The Coronet Theatre

3575 Geary Blvd. | map |

Opened: The Coronet opened November 2, 1949 with "I Was a Male War Bride." They were going to call it the Ritz but changed their minds. This San Francisco Public Library photo appeared with Peter Hartlaub's September 2015 article "Our SF: The city's movie palaces make an unexpected comeback."   Well, this one isn't making any sort of comeback. Peter''s caption: 

"San Francisco Theatres Inc. owners Samuel H. Levin, Michael Naify and Irvin M. 'Bud' Levin in front of the Coronet before it first opened in 1949."  

Architects: Alexander Aimwell Cantin and A. Mackenzie Cantin

Seating: 1,336 seats in stadium style.

The opening ad in the Chronicle. Thanks to Mike Rivest for posting it on Cinema Treasures.  

 

 

An "Oklahoma!" ad appearing in the February 24, 1956 issue of the Examiner. Thanks to TJ Fisher for locating this for a post on the BAHT Facebook page that also included ads from the same issue for the Fox and the Orpheum.  

Screen Size: The TODD-AO screen installed in 1956 for "Oklahoma!" was 24' x 49'. Later it was replaced by a 52' wide screen with less curvature. Jack Tillmany wonders: 

"Maybe someone can establish when the size of the TODD-AO screen was reduced down to conventional 70mm proportions. I believe it was in 1964 for 'My Fair Lady' but can't say for sure."

Projectors: Norelco DP70

Status: The Coronet closed in March 2005. United Artists was the operator at the end. It's been demolished.

 

A 1949 ladies lounge view. Photo: Bill Gabel - Cinema Treasures

The television room. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "Big deal in 1949 when people only had 10" and 12" sets at home."

The original drapery treatment. Photo: Bill Gabel - Cinema Treasures

The rear of the house in 1949. Photo: Bill Gabel - Cinema Treasures

 

An interior view by Rebecca A. McBride, whose work is the core of the book "Left In The Dark." It appeared on a 2010 Trouvaillesdujour blog post about the book. 

The actual screen near the end. Seriously downsized from the TODD-AO version. Thanks to Eric Hooper for posting the photo as a comment to a post on the BAHT Facebook page. He says: "Too bad they couldn't have kept that large curved screen...."

A view toward the rear of the theatre by Rebecca A. McBride. It's one of seven of her photos on a page of Exposure, the ATA webzine.


More exterior views: 

An opening day view from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

An early boxoffice view. Photo: Bill Gabel - Cinema Treasures 

February 1956 - What had been a neighborhood sub-run house got equipped for 70mm TODD-AO for the run of the first film in the process, "Oklahoma!" It opened in February as a reserved seat attraction and for 45 weeks. It's a Jack Tillmany collection photo that was taken by Philip Hoffman. Jack comments: 

"Thank God for these rail fans who were out there snapping pictures of the streetcars, or else we wouldn't have lots of these theatre images! 

 

"When the Coronet installed TODD-AO for 'Oklahoma!' in 1956, the surround speakers were in the ceiling not on the side walls, and it was not until many, many years later that they were attached to the side walls."   

 

The vertical sign: Jack comments: 

 

"People used to wonder what that big ugly horizontal bar on top of the vertical was all about & why. It was not designed to be there originally. It was added in February 1956 when the policy switched from neighborhood second-run, to hard ticket roadshow with 'Oklahoma!' in TODD-AO. So it was placed on top of the vertical, and spelled out 'OKLAHOMA,' as you can see in the photo, which also documents another moment in history, as rail service on Line B Geary ended in December 1956, just as 'Oklahoma!' was finishing up its 44 week run."

"It was changed to '80 DAYS' for the Coronet's next attraction, 'Around the World in 80 Days,' which, ran for nearly 2 years, from December 1956 to October 1958, establishing San Francisco's long run film record of 94 weeks, as I pointed out in 'Theatres of San Francisco.'"

