The Lyceum Theatre

3350 Mission St. | map |

The 1st Lyceum Theatre:

Well, let's say the first Lyceum on Mission St. There were several earlier theatres using the name downtown.

Opened: 1907 on the west side of Mission St. in Bernal Heights. In this March 1909 photo we're looking west on Virginia Ave. from Coleridge St. toward Mission. It's from the John Henry Mentz / McCormick Collection appearing on the website of the Open SF History Project. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"The tracks up Virginia Street provided access to the front of the 2-story United Railroads barn which backed on Mission, but faced Coleridge, where it provided entrance & exit to the many street cars which served the various Mission Street lines, and which serviced there, without delaying traffic, both rail and auto, on Mission Street itself." 

 

Gary Parks notes:

 

"I still can't get over those absurdly tumbled cobblestones! Note that the swing-out readerboard just has "5 cents" on it, but no attraction."

Seating capacity: Unknown

Architect: Unknown 

An item on page 51 of the March 31, 1907 Chronicle located by Jack Tillmany noted that the opening had been delayed due to license issues. The tax collector was waiting for word from the Board of Public Works certifying that the new building was a "class A structure."

"Fight against Fire Traps - Officials and Property Owners in Alliance Against Certain Theaters," an article in the May 4, 1907 Chronicle, noted that the owners of the Globe and Lyceum theatres say they built their theatres in accordance with plans approved by the Board of Public Works. But then police swooped down on them when they started to present their vaudeville shows claiming the two houses violated fire regulations. A show at the Globe was closed on its opening night May 29th, at the Lyceum on its opening May 30. Some local residents were siding with the police, saying the theatres were indeed firetraps.

Legal battles ensued. The theatre owners sought injunctions against police interference. They got a temporary one and evidently were operating. The judge decided against them in July and declined to make the injunction permanent. It was in a story on page 45 of the July 14, 1907 Chronicle. The case was appealed.

Evidently they did enough work on the building to get open again but troubles arose in December 1907 with the city again trying to deal with unsafe theatres. The Fire Committee of Supervisors was inspecting theatres and looking for improvements in the interest of public safety. The December 1, 1907 Chronicle announced that the Davis Theatre in the Fillmore was hopeless and ordered it closed. The Lyceum and several others were told to fix things up. The Chronicle page can be seen on Newsbank.

 
The article notes that the Lyceum, Novelty, National and Empire would be making improvements including creation of a foyer at the rear of the house, making aisles wider, affixing the seats to the floor, metal-lining the auditorium and dressing rooms, and adding exits. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the article. 

In addition to running as a 5 cent film house, the Lyceum was used for political meetings, amateur theatricals, and other events. A March 8, 1908 Chronicle item mentioned that that the Amateur Dramatic Club of St. John's Parish would be producing "Robert Emmet," a "stirring Irish play" at the theatre. The article can be viewed on Newsbank.

A chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West produced a minstrel show at the Lyceum in 1910. This item located by Nancy Rutman appeared in the Chronicle.

This item located by Glenn Koch appeared in the Examiner the day of the show, December 28, 1910.

The performers and pit band for the minstrel show produced by the Guadalupe Parlour of the Native Sons of the Golden West at the theatre on December 28, 1910. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing this photo from his collection as a post on the Vintage San Francisco Facebook page.

A notice on page 2 of the September 11, 1911 Chronicle mentions the theatre was to be used for rallies for mayoral candidate James Rolph Jr. Jack Tillmany notes that the item contains an interesting list of halls and forgotten theatres where other Rolph meeting were being held.

Along with an unnamed Chinatown theatre, the Lyceum got quite a writeup in "Dangers in Picture Shows - Law Breakers Exposed To Prevent Tragedy," an article that was located by Art Siegel in the September 4, 1911 issue of the San Francisco Call:

 

 

Thanks, Art!

 

 

 

This photo spread appeared with the Call's September 4, 1911 story to illustrate "Places where moving pictures are shown and that do not comply with the law." Photos 1 and 2 are of the Wigwam Theatre in the Mission, 3 is of the Globe Theatre, also in the Mission, and 4 is of the Class A/Temple Theatre on Fillmore. 

 

 

A 1913-1915 Sanborn fire insurance map lists it in use for moving pictures. That second theatre down lower at 3376-3378 Mission St. was a theatre called the Mission Theatre, its site now a Walgreens parking lot. The map appears, along with many other Mission District theatre shots, on a 2009 Burrito Justice post "History Theater -- Win Some, Lose Some."

Closing: Around 1919 for construction of the new theatre on the site. Jack Tillmany surmises that the venue never really made a go of it as an ongoing commercial concern and that's why it was torn down and replaced with a more permanent structure.

The New Lyceum:

Opened: October 21, 1920. This photo appeared as part of an ad for Pabco Roofing in the November, 1920, issue of The Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive. Jack Tillmany comments: "The peek at the fire escape thru the alley tells us it was an L shaped auditorium."

Architects: Reid Brothers. In 1935 it got a moderne marquee and an entry remodel by S. Charles Lee. There had been a fire in an adjacent building in June of that year.

Seating:  Originally "1,750 heavily upholstered seats." Later it was down to 1,400.

"Everything is in readiness for the actual construction... " The project had been announced via this ad on page 83 in the September 28, 1919 Chronicle. An article on page 80 of the September 26, 1920 Chronicle noted that the "final stages of construction had been reached."  Louis Brusatoti was doing a "noteworthy set of friezes" and it was noted that the house will have "carefully concealed 'cove' lights. A $25,000 Hope-Jones organ was being installed. The article estimated the total cost as $250,000.

