644 Broadway | map | There have been three theatre buildings on the site. And one designed for the site in 1912 but never built.
The Palace Theatre: 1909 - 1912
Opening: The first theatre at this location opened as the Palace in 1909. The date isn't known but it was running by April. The site is on the north side of the street between Columbus and Stockton.
Architect: Unknown.
But there is one surviving sheet of plans for the project in the Gary
Parks collection. See five images from it down at the bottom of the
page.
This was one of six "Palace Theatres" included in a May 1, 1909 S.F. Bulletin advertorial featuring then-proprietor Ben Michaels, aka "The Nickelodeon King." It was at the top of the paper's three-page salute to "San Francisco's High-Class Moving-Picture Theatres," part of their Pacific Progress Issue:
That's the house at 644 Broadway in the lower right, "THE PALACE (First Theater Built). Michaels dreamed of having seven theatres, one "for each day of the week." In addition to this one on Broadway, at least two others actually got open. The Gold Palace was at 1110 Market and the Silver Palace, later called the Hub, was at 727 Market.
As for the Diamond Palace, the Ice Palace and the Crystal Palace, there's no data. There was a Palace Theatre at 2315 Market that opened later in 1913 but it was a Nasser Bros. operation and didn't look like any of the sketches. Another Palace Theatre was at 1708 Union. It opened in 1908 and also doesn't resemble any of the drawings.
"The Palace Theatre has opened." It's a July 20, 1909 ad in the Italian language newspaper L'Italia. The photo is the same one used in the May 1 Bulletin ad. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating this. He calls our attention to the "P" on the columns at the top of either end of the facade.
An eye-popping ad that appeared in the August 4, 1909 issue L'Italia, here calling it the Royal Palace. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it.
Closing: On October 19, 1912 L'Italia and other papers reported that the Palace's frame building was a total loss due to a fire the night before.
An October 19, 1912 story located by Jack Tillmany in the S.F. Examiner. Crossed wires in the attic were the problem. Evidently the monkey and puppy escaped.
This facade drawing is from plans in the Gary Parks collection for a replacement theatre for the site that was designed in November 1912 but never built. See ten images from the plans down near the bottom of the page. The theatre would have had a capacity of about 800.
Architect: It was designed by Ralph Warner Hart for a Miss N. Harris, presumably the owner of the property at the time.
Opening: The replacement theatre, initially known as Il Nuovo Teatro or the New Theatre, opened in April 1914. This construction view appeared in the February 1, 1914 issue of I'Italia. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it.
A detail from the 1913 facade drawing in the set of plans for the project in the Gary Parks collection. See fourteen images from the blueprints at the bottom of the page.
The new Verdi Theatre is seen in this detail from image 45 from Volume 1 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. It's Broadway across the bottom of the image, Stockton St. on the left and Grant Ave. on the right. The angled street is Columbus Ave.
An article about the inauguration of the New Theatre that appeared in the newspaper L'Italia On April 19, 1914. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it. He comments:
An item in the October 18, 1919 issue of the Chronicle that was located by Jack Tillmany noted that Crescent Theatres, Inc. had bought the operation. The seller wasn't noted but J.R. Saul and Frederick Frisk of the United Theatre Exchange had brokered the deal. See the photo that appeared in the Chronicle down lower on the page.
The last day of operation as the Verdi was April 25, 1954. It reopened as the World Theatre on May 7, grabbing both the name and the sign from the World Theatre across the street, the former Liberty Theatre at 649 Broadway, which was being demolished.
Jack Tillmany comments about their opening show:
The theatre was being operated by Fong Ying and Lawrence Low. Their pro-Soviet film bookings had attracted the attention of the government. Low had been called before the HUAC in 1956, where he invoked the 5th Amendment. Fong was investigated for passport fraud.
A December 21, 1961 flyer for "Father Is Back." It's another from the Arthur Dong Collection. Thanks, Arthur. He's also the author of the book "Forbidden City U.S.A: Chinatown Nightclubs 1936-1970." It's available on Amazon. Also available is his 1989 documentary "Forbidden City USA."
Closing: 1981 or 1982.
Status: This second theatre on the site was demolished in 1982.
Interior views:
The lobby of the theatre in February 1943 when it was still called the Verdi. It's a Ted Newman photo in the collection of Jack Tillmany. He comments:
"Note the absence of a snack bar in the lobby, pretty much a Post-WWII phenomenon in sites such as these."
A proscenium view showing the effects of a deco remodel. It's a February 1943 photo by Ted Newman from the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version of the photo is on the San Francisco Public Library website. Gary Parks comments:
The rear of the house in February 1943. The photo by Ted Newman is from the Jack Tillmany collection. It can also be seen on the San Francisco Public Library website. Gary Parks comments:
"I so wish I had photographed—in the 90s-- the
pair of VERY Italian murals (buxom Bernini babes basking in bucolic
bowers) on canvas which were apparently salvaged from their hiding place
behind later walls when the Verdi/World came down. I got to look at
them in the antique store Swallowtail, run by a couple of gals Mark
Santa Maria knew, on Polk not far from the Alhambra. But—didn’t have
the camera along. The ceiling was pretty high in the store, and as I
recall, they went nearly from floor to ceiling."
