market. The restored facade of the building that was formerly the Guild and Centre is on the left. On the right is the Imperial / United Artists, demolished in 2016. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015
   

 

A closer look at the building. The Guild was on the left side, the Centre on the right. The doorway on the far left went upstairs to projection booths and office space. The bike shop seen here in both the Guild and Centre spaces later downsized to just use the one on the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015

 

In this 2019 view the Guild's space on the left was evidently vacant and the bike shop was in the Centre space. Photo: Google Maps

 

By 2022 both spaces were vacant. Huckleberry Bicycles had moved to Battery St. Thanks to Glen A. Micheletti for sharing this photo he took in May.  

More information: The Cinema Treasures page on the Guild Theatre has many comments.

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.  

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