Opened: c.1910 as the Maio Biograph. The location is just east of the Warfield. The photo of the theatre's entrance appeared in an October 1911 issue
of Moving Picture World. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the article,
mostly about mercury arc rectifiers. The full piece can be seen at the bottom of the page. The first telephone directory listing appears to be May 1911, the first city directory listing was 1912.
Gary Parks comments: "According to Greg King, who operated this theatre for a time with Mike Thomas, this vaulted ticket lobby ceiling still exists, with a 1930s Deco ceiling still intact underneath it, and the present plain ceiling in turn beneath that, publicly visible today in the entry."
It's unknown what was on the site prior to the construction. See a discussion at the bottom of the page about the possibility that an earlier (but post-quake) theatre on the site had been run by Sol Lesser and then briefly by Sid and David Grauman. The pre-1906 Grauman's Unique Theatre had been on this block but was located a couple doors farther east.
The plans for the project are in the Gary Parks collection. Gary notes that while the plans have no date on them Gary Goss, the previous owner of the set, had penciled on the back "1910" and "alter for theatre." The plans themselves call it a "Building for..." and not a renovation.
The 1932 deco renovation that turned it into the New Circle Theatre was designed by Martin Rist. Gary also has the plans for that job. 21 images from the blueprints are at the bottom of the page.
The Maio was mentioned in "After the Quake and Fire," an article on page 401 of the July 15, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World. It's on Google Books. They noted: "Within a short time after the fire of 1906, several moving picture houses were erected on Market street in the vicinity of 7th. The Maio Biograph, conducted by Charles Maio, is one of the few that has continued under the same management since then. This is a five cent house with a seating capacity of 300 and a daily change of program."
The April-May 1949 calendar for the Silver Palace (Hub), the Newsreel (Crest,) the Regal and the Peerless. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.
The August-September 1949 calendar for the Silver Palace, the Newsreel/Crest, the Regal and the Peerless. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Status: It rose from the dead to become the Crazy Horse strip club on July 26, 1994. It closed with the city-wide Coronavirus shutdown on March 17, 2020.
The 1932 design for the proscenium by Martin Rist. It's an image from the blueprints in the Gary Parks collection. See ten more views from those prints at the bottom of the page.
A rare 1951 interior view of the theatre during its days as the Cinema. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo from his collection. He comments: "A wall-to-wall wide screen would soon stretch out over the tops of the front exits, one of the first of the smaller Market St. venues to attempt CinemaScope."
More exterior views:
A
1913 view east on Market from the Glenn Koch collection. That's the
Maio Biograph on the left. On
the right with the dome is the Empress, much later to become the St. Francis. The first Pantages is just beyond it.
Thanks, Glenn!
An October 11, 1920 photo of early work on the site of the Warfield that reveals the side of the Maio Bio. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Note the Maio's triangular restroom area (with the "Federal" billboard) protruding from the rest of the building near the screen end of the theatre. It was to be eliminated so that area could be used for the Warfield project.
A Warfield construction view that appeared in the November 1921 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the item from his collection. He comments: "And, of course, there's the poor little Maio next door trying to maintain business as usual..."
He also calls our attention to the banner for "4 Horsemen," playing at the Curran. This would have been the theatre on Ellis St. that had opened as the Cort. The current Curran on Geary St. didn't open until 1922.
A November 1928 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection showing the theatre as the Circle.
The big action is next door at the Warfield. Jack comments: "'Al Jolson In Person!' 'All Talking Features.' This one's really interesting
for a lot of reasons! Jolson's name in neon, for example, a very early
use of neon! 'Napoleon's Barber' was one of Fox's earliest attempts at
an all-talking feature, running only 4 reels, 32 minutes; 'The Bath
Between' was a Fox comedy short, running 2 reels, 22 minutes; so the
entire film program ran less than an hour, but the novelty of talking
pictures made up for all the shortcomings and problems associated with
the transition; both of them were recorded on Movietone Sound on Film,
and are considered today to be lost films. And of course, there's the
best image of the former Maio as the Circle Theatre that I've ever
found!"
