Portolá / Paris Theatre

779 Market St. | map |

We're looking at part of the block on the south side of the street between 3rd and 4th with the Portolá on the left and the big new Humboldt Bank Building in the middle. The building housing the Pastime Theatre is on the right. The California Theatre would be built on that site in 1917. 

The photo appeared in the February 1913 issue of Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this version. He notes that the Portolá and the Market St. Theatre (much later called the Esquire) were the first two big houses to open on Market after the earthquake and fire.
Gary Parks comments: 

"Great image of how long the lobby was. I knew the auditorium had been built at right angles to the lobby, but didn't know it was so far back from Market St." 

It takes a turn to the left way back there.  

 

A detail Jack extracted from the Architect and Engineer photo. 

Opened: The Portolá Theatre tried to open August 1, 1909. The San Francisco Dramatic Review had the story giving the August 1 date:

 

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the story. But evidently they didn't make that August 1 date. It sounds like the lease with Messrs. Leahy and Alburn fell apart. 

 

 

Jack found this mention buried in a column of unrelated business news on page 12 of the August 3, 1909 issue of the Chronicle talking about a lease to a different firm. He comments: 

"I found a mention in the Chronicle later in August 1909 which mentions someone having been there, so, that nails down its opening to August 1909. One newspaper item mentions that John L. Shaw's locker at the Portola was broken into Friday night 6 August and a gold watch stolen. The first telephone directory listing is 1 October 1909 and first city directory listing September 1910."

About the name he notes: 

"It's the Portolá (the accent was over the final A--that's the official Spanish pronunciation and the way my father, who had the orchestra there, referred to it)."

Jack located this article from the San Francisco Dramatic Review.

Architect: The theatre was designed by William D. McCann. Alfred Henry Jacobs did a renovation in 1918.

Seating: 1,400 perhaps. The announcement of the opening above notes only 900 seats installed at that time. A number that surfaces later for the capacity is 1,100. It was down to 800 at the end.

 

The Portola's auditorium is seen in blue with the entrance at 779 Market in this detail from page 145 in volume 2 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Stevenson St. is at the back of the building. The Humboldt Building is shown in brown. Just below it is the Pastime Theatre at 787 Market, indicated as "Moving Pictures." That location would become the site of the California Theatre in 1917. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the map as image 39 of a set on the Library of Congress website.

What a busy block! Here's an annotated view of the south side of the block with the five theatres that were on the map in 1913:   

 

See the pages for the Silver Palace / Hub at 727, the Odeon Theatre at 747 and the Unique Theatre at 757. 

The Portola did quite well and was soon taken over by Eugene Roth. A July 15, 1916, article about San Francisco’s movie theaters in The Moving Picture World noted:  

"The Portola theater on Market street, near Fourth, is one of the most interesting houses in the city. When first opened it was devoted to vaudeville and moving pictures, but has been showing the latter exclusively for several years. Under the able direction of Eugene Roth it was been made a great success with its never varying policy in regard to prices and the selection of attractions. It has a seating capacity of 1,100 and has shown many of the greatest films produced, at ten and twenty cents. 

"So marked has been the success of this house that a company known as the Market Street Realty Company has been formed to erect a moving picture theater at Fourth and Market streets with a seating capacity of about 3,000, this house to be one of the finest in America. This company has taken over the Portola theater, as well as the Market Street theater [later called Esquire, opened 1909], two blocks further up the street. This latter house, which has been conducted since its erection by Hallahan & Getz, has a seating capacity of 1,100, so that when the new theater is ready Mr. Roth will have charge of three houses within two blocks, with a total of about 5,200 seats."

The theatre got a $5,000 upgrade in 1918 by Alfred Henry Jacobs, who had designed the California Theatre for Roth the previous year.  

 

 

Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this article in the April 25, 1918 San Francisco Call. It's on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection. 

 

At some point the Portola started a downhill slide. A presentation running for four days during the last week of January 1928 was "Scarlet Youth," an exploitation feature shown to audiences of  "women only."

It closed on July 7, 1928 and in mid-October 1930 reopened as a miniature golf course called Pee Wee Golf Course. Evidently that wasn't a big hit. By January 1932 it had become a bus station for Gray Line.

A xerox of a xerox from the Jack Tillmany collection showing buses lined up in the Portola's auditorium. It's an article from the June 1932 issue of the magazine Bus Transportation.

It was reopened in 1944, again called the Portolá Theatre. The operator was Ben Levin's General Theatrical Co. In 1946 Blumenfeld announced they were purchasing it from Levin, but the deal apparently never went through. In 1947 Levin unloaded the Portola to Trans-International, headed by Sidney Pink, thus beginning its quarter century status as a Market Street exploitation house.

The reopening was Friday June 9, 1944. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding this ad on page eleven in the June 8, 1944 Chronicle. It can be viewed on Newsbank. Jack notes: 

"This is a beautiful example of over-statement that shows why newspaper ads should not be taken too seriously."

The same issue also had a small article noting:

"In addition to the mural depicting the discovery of San Francisco Bay in 1769,  the salon lounge of the new Portola Theater...will also display a collection of prints, old lithographs, photographs and newspaper clippings of early San Francisco."

After a 1947 run of "The Outlaw" the theatre went to more risque product, both on stage and screen. 

