The Odeon Theatre

747 Market St. | map |

Opening: It was running by 1911 as the V-Odeon Theatre. The location was mid-block between 3rd and 4th on the south side of the street. This February 1911 photo by Horace Chaffee that was taken for the San Francisco Department of Public Works appears on the Open SF History Project website. 

The V-Odeon was built on the site of the pre-1906 Cineograph. The "V" in the name indicated it was a five cent theatre. Somehow it didn't get into the city directories until the June 1915 edition. Way to the left it's the Silver Palace, later renamed the Hub Theatre. Across 3rd St. Hearst's Examiner building was under construction. It got open in September 1911.

 

 

A detail of the V-Odeon's entrance from a copy of the 1911 photo that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Note the "V" on each corner of the marquee. 

 

 

 

The V-Odeon was listed as being among theatres that were participating in a May 11, 1911 benefit for Children's Hospital in this article from the May 27 issue of The Film Index. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating this list via Internet Archive.

 

A look into the ticket lobby in a summer 1912 American Photo Player ad in Moving Picture World that was located by Jack Tillmany. Note the V-Odeon lettering.

 

The V-Odeon is indicated in blue (reinforced concrete!) as "Moving Pictures" at 747 in this detail from page 145 in volume 2 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. The Unique Theatre is a bit lower at 757. In the lower right in blue that's a bit of the auditorium of the Portola Theatre. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the map as image 39 in a set on the Library of Congress website. 

What a busy block! Here's an annotated view of the south side of the block with the five theatres that were on the map in 1913:   

 

See the pages for the Silver Palace / Hub at 727, the Unique Theatre at 757, the Portola Theatre at 779 and the Pastime at 787. In 1917 the California would come along and usurp the location of the Pastime's building. Also see a view of the full block as it appeared on the 1949 Sanborn Map.

In 1914 the price went to ten cents and the theatre dropped the "V" and was renamed the Odeon.

A summer 1914 note about the retirement of the "V." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the trade magazine item. He comments: "The Liberty Nickel, which was in use up to 1913, when it was replaced by the Buffalo Nickel, also sported a V on its back side, and was actually referred to as the 'V Nickel.'  Wikipedia has an article on the Liberty Head nickel."

A 1914 photo with the theatre running "The Hand of Horror." The photo is from the Tom B'hend / Preston Kaufmann Collection, a part of the Margaret Herrick Digital Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

A closer look at the theatre during its run of "The Hand of Horror." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this one. A smaller version of this is on the San Francisco Public Library website.

A summer 1916 photo looking east from the Jack Tillmany collection. The Odeon was running "The Moment Before" with Pauline Frederick and Thomas Holding, an April release. Note that the marquee had been seriously bulked up with added readerboard space.

This side of the Odeon it's the Unique (757 Market, below the Owl 5 cent cigars sign), the Wonderland (763 Market, just this side of the Unique) and the Portola (779 Market).

 

A February 1918 photo by International Film Service looking east toward the marquee of the Odeon. There's a sliver of the Unique Theatre two doors this side of the Odeon. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the photo in the National Archives for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. 

 

The copy with the image: "San Francisco's Enthusiasm - Photo shows a scene on Market street, San Francisco, Cal., during parade of draft-men. Girl breaks through lines to cheer men on their way."  

A September 1919 view from the Jack Tillmany collection.  

A last look at the space as a theatre. It's an April 1922 photo from Jack Tillmany's collection.

Nope, can't go on the weekends, but we have a pass from Max L. Shirpser that's otherwise good for a show. The date? Who knows? Thanks to Kevin Walsh for the post on the BAHT Facebook page.

 

Closed: Sometime in 1924 or earlier. Its last year of inclusion in a city directory was 1923. By October 1924 the space had become the Metropolitan Market.

It's October 1924 and the theatre's marquee has been repurposed with signage for the Metropolitan Market. It's a detail from a larger photo in the Jack Tillmany collection.

A February 1927 view giving us another look at the marquee reused by Metropolitan Market. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo. He comments: "The streetcar is advertising 'An Affair of the Follies' at the Warfield. The California Theatre is in the distance.  The #5 Line ran out McAllister & Fulton to Playland; rubber replaced rail in 1948."

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.

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