An August 1937 look at the theatre alongside the Warfield. It's a detail from a wider view in the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments that here we see the Crest in its 1932-39 New Circle Theatre era. It became the Newsreel in 1939. "The Good Earth" is at the Warfield. At the St. Francis on the left it's "Wee Willie Winkie."
Gary Parks notes: "I have to smile at seeing the New Circle marquee, and how its west side must have hardly been looked at, except by people waiting to go in to the Warfield. One can see the Warfield fared little better, with 'The Good Earth' in neon letters, with two rows of metal blanks occupying the lower two rows."
An April 24, 1938 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Note a bit of the New Circle's marquee at the right. Gary Parks comments: "I can see a wonderful Deco painted frieze along the top of the entrance walls of the New Circle. I'll bet that's still there, over the dropped ceiling. Greg King told me about a lot of Deco artwork still being up there, between the present ceiling and the original Maio Bio ceiling"
An August 1945 shot of the theatre showing VJ footage from a film in the Prelinger Archives. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for spotting it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
An early January 1947 photo from Jack Tillmany showing the theatre as the Newsreel running "Bombers Moon" and "1946 Sports in Review." Jack comments: "'Bombers Moon' is an August 1943 WWII adventure that retained it popularity among grind house audiences for the next several years, and typical of what the Newsreel would offer until it was upgraded to Cinema status in December 1949."
A September 1949 view down at a big line for the Warfield. At the time, its next door neighbor was called the Newsreel Theatre. That's Turk St. running along the top edge of the photo. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection at the San Francisco Public Library. The event at the Warfield was the premiere of "The Red Danube."
A September 1949 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Despite the name it's no longer a newsreel house. Note that at this time the boxoffice was still off to the side, with a turnstile.
The last week of September 1951 with Newsreel now rebranded as the Cinema. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo. Gary Parks comments: "This shot is now memorialized in photo mural form in one of the elevator lobbies of 1075 Market St. on the site of Grauman's Imperial."
A fine February 1952 look at the Warfield and Cinema marquees with "Loew's" splashed across the Warfield. It's a Jack Tillmany collection photo that appears on the Warfield's Cinema Tour page. The photo also makes an appearance on page 33 of Jack's book "Theatres of San Francisco" where he comments that the Crest may hold the record for operating under the most different names. The Skouras-style boxoffice was part of the late 1949 renovations when the house became the Cinema.
A 1956 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes: "'Unashamed' ('Filmed in a Calif. Nudist Camp') was in its 10th week at the Cinema. The Silver Rail two doors down was a bar, not a movie theatre.
What a terrific photo! It's a 1957 look at the Warfield running "Designing Woman" with Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck. The Crest, here renamed the Cinema, got "Lucretia Borgia." Scott Cog has the photo on Flickr, a scan of a slide his parents took. The marquee we're standing under is that of the St. Francis, 965 Market St.
The Warfield running "Never So Few," a film that opened in the first week of January 1960. And we get a peek at the Crest beyond. It's a photo by street photographer Joseph Selle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sending it along. For more about the strange career of this photographer and his business Fox Movie Flash, see the page on the website of Andrew Eskind about the collection of his photos. Jack also recommends checking out a Chronicle article on Selle.
A 1961 photo by Joseph Selle looking east on Market. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the contribution. Note the new readerboard they've got sicking out perpendicular to the building. It's a big 3 unit show.
Jack comments: "'Wasp Woman' opened at the Fox (with an even WORSE atrocity, 'Beast from Haunted Cave'), the last week of February 1960. By the first week of April, this delightful duo was playing 2nd and 3rd on the triple bill at the Geneva Drive-In under 'Guns of the Timberland,' which sorta puts them in their place! The TRIPLE bill of 'The Spider' (1958), 'The Wasp Woman' (1959) and 'Not of this Earth' (1957) played the Crest in October 1961.
"Although, to the uninitiated eye, the 3-Unit programs at most of these Market Street grind houses, seem to be rather haphazardly selected, such was not the case. In the 1940s/1950s, there was almost always a Western, a War drama, and a Mystery, just as you see here. In the case of the Crest, as the 1960s wore on, all-horror programs, as you see in the 'Wasp Woman' photo, were also quite popular."
