Opened: Sometime in 1913 as the La Bonita Theatre. The exact date has never been established. Its first city directory appearance was in the August 1913 edition. The theatre is on the northwest corner of Clement St. and 23rd Ave.
The 2008 photo is by Nicholas Boos on Flickr. It appeared with "A Historical Guide to the 9 Remaining Old Movie Theaters of San Francisco," a fine article on the UpOut blog with lots of "then and now" shots. The photo popped up again with a January 2017 Curbed SF piece about the building having been on the market for 18 months without attracting a buyer. It now has a new owner and will remain a movie theatre.
Online: www.4-star-movies.com | 4 Star on Facebook |
The theatre made an appearance in the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it in the Library of Congress collection. That's Clement St. across the bottom, 23rd Ave. on the right and 24th Ave. on the left.
It was renamed the Star Theatre in 1927. Evidently it had been closed before the re-naming and acquisition by E.C. Frazier. Thanks to Kevin Walsh for finding this news tidbit in the February 16, 1927 issue of Variety.
Jack Tillmany comments: "By the time it had re-identified itself as the Star, the Coliseum on Clement at 9th Avenue, the Alexandria, on Geary Boulevard at 18th Avenue, and the Balboa, on Balboa Street at 38th Avenue, were the leading movie emporiums of the Richmond District, leaving the Star as a low priced, last run option, a place to catch a second viewing of a big film you had already seen elsewhere, or to send the kids on Saturday afternoon. But even in that capacity, it was usually crowded, often to the maximum, particularly during the movie-going years of World War II."
The theatre became the 4 Star in 1946 with new owners and an upgrade. But the "4" didn't get added to the top of the vertical for another two years. This April 1946 program for the "4*** STAR" comes from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Frank and Linda Lee took over the operation in 1991 for their Lee Neighborhood Theatres company. Jack Tillmany comments: "After what looked like a permanent closure in October 1990, the 4 Star rose from the ashes, and re-opened in July 1992 with Hong Kong Films, under the management of Frank Lee. In the mid-1990s, a smaller second screening room was carved out of the right rear section of the original auditorium, providing a greater variety of films to its audiences who were in search of the independent and offbeat, as well as extended runs of popular films which no longer demanded the space of the larger auditorium."
In 2015 the property was put on the market with an asking price of $2.8 million. The Richmond District Blog had the story. There weren't any takers. In 2021 it was back on the market. Socketsite had the news with their May 27 story "Historic Theater Back on the Market, Plans Have Been Drawn." Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for spotting the story. The building was sold to an unidentified buyer later in 2021.
Thanks to Adam Paramore for spotting "4 Star, an S.F. landmark was just sold...," a September 7 Chronicle story by G. Allen Johnson that included a nice history of the theatre. The 4 Star had closed in March 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. The Lees will continue to operate the Marina and Presidio theatres.
Status: The theatre reopened in December 2022 after renovations by new owner, Adam Bergeron. It operates under his Cinema SF banner as a repertory and revival house. He also runs the Vogue and the Balboa. For a discussion about the renovations see "S.F.'s small movie theater maestro reopens the 4 Star," Janos Gereben's November 29 story for the S.F. Examiner. Hoodline also had some coverage on November 30.
See "Trio of SF indie movie theaters need #100K to keep doors open," Marcus White's March 2023 story about the 4 Star, Vogue and Balboa theaters for the Examiner. Heather Knight discussed the theatre's financial problems in her March 2023 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."
Frank Lee in the boxoffice in 2006. It's a photo by Kurt Rogers that appeared with "4 Star, an S.F. landmark was just sold...," the September 2021 Chronicle story by G. Allen Johnson.
A view toward the screen by R.A. McBride from the book she wrote with Julie Lindow, "Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Movie Theatres." Ms. McBride's photo appears on the gallery page of the website about the book. The photo also appears on a 2010 post about the book on the blog Trouvaillesdujour. It's also featured in a post about the book on the blog MUBI.
Jack Tillmany comments: "Wide screen presentation was always a problem for the 4 Star due to the architectural limitations of a narrow proscenium, and the less said about its initial attempts at CinemaScope, the better. At one point, around 1980, one operator eliminated the old proscenium
and managed to stretch the screen out to an acceptable 2x1 ratio which I
thought, at the time, finally resolved the issue (wrong). I saw one
film there in 1981 ('Blow Out') and was happily surprised. Those lovely Skouras-y Scrolls around the
proscenium were a Frank Lee 1990s innovation, which succeeded in making
the proscenium and the screen fitted within it, even narrower than
before."
Another view toward the screen of the big house, this one by Franck Bohbot. It's a 2014 photo that once was in his Cinema Series.
Jack Tillmany comments: "The original seating plan was two side aisles, 2 matching 4-seated
side sections, with a wider 8-seated center section, very much like the
Vogue. The chandeliers were also the same octagonal models in the
earlier Vogue photos, and which remained until the end at the Bridge.
The rearrangement to a single center aisle and the change of lighting
took place in the 1970s, I believe."
The rear of the main theatre. That pod on the left is part of the 49 seat screen #2. It's a 2014 photo by Franck Bohbot. Visit his website www.franckbohbot.com for lots more of his fine work.
More exterior views:
An October 18, 1918 photo from the SFMTA Historic Photo Collections via Jack Tillmany. We're looking north on 23rd.
A February 11, 1919 SFMTA view looking northwest. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this version of it. Bob Ristelhueber had also found it in the SFMTA archives for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. It can also be seen on a Western Neighborhoods page about the theatre and with a June 2015 story on the Richmond District Blog about the property being on the market for $2.8 Million.
Another February 11, 1919 La Bonita view Jack Tillmany located in the SFMTA archives. The photo also appears on the San Francisco Public Library website.
Jack comments: "How and why did these 1918 and 1919 photos come about, you might well ask. Whenever a rail accident occurred, United Railroads (predecessor of Market Street Rwy) would send out photographers to record the site. Apparently there were 2 such accidents at 23rd Avenue and Clement for which, 100 years later, we should now be grateful, or else these photos would not exist. Thousands of such are in the SFMTA archives and accessible on their website, showing street repair, and other transit related events."
A January 1949 photo of the theatre as the Star from the Jack Tillmany collection. It appears on the Western Neighborhoods page.
A May 1966 photo taken by Jack Tillmany while the theatre was running "Thunderball." Thanks, Jack!
"No Way To Treat A Lady -- Smashing Time" It's a 1968 look at the theatre from the Jack Tillmany collection. The photo appears on a Western Neighborhoods page. The photo is also on "A Historical Guide to the 9 Remaining Old Movie Theaters of San Francisco," on the UpOut blog.
A 1986 photo taken by Tom Gray while the theatre was running "When Father Was Away On Business." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this one from his collection.
A c.1990 photo by John O'Hara for the Chronicle. It appeared with a 2011 Peter Hartlaub SF Gate piece "What Happened to S.F. Theaters."
"4 Star still shines" It's a 1995 photo from the Richmond Review. The caption: "Frank and Linda Lee stand in front of the 4 Star Theater at 23rd Avenue and Clement Street, which they have run for the past four years." Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for posting the photo on the BAHT Facebook page.
The theatre in 1997 with 3 titles advertised for the two screens: "Basquiat," Kevin Costner in "The Postman" and "Carried Away" with Dennis Hopper and Amy Irving. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this shot by an unknown photographer that's in his collection.
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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Is the 4 Ster going to reopen as a movie theater? If so, what’s the ETA?
ReplyDeleteAs noted in the text it's under renovation and will indeed reopen as a film house, once a gain a single screen venue. Expect it back in action sometime before the end of 2022.
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