December 1956 - The second  TODD-AO film "Around the World in 80 Days" opens. This article in the March 1957 issue Ampex Playback magazine touts their 6 track sound system and notes that the Coronet was the 17th TODD-AO theatre in the country to be equipped with their sound system. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the article from his collection. He notes: 

"Following the success of '80 Days,' the Coronet attempted to sell 'The Old Man and the Sea,' starring Spencer Tracy, as a reserved seat attraction, and it immediately sank to the bottom and closed after just a few weeks, leaving the theatre dark over the 1958 Holiday Season, a fate worse than death. Although that one proved to be a disaster, the Coronet did promote 'Ben-Hur' on the horizontal bar during its 75 week run from December 1959 to May 1961."

Jack Tillmany on aspect ratios: 

"They definitely did NOT drop the top masking for either 'Oklahoma!' or '80 Days.' What you see in that photo is what we got. At the time, I did feel it wasn't as wide as I would have imagined since I was a frequent visitor to the Alexandria whose CinemaScope filled its proscenium at its correct original 2.55:1 ratio, and I had become accustomed to that wider ratio. But I'm pretty sure they did drop the top for 'Sleeping Beauty.' (Like most other SF moviegoers, I didn't bother with 'Old Man & the Sea,' which wasn't even in Scope.)

"A little other background: before TODD-AO, 3D made it to the Coronet, but not to the Alexandria. Probably, the reasoning was that the 3D films were mostly action/adventure/sci-fi which inevitably ended up at the Coronet anyway & never would have been shown at the more refined Alexandria. So I can actually say, I saw 'It Came from Outer Space' there in 3D in 1953. Of course, it wasn't long before 3D ceased to go out to the neighborhoods and if you wanted to see something 'in depth' you had to see it downtown on Market Street, if at all. Curiously, 'I, the Jury' played Blumenfeld's  United Artists/SF in 2D, and simultaneously at their T&D in Oakland in 3D! 'House of Wax' played both the Paramount in SF and the Paramount in Oakland in 3D, of course, but only the Oakland house had it with 'WarnerPhonic Sound.' Last time I looked, the snipe I provided the 3D society was offered on YouTube.

 

"In August 1954 Walt Disney re-released 'Pinocchio' once again, and it played the Coronet, projected 'thru the magic eyes of CinemaScope!' Yup! They ran it with their anamorphic lenses! The Blue Fairy looked more like Mae West! In 1959 I went in to the Army. When I got back, I had the misfortune of seeing 'Spartacus' at the Roxie in Oakland. Blumenfeld favored the 'VistaVision' ratio, so most of his houses dropped the top on Scope, including Oakland's T&D (see photo on page 37 in 'Theatres of Oakland') and Roxie and Berkeley's Oaks. Roxie's situation was pathetic. They opened with a dreadful Woody Woodpecker Cartoon, ('as a favor to Universal'), in full 1.66:1 ratio, then dropped the top masking for Spartacus, so Spartacus wasn't even as tall as Woody Woodpecker, and not one inch beefier.

"Which raises the curious question of, was it always that bad? Especially, considering the way the Roxie promoted 'Knights of the Round Table' in CinemaScope (see photo on bottom of page 41 in 'Theatres of Oakland'). I was told by a local stagehand, that it was originally the correct ratio, full stage width, but they got so many complaints from people who didn't want to sit close to the screen on crowded nights, when they remodeled, and draped the front of the auditorium, they deliberately made it smaller. Sucks!

 

"'My Fair Lady," in 1965 marked my return to the Coronet, and I was surprised to see how much smaller their screen had gotten, but at least it looked like the correct ratio. Ditto 'The Great Race.' The screen looked about the same as it does in one of those last photos."

February 1959 - "Sleeping Beauty" was in 70mm Technirama but didn't play as a reserved seat engagement. See a pre-opening article in the February 1, 1959 Chronicle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the find. Matt Spero remembers neon across the top of the vertical for the "Sleeping Beauty" engagement but no photos have surfaced. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"I don't believe they used the horizontal bar to promote it however, but can't say for sure. That would have been their first attraction after the 'Old Man and the Sea' disaster, so maybe they were still licking their wounds, and, since it was not a reserved seat engagement, they didn't feel it was prestigious enough. Seems I recall they had just painted out 'Old Man and the Sea' or whatever it said. But they were still using the Todd-AO screen, which was just the thing for the 70mm Technirama presentation & of course the stereo."

June 1959 - "Porgy and Bess" at the Coronet. Thanks to Lily Castello for locating the photo, a find on eBay.