 

 

The auditorium of the Portola is shown in blue as "Movies" in this detail from page 145 of volume 2 of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. This version shows updates as late as September 1949. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this via the Library of Congress website. The theatre's neighbor, the California/State Theatre is at the bottom of the image with entrances on both Market and 4th St. That's Stevenson St. running up the right side. Also see a view of the full block as it appeared on the 1949 Sanborn Map.

 

Tempest Storm appeared in 1951. Later the theatre was owned by Harry Farros who renamed it the Farros Theatre in 1957. The reopening was May 1 with "Love Kiss (Pitfalls of the Big City)." Jack Tillmany reports: 

 

"On February 27, 1961 the marquee announced 'It's a Girl' proclaiming the birth of Alessia Farros. But Mrs. Farros objected to his flaunting the proud family name on this house of celluloid ill-repute and so he renamed it the Paris Theatre 2 July 1961." 

 

 

The Chronicle foretold the death of the Paris in this April 11, 1971 story. Operator Les Natali told the paper that "Mona" had run 35 weeks and grossed $350,000. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the article.

Closing: August 14, 1971. "Mona" and "Hollywood Blue" were still going strong so that program moved over to the Centre Theatre. 

Status: The theatre was demolished in 1971. The current building houses a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafe. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"As the South of Market area was being re-developed, a large proportion of its denizens who for decades had called it, and its fleabag hotels, home drifted up to Market Street and, eventually, over to North of Market in the area now referred to as the Tenderloin."

Interior views:

The right side of the very long lobby c.1920. It stretched way back from Market with the auditorium running parallel to Market with exits on Stevenson St. Market is behind us as we look toward the doors to the inner lobby. Thanks to Gary Parks for the photo from his collection.

The left side of the lobby. Photo: Gary Parks collection - c.1920

The end of the lobby after the theatre's reopening. The doors are to the inner lobby at the back of the seating area. It's a September 18, 1944 Ted Newman photo in the Jack Tillmany collection. There's a version of it on the San Francisco Public Library website.

The inner lobby across the back of the auditorium. Photo: Gary Parks collection - c.1920  

The rear of the auditorium. Photo: Gary Parks collection - c.1920 

 

The house right wall. Photo: Gary Parks collection - c.1920

A c.1920 view of the Portola's proscenium from the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version from Jack appears on the San Francisco Public Library website.

A closer look at the proscenium c. 1920. That exit door went out to Stevenson St., a block south of Market. Photo: Gary Parks collection

The look of the proscenium after the theatre reopened following many years' use as a bus station. It's a September 18, 1944 photo by Ted Newman that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. It's on the San Francisco Public Library website.

Gary Parks comments: "General Theatrical reopened it as a theatre, after a bare-bones-budget refurbishing, to capitalize on the transient military trade. They put almost no effort into decorating the place. Fortunately, the proscenium--sans organ fronts--was still there, and they got used seats from some other theatre. This info from late friend, Steve Levin, whose father was one of the owners of General Theatrical."


More exterior views:

The far half of the squat building in the center would soon become the Portola's entrance. It's a detail from a c.1908 Humboldt Building postcard on the site Hip Postcard. See the full card. Note that here we see skylights. Several would be retained and appear on the 1913 Sanborn map. This card is also on Card Cow as well as on the SF Memory website. That building on the far right housed the Pastime Theatre beginning around 1910. See that page for several more early views. The Pastime was demolished in 1916 for construction of the California Theatre.

A detail from a pre-1913 postcard in the Jack Tillmany collection. Note that the Portolá didn't yet have a marquee.

The theatre ready for the crowds at 11pm on a night in 1913. Thanks to Bob Ristehhueber for the photo from a 1913 issue of the trade magazine Motography. It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"At first glance it looks like only the O, T, & L bulb lights are lit, but I suspect the P, R, L, A might have been different colored bulbs and so just don't appear as bright in the photo."

A contradictory 1913 view of the theatre. The marquee says "Strictly High Class" while the film they're running is "The Inside of the White Slave Traffic," a December release. The guys seem to be going for it. It's a postcard on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. Jack Tillmany comments: 

"Up until the opening of the California (November 1917) the Portola held its own as a major player as seen in this 1913 photo. White slavery was a hot topic at that time and 'Inside the White Slave Racket' an important feature of its era. Later films like 'Salomy Jane' (1914, filmed in Marin County) and 'The Rosary' (1915) compensated for the sins of their predecessors, real or imagined."

An October 1913 view from the Glenn Koch collection. Across the street that's the "Portola Bell," a display celebrating the Portola Festival. Also see a photo from farther west looking toward the Bell from near the Pantages and Empress/St. Francis. It's also from Glenn's collection. Thanks, Glenn!

A December 1914 trade magazine report of the great business the Portola did with "Salomy Jane" in November. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the item from his collection.

A closer look at the photo of the crowd for "Salomy Jane" in November 1914. Jack calls our attention to the use of changeable letters on the roof sign.

An August 1915 trade magazine photo from the Jack Tillmany collection showing the displays in the ticket lobby during the run of "The Rosary."

A postcard view looking east on Market from 4th toward the Call Building. The Portola is down in the lower right. Farther down the block is the marquee for the Odeon (747 Market) and the six-story Bancroft Building housing the Silver Palace Theatