The Casino / Downtown Theatre

198 Ellis St. | map |

Opened: It debuted Sunday April 8, 1917 as the Casino Theatre on the northeast corner of Ellis and Mason, a site previously occupied by the Ellis Street YMCA. It offered both vaudeville and motion pictures, as we can see by the signage.

The photo appeared with a March 2016 article by Bob Bragman on SF Gate "A 100 year look at San Francisco marquees and theaters." A San Francisco Public Library version of the photo photo appears with Mark Ellinger's fine Uptown Tenderloin Historic District article on his Up From The Deep blog.

Architect: Benjamin G. McDougall

Seating: 1,934
 

A page in the April 7, 1917 Chronicle celebrated the new theatre. Thanks to Mike Rivest for posting the image on Cinema Treasures.  

The initial manager was Charles H. Brown, who had built the 16th St. Theatre in the Mission district (now known as the Victoria), a house that opened in 1907. Also involved were Ackerman and Harris. Harris is quoted about the Casino in "Harris Cites Old Film Days," an article by George Fischer in the December 23, 1928 issue of the Examiner:

"'...We made big money so we built the present Casino theater and produced our first musical comedy 'Let's Go.' For the leads in this comedy we secured the services of a popular dancing team at Tait's Cafe in O'Farrell street. We told them if it succeeded, they could take it on a tour of the States. They were game and agreed. That team was Fanchon and Marco..."

Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the article. The full text of the story is reproduced down near the bottom of the page about the Wigwam Theatre, an earlier Harris venture in the Mission district. 

 

There aren't any interior shots that have been definitely identified as the Casino. But this one probably is:

It's a photo is from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "I think this is the Casino because the upper exits seem to match up with the exterior views. What's frustrating is that I used to go to the Casino, after it had gone grind as the Downtown, quite frequently. It was one of my favorite downtown haunts during summer vacation, but I was only interested in seeing the (old) movies they ran, and always sat downstairs, never ventured above." 

A photo appearing as part of an ad for Mauerene Likwid Sement in the November 1917 issue of The Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive. The ad helpfully listed Benjamin G. McDougall as the architect.

The cover of the program for March 16, 1919. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it. Note that by this time Charles Brown had teamed up with Ackerman and Harris as operators.

 

By mid-1920 the house was rebranded as Loew's Casino, but with Ackerman and Harris operating it for Marcus Loew. They were called his "western representatives."

 

 

A July 1920 ad for "What Not" at the Loew's Casino. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the America in the 1920s Facebook group. 

 

A July 1920 photo with "Frivolities of 1920" on the marquee.  Not sure what the gang is up to posing along the Mason St. side of the building that we see as we look south toward Ellis. Perhaps a parade to promote the show? It's a San Francisco Public Library photo. Note the billboard for the Hippodrome. It was another Loew's/Ackerman & Harris operation. 

Marcus Loew had hooked up with local operators Ackerman & Harris much earlier. By the late-1910s they had become partners in the Hippodrome on O'Farrell, a house that later was called the Union Square. Loew was also involved in the Empress (later known as the St. Francis) after he had picked up the pieces of the Sullivan and Considine vaudeville circuit. As partners, Loew and A&H eventually had more than a dozen theatres up and down the coast. A&H was running the Warfield for Loew when it opened in May 1922. 

 

The partnership was dissolved by June 1922. The Sacramento Daily Union had a June 13 article "Loew Drops Chain of Theaters - Retains S.F. and L.A. Houses." It's on the California Digital Newspaper Collection site. Loew kept the Warfield and Loew's State in Los Angeles, A&H got the rest of the properties in Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, Oakland, Long Beach and Salt Lake City. A&H, of course, had other Bay Area theatres that weren't part of the partnership with Loew.  

 

 

"A Family Institution." It's a July 30, 1923 program for the theatre running a mixed film and stage show bill. You got a two-reel film and on stage it was the Casino Players in a comedy titled "Hilarity" and another little drama called "Within The Law." Plus you got a newsreel and various vaudeville acts. Richard Wilbur was operating the theatre at the time. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theatres for locating this for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 

James Beatty had the Casino in 1925 and 1926 calling it Beatty's Casino. He also operated theatres in San Jose. 

 

The cover of the April 1925 program for "Laff A Lot." At the time the venue was called Beatty's Casino. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it on eBay.  

 

An inside page of the "Laff A Lot" program.  

 

Another "Laff A Lot" program page.

The cover of a c.1926 program. It's on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.

After Beatty left it was just the Casino again. In 1940 it went dark. 

 

After a remodel in 1942 the house was renamed the Downtown Theatre and became a second run film house. 

 

 

A January 1, 1942 ad for the remodeled theatre. Thanks to Mike Rivest for posting it on Cinema Treasures. 

The remodeled theatre in 1942. It only had 10 more years left. The photo from the Jack Tillmany collection appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre. He notes that "Major Barbara" opened March 18, 1942.

By 1950 it was down to double bills of "San Francisco's Biggest Hits" with a daily change of program.

A May 1950 calendar from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

The front of the July 1950 calendar. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.  

The middle of the July 1950 calendar. 

The back of the July 1950 calendar. Thanks, Jack!

 

After a few experimental one-night stands, vaudeville returned to the Downtown "in the London Palladium Manner" [sic] on Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekends beginning January 26, 1951. In mid-February two-a-day vaudeville became a daily attraction. In April 1952 it became a burlesque venue.

"Bouncing Beauties..." Running burlesque shows at the end. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating this April 18, 1952 ad. He comments: "'Desperadoes' was Columbia's first Technicolor feature so it was a real treat, but Lili St. Cyr taking her famous Bubble Bath in 'Love Moods' left you feeling clean all over."

 

Closing: Its last show was a week's run of a new edition of the "Parisienne Follies" featuring Melba Toast, the "Toast of New Orleans," which opened September 12, 1952. After which the theatre quietly closed down, apparently on Thursday, September 18, 1952. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the research.

Status: Demolition was in 1953. The Nikko Hotel is now on the site.

The back wall of the stagehouse coming down in 1953. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for getting a shot of the photo for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. It's at the SF Public Library, a photo not yet digitized. A version of the photo by Joe Rosenthal for the Chronicle appears in Peter Hartlaub's September 12, 2015 SF Gate article "Our SF: The city's movie palaces make an unexpected comeback." Well, this one didn't. Thanks to Gary Meyer for spotting the article.

More information: See the Cinema Treasures and  Cinema Tour pages about the theatre.
 
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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