May 1960 - "Ben-Hur" at the theatre in MGM Camera 65, the format later known as Ultra Panavision.  This view west toward the theatre appears on the SFMTA Photo Archive, their #D6783. A cropped version appears on a Western Neighborhoods Project page, where they credit it to George Fanning. On the SFMTA site it's listed as photographer unknown.  Also see a few more Coronet photos on the Outside Lands/WNP site.

Jack Tillmany posted the photo on the "I Grew Up in the Richmond District" Facebook page and liked this comment he got from Wendy H. King:  

"As a kid, I could see the 'Ben Hur' neon sign at the top of the theater flashing on and off at night from my 2nd Avenue living room. You had to buy reserved tickets for movies then from the box office to the right of the theater. On Sunday afternoons, there was always a traffic jam of cars waiting to park in the theater parking lot. We shopped at that Cala every Saturday and they delivered the groceries for free."

 

A closer look at the theatre during the run of "Ben-Hur." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for extracting this detail from a second SFMTA photo taken on May 10, 1960, their #D6784.  

1964 - Thanks to Matt Spero for sharing this "A Shot In the Dark" photo. It was a June release.

1964 - "My Fair Lady" opens a 70mm reserved seat run.

1968 - A photo from the Jack Tillmany Collection taken during the run of "Camelot." Note the Janitors Union pickets out front.

Sticky floors and the 1968-9 janitor’s strike.  Jack Tillmany comments: 

“I'm talking about the situation that existed 50 years ago, which bears no relation to present operations. Happily, as an independent operator, I had no quarrel with the Union, quite the contrary in fact, we got along quite well and their members always provided me with professional and efficient service.

 

"Unfortunately, such was not the case with the major circuits, particularly UATC and, worst of all, the first run houses. The Janitors Union impelled the theatre owners to sign contracts guaranteeing six hour shifts, even though the work they did was carried out in a much shorter time, especially when business was bad and there was less to clean up. Balcony houses usually required separate six hour shifts for upstairs and for downstairs, which is why so many of them began closing off their balconies when attendance fell off. Mopping required yet an additional six hour shift.

 

"The reality of the situation was that many houses were paying for either six or twelve hours work which was in reality carried out in a fraction of that time; I know of a specific example of just 45 minutes, clocked by the District Manager of the ROXIE, a key downtown Oakland venue, who, when he asked for mopping, was told that an ADDITIONAL six hour shift would have to be paid for. Just to twist the knife in the wound, the hourly rate established for the janitors was even higher than that of the projectionists. I knew one janitor personally, who bragged about getting PAID for no less than FIVE - SIX-hour shifts, at five separate locations, in one 24-hour period & accomplishing all the work between midnight one night and opening the next evening. Needless to say, the underpaid non-union managers were not in the same ballpark :-(

"So you can imagine the Nasser Bros. dilemma at the Royal. They paid for 12 hours work (since it was a first run balcony house), except for weekends and/or when business was heavy, received about one or two hours work in return, and, when the manager asked for mopping, were hit up for an additional six hours pay. That's how sticky floors were born.

"This all came to a head in 1968-69 when UATC refused to play the game any longer and locked out the janitors in retaliation. So the janitors picketed all their sites. At that time their flagship house was the Coronet, in the midst of a roadshow run of Camelot, and so that's where, in addition to the pickets, stink bombs were also deposited inside the theatre during the film presentation. Stink bombs were also frequently tossed inside some of their other sites as well.

"Who the culprits were may never have been publicly established, but there was no secret about it. Everybody knew. Eventually, compromises were made and the strike was settled, but the Janitors Union eventually suffered as a result, having lost a lot of their power, as well as their prestige which they never recovered."

 

1968 - 1969 - A Tom Gray photo of the theatre running "Funny Girl." It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.Thanks to Lily Castello for posting the photo on the BAHT Facebook page. Jack comments: 

 

"Enlarge the picture and look very closely and I think you will see the pickets representing the Janitors Union outside the theatre. The stink bombs planted during the run of 'Funny Girl' were a constant menace. 'Funny Girl' ran 59 weeks at the Coronet, October 1968-November 1969, but they still didn't bother to repaint that bar across the vertical, and missed an obvious opportunity to use it once again to promote the film, as it was originally designed for, but maybe they didn't plan on the film running that long, or (more likely) maybe they just didn't want to pay somebody to climb up there and repaint it."