A shot by Joseph Selle. We've got a "Big 3 Unit Show" at the Crest and "Two Big Hits" at the Warfield. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo. He comments: "Since the sailors are wearing their summer whites, (unusual in SF), October 1961 might be the right date for this photo also. That's Indian Summer in SF. Selle took VERY few pictures in this location; these are the only ones, in fact, in that exact spot, it's likely the Sailors and the 'Wasp Woman' were taken the same day, just facing opposite directions to get the best sunlight."
A look at colorful Market St. in the Summer of 1962 -- before all the marquees got chopped off. Beyond the Warfield we get a look at the Crest, here as a triple feature grind house. Across the street it's the St. Francis, 965 Market, running "Advise and Consent." Thanks to Rob Adams for the fine photo on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.
A 1966 view east with the Crest, on the far left, playing "Dear John," a March release. The St. Francis, on the right, is running "Mister Budwing" and "Murder She Said," a bill that opened September 28. The Pix, Esquire and Telenews are down there in the distance. Thanks to Maria Iclea Kava for posting the photo on San Francisco Remembered and Bob Ristelhueber for sharing it on the BAHT Facebook page.
A look at the Warfield and Crest marquees from "San Francisco Market Street 1960s," three minutes of footage on YouTube from San Francisco Neon. A watermarked version is on the Getty Images site. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for the screenshot and locating the footage for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Jack Tillmany notes that "Gambit" at the Warfield and "Return of the 7" plus "The War Lord" at the Crest puts this footage in the last week of December 1966. The Regal is in the distance on the left.
A 1967 look at the Crest from the Jack Tillmany collection. The house was frequently used as a moveover venue by Fox West Coast and, later, National General. There's also a smaller version of the photo in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library.
Thanks to Ken M. Clare for his 1971 photo. It was a post on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.
Blaxploitation takes over Market St. It's a November 1972 photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection.
A 1973 photo featured in a July 2014 Peter Hartlaub article on SF Gate "Screens like old times: movie spectacles of the past." The article dated this as a photo taken in March but Eric Schaefer did the research and notes that this "Go Ape For a Day" program played on June 12.
Mike Thomas took over the operation of the Warfield and Crest on a sub-lease from Mann Theatres in 1978 and renamed this one the Egyptian in June. This July 1978 photo shows it running a double bill of "Saturday Night Fever" and "American Hot Wax." Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for the post on the BAHT Facebook page. The photo comes from the book "Splendid Survivors."
"Carrie" and "Halloween" at the Egyptian. It's a Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.
The next name up for the theatre would be the Electric.
A January 1990 photo taken by Gary Parks. The theatre was in a brief period as a porno film house before becoming a strip club.
The theatre as the Crazy Horse. It's a Mark Ellinger photo that appears with his terrific Up From The Deep article on the architecture of the Mid-Market area. That's the edge of the Warfield marquee on the left.
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. Jack raises questions about several unresolved data points.
Jack raises question of whether there had been an earlier nickelodeon on the site operated by Sol Lesser. In 1909 Sol had a company called The Nickelodium Co. (no, not a typo). They were listed in the 1909 city directory with a 237 Church address. That company morphed into the Golden Gate Film Exchange that set up offices at 964 Market in September 1909. Jack reports that there was a listing for a "Lesser Nickelodeon Co." at 980 Market in the telephone directory that was issued October 1, 1909.
The Lessers are mentioned in "The Lessers Arrive,"
a section of an article on page 400 of the July 15, 1916 issue of
Moving Picture World. It's on Google Books. The article notes that after being on Market, the Golden Gate Film Exchange moved to 44 Golden Gate Ave. and then to 166 Golden Gate Ave.
The second mystery data point involves the Graumans. Jack notes that there was a listing for 980 Market as "Grauman's" in the telephone directory issued June 1, 1910. In 1909 the Sid and David (his father) were still managing the National Theatre in the Fillmore. As early as January 1911 they were managing the Empress, the house later known as St. Francis Theatre. In December 1912 they opened the Imperial.
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