The Cinematheque Coffee House

1542 Haight St. | map |

Opening: February 1968 -- "Excuse the Delay... But It's Open At Last!!!!!" The Cinematheque Coffee House was part of the Haight-Ashbury branch of Berkeley's Print Mint. It was on the north side of the street between Clayton and Ashbury. Thanks to Marco Place for determining the address. It's a Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Jack comments: "'Films by Film Terrorists' says it all about the Summer of Love."

 

An ad for Andy Warhol's "Exploding Plastic Inevitable" and John Hoffsess' dual-screen "Palace of Pleasure" that appeared in the February 16-22, 1968 issue of the Berkeley Barb. The ad calls it "The New Cinema... In a new new kind of environment. Only place in town to enjoy java, flicks, and bagels at the same time."

Thanks to Steve Rhodes for locating the ad on Google Books. It's from page 15 of the introduction to "Cinema Expanded: Avant Garde Film in the Age of Intermedia" by Jonathan Walley (Oxford University Press, 2020). Steve notes that "Exploding Plastic" can be seen on Vimeo.  

 

They had intended to open in December 1967. This brochure discusses their initial program, which was to open to the public on December 20:

 

Thanks to Gary Meyer for sharing this from his collection. He posted it on the BAHT Facebook page.

A March 2, 1968 item located by Jack Tillmany about Bruce Connor films that would be opening that week. 

 

"The Incredible Bruce Connor." It's a March 6, 1968 ad. Thanks to Jack for locating it. "Coffee, Bagels & Fine Films."

 

A March 25, 1968 ad for Andy Warhol's "I, A Man" that was located by Jack. The film was an August 1967 release.

 

The marquee advertising "I, A Man" in April 1968. Thanks to Steve Rhodes for the screenshot from footage on the site Footage Farm. He notes that parts of the film can be found on YouTube.

Closing date: Unknown

Status: The building survives. Marco Place has the 2022 news: "Update: It was recently taken over by neighboring Haight Street Market and the expansion will be opening later this year."

 

 

The building in 2021. Photo: Google Maps.

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.  

 

Steve Rhodes notes that there's information about the Cinematheque in Phil Elwood's papers. A link to a PDF: https://static1.squarespace.com/.../1506633612606/Elwood.pdf. It's from the San Francisco Museum of Performance and Design. 

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