More exterior views:
A 1914 view of the New Theatre from the Jack Tillmany collection. They're running a nine reel Italian production of "Othello." They have posters up for two June 1914 releases: "Mabel's Married Life" with Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Mack Swain as well as "The Severed Thong" starring George Siegmann and Mary Alden. A smaller version of the photo can be seen on the San Francisco Public Library website where they just have it labeled as "The New Theatre."
A photo of the Verdi that appeared in the October 18, 1919 issue of the Chronicle. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for getting the item off the Chronicle microfilm and working on the image. The caption: "Verdi Theatre, 644 Broadway, sold to Crescent Theatres, Inc. by J.R. Saul and Frederick Frisk of the United Theatre Exchange."
The theatre in February 1943. It's a Ted Newman photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. A small version can be seen on the San Francisco Public Library website. Jack comments:
The Verdi is in the distance in this 1943 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks to Art Siegel for spotting its appearance on the Open SF History Project website.
The view west on Broadway. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. On the left side of the street that vertical with the flag at the top is the Liberty Theatre, 649 Broadway. Jack comments:
A Charles Cushman photo from April 1957. It's in the
Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection at Indiana University.
The theatre in 1964 running "Sensational Chinese Pictures." It's a photo by Alan J. Canterbury in the San Francisco Public Library collection.
Thanks to Don Hargreaves for this 1965 view east towards Columbus. He had it on San Francisco Remembered.
An August 1969 view taken by an unknown photographer that appears on the website of the Open SF History Project.
We get a look at the cheaper looking revamped marquee in this April 1978 view taken by Tom Gray. The photo is from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes that the red building down the block is the Broadway Theatre/Montgomery Playhouse, here running "Hold Me."
The World Theatre: 1985 - 2001
Opening: In this new four story building there was a smaller World Theatre in the basement that opened July 1, 1985. It's a c.1985 photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Note that they reused the vertical from the earlier building. For several decades the building was owned by Dr. Rolland Lowe.
Seating: 437
Closing: 2000 or 2001.
Status: The space occupied by the World has been gutted and is now part of a restaurant complex called China Live!, a project of George Chen. Chen had evidently purchased the building from Lowe around 2015.
An interior view:
In the basement looking at what's left of the stripped-out theatre. The booth is gone. The equipment had been Simplexes with Christie lamps. About all that's left are restrooms, a sloped floor and the stage. Photo: Bill Counter - May 2015
More exterior views:
A 2005 look at the building with the theatre signage gone. It's a photo by Adam Martin on Cinema Tour.
What's in Gary's collection is a single sheet that he acquired from Gary Goss, who rescued many rolls of plans from a City of San Francisco dumpster in 1975. This one sheet is all that remains from what was once a complete set of plans for this first building on the site.
"Like so many of the nickelodeons, the Palace perhaps hadn’t been named at the time the drawings were done. Note the absence of the twin letter P’s on the little domed towers. Looking at the photo, those round ornaments over the smaller, side arches were added in the final construction, along with wall light fixtures on the side towers, just high enough so as to not injure the heads of tall people, and stud lights outlined the upper vertical edges of the towers, and ran along the top of the tiled facade roof awning."
A detail of one of the two towers. A "P" was added near the top when they determined they were going to call it the Palace.
Images from 1912 plans in the Gary Parks collection for a replacement theatre designed by Ralph Warner Hart that was not built:
In the upper left we get a section drawing looking through the lobby, showing stairs to the balcony. In the upper right it's a proscenium view. The lower drawing is a section through the building showing the "bustle" of a stagehouse, an arch at the organ grille/box area and the house right wall of the auditorium. Above the lobby note the apartment with the booth up on the next level.
There was going to be more to look at but evidently Jasper, one of Mr. Parks executive assistants, has decided that's enough for one day.
Images from the 1913 Rousseau and Rousseau plans in the Gary Parks collection:
Thanks, Gary!
More Information: Cinema Treasures has a page for the original Verdi/World Theatre as well as the replacement World Theatre. There's also a page on Cinema Tour about the theatre.
There had been another earlier house called the Verdi on Montgomery Ave. (now called Columbus Ave.) between Broadway and Vallejo. It was a short-lived m=nickelodeon that had opened as the Beach 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. Jack mentions the World on page 59.
The Registry had a 2013 story "Cypress properties Group Backs the Acquistion,,," that dealt with the sale of the building. They also had a 2014 story "China Live and SFFS Take Most of Available Space..." dealing with leasing.
Chinese films and moviegoing in Chinatown are elegantly discussed in Arthur Dong's 2019 book "Hollywood Chinese: the Chinese in American Feature Films." He's also the author of the book "Forbidden City U.S.A: Chinatown Nightclubs 1936-1970." It's available on Amazon. Also available is his 1989 documentary "Forbidden City USA."
Also see Kim Fahlstedt's "Chinatown Film Culture: The Appearance of Cinema in San Francisco's Chinese Neighborhood," a 2020 book from Rutgers University Press. It's available on Amazon and there's a preview on Google Books.
Ruby Yang's 2010 documentary "A Moment in Time" tells the story of Chinese residents of San Francisco by discussing the movies they watched in Chinatown's theatres.
| back to top | San Francisco Theatres: by address and neighborhood | alphabetical list | list by architect | home |
No comments:
Post a Comment