The opening night's ad from page 11 of the October 21 Chronicle. Jack Tillmany found it via Newsbank.

The front of the opening night program. Thanks to Vicky Walker for the photo of the program that's in her collection.

The men responsible.

The rear of the program.

A look at the interior on December 13, 1920. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the photo from his collection as a post on the BAHT Facebook page. A version of the photo from the Jack Tillmany collection is on the San Francisco Public Library website. Gary Parks comments: 

"Just noticed the mural on the auditorium's right-hand wall. The figures in it are copied from the marble statue, 'Apollo and Daphne,' by Bernini. Post-Puritanical America being what it was at the time, Daphne is clothed in the Lyceum's mural version. An image of the sculpture can be seen on Wikipedia. 

"I notice the firehouse racks are the exact same design as were used in Reid Bros.' Coliseum.  I know this because I was part of the duo who salvaged them, along with other items, prior to the Coliseum's gutting. They are stored above the Main organ chamber behind the faux castle parapet at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey--another Reid house.  I doubt the current owners even know they're there."

A shot from the booth with an article in the "Electrical Department" of the January 1921 Architect and Engineer with an article called "Theatre Equipments on the Pacific Coast." It's on Internet Archive. Gary Parks comments: 

 "I'll bet the 'Scope screen was inserted within the proscenium--unless they hacked and draped the organ grilles."

 

 

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this 1926 view looking north. That building over on the right was a trolley barn that was later converted into a bowling alley. Jack notes that you can see the car tracks heading up Virginia Ave.

This detail from the 1926 photo above appears on page 85 of Jack Tillmany's great book "Theatres of San Francisco." The page is part of the preview you can browse on Google Books.  

A 1930 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection looking north on Mission. Jack notes that at the time this was US 101. One of the stores on the left would earlier have been a theatre, called the Mission, shown on the 1913-1915 Sanborn map as at 3376-3378 Mission St.  Jack is voting for the one we see here as the Gallenkamp's Shoe store.

A detail from Jack's 1930 photo above. The vertical had been redone to say "Vitaphone."

A 1931 view with the vertical redone again to get rid of the Vitaphone lettering.  It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.

 

 

An article about a fire adjacent to the theatre that appeared in the June 4, 1935 issue of the Examiner. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it. 

 

A June 1935 photo taken by C.B. Peterson for the Examiner. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it in the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library collection. 

A photo from Jack Tillmany's collection. Here with two October 1935 releases on the marquee we see the effects of the S. Charles Lee re-do. "The Last Outpost" starred Cary Grant and Claude Rains. "Grand Exit" featured Edmund Lowe and Ann Sothern. Art Siegel suggests that this is probably early 1936 as that's when this program started playing at the nabes.

A 1939 view north on Mission. The excursion car is turning onto Mission from Coleridge Ave. This photo from a private collector appears on the Open SF History website. Jack Tillmany advises that the bill of Bette Davis in "Juarez" along with "Painted Desert" opened September 24.

We're at Mission and 29th in this 1948 shot from the Bernal History Project. The photo also appears, along with many other vintage Mission District theatre shots, on a 2009 Burrito Justice post "History Theater -- Win Some, Lose Some." It's a Tom Gray photo that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version from Jack Tillmany is on the San Francisco Public Library website. 

Closing: After closing as a theatre, the building was used by the SF Revival Center beginning around August 1954. A page 8 ad (on the religion page) in the October 30, 1954 Chronicle was still calling it the Lyceum Theatre and was promoting for the Billy Graham picture "Oiltown USA." They knew what it was worth -- "1500 Free Seats." The Revival Center moved out at the end of January 1955.

In this 1955 Jack Tillmany collection photo the SF Revival Center has posted their moving notice. Jack comments: 

"They're moving to 5825 Mission. Does that address sound familiar? It's the State/later Del Mar Theatre which, last time I looked, was STILL churching it. Just like the Little Chapel moving from the Sutter to the Harding: out of one abandoned theatre, into another! They moved to the Del Mar 30 January 1955, which dates that last photo as January 1955."

A rebirth: Miraculously, it reopened as a theatre. Jack Tillmany reports: 

"The Lyceum re-opened 9 September 1955 with 'Giant Screen - CinemaScope' advertising 'The Best for the Least at the Lyceum.'  There's an ad in the Chronicle for the reopening. By January 1958 it began mixing Mexican films in on Thursdays, and sometimes 3 instead of 2 USA features the rest of the time, if they weren't too long. Their last ad in the Chronicle appeared Saturday 25 January 1958; but I suspect it remained open running Mexican films, but not advertising in the Chronicle.

"On 24 February 1959 they hosted a Mexican Flag Day Festival; Cinco de Mayo on 5 May 1959; and as late as 30 October 1962 an all day movie marathon of the World Cup Finals which were being held in Chile that year. 13 April 1963 they hosted the crowning of the Queen of Pan-American Day following a parade up Mission Street; so little doubt it was still a popular and familiar Mexican film venue the rest of the time. That's the last of it in the Chronicle. My records indicate it closed July 1964." 

Status: It was demolished later in 1964. There's now a Safeway store on the site.

More 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. 

See the Cinema Treasures page on the Lyceum.

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