 

 

1977 - Opening weekend for "Star Wars." Peter Hartlaub included the photo with "Star Wars and San Francisco: Forever a force united," a 2015 Chronicle article. His comment: 

 

"May 28, 1978: The Coronet Theatre in San Francisco, on the Saturday afternoon after 'Star Wars' opened in the city. The movie played exclusively in San Francisco at the Coronet, and lines snaked around the block for weeks. Longtime Chronicle photographer Gary Fong took this photo in the middle of the day for a Chronicle story on the movie's surprise popularity and impact on the neighborhood. On a busy day, Fong had to take the photo close to noon - he later said 'the light was terrible' - but he still captured a moment in history."

In a post of the photo on the BAHT Facebook page Michael Coate commented: 

"The Coronet was among only eight locales in the United States that screened a 70mm print of 'Star Wars' on its 5-25-77 opening day. Most cinemas that screened 'Star Wars' in 70mm did so as a mid-run upgrade."

Gary Meyer notes: 

 

"Lucas and Coppola loved the sound system at the Northpoint and advance screened there (or the Cinema, Corte Madera). But 20th Century Fox, who had no faith in 'Star Wars,' was very tight with UATC. I was the booker and did believe in it. I was not going to let it go and pressured my company to make the needed upgrades. George was very happy with the Coronet which really was a better presentation with good sightlines versus the Northpoint with no slope or balcony."

 

"20th Century Fox was distributing 'Star Wars' for Lucas and they told exhibitors who were their regular customers ( UATC in SF) that the big film of the summer was "The Other Side of Midnight' and they wanted the best theaters. They didn’t much care where 'Star Wars' played though in the Bay Area they were obviously looking for a good showcase. I booked 'Midnight' into the Alexandria and they were very pleased. 

 

"They couldn’t believe I put 'Star Wars' into the Coronet, leaving other distributors out of the theater though everyone except me thought we'd be looking for a new film in a few weeks. It played until our Xmas booking of 'Close Encounters' though that was a problem because 'Star Wars' was hitting its control numbers (an agreed upon weekend gross that required a holdover). How we resolved that is a story for another time."

 

1983 - Getting tickets for "Return of the Jedi." The film opened May 15. It's a Chronicle photo appearing with "The big screen, no not your TV: over 100 years of San Francisco Theaters," a March 2016 SF Gate photo portfolio.

1992 - It's a Chronicle photo appearing with "The big screen, no not your TV: over 100 years of San Francisco Theaters," a March 2016 SF Gate photo portfolio.

1995 - A summer shot with the theatre running "Die Hard With a Vengeance" as well as a midnight screening of "Batman." Larry Oliver had the photo on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for sharing it on the BAHT Facebook page.  

 

 

2001 - "Lord of the Rings" playing. Thanks to Kinospotter for locating this one for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 

 

2005 - The theatre running "Million Dollar Baby" after its Academy Award wins. The film was a December 2004 release. It was another find by Kinospotter for Cinema Treasures. 

 

 

2007 - Demolition underway. Thanks to John Freeman for sharing this July 22 photo he took as well as the four others appearing here. 

 

 

2007 - The house right wall was already gone. Photo: John Freeman - July 22

 

2007 - A look toward the screen end of the building. Photo: John Freeman - July 22

 

 

2007 - A view from the back. Photo: John Freeman - July 22

 

 

2007 - A closer look toward the upper house left corner. Photo: John Freeman - July 22. Thanks, John! 

 

 

2007 - A back wall view taken after most of the east wall had been taken down. Thanks to Kinospotter for sharing this one on Cinema Treasures.  

More Information: Many more photos are in the Coronet Theatre album on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page.

See the Cinema Treasures page on the Coronet for many tales. The site also has  a list of "Oklahoma" roadshow runs.  The Cinema Tour page on the Coronet has over 80 photos, including many interior shots.

JimzFotos on Flickr has a fine set of pre-demo views including many interior shots.

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. 

The Western Neighborhoods Project has an article about the theatre with photos. Also see a few more Coronet photos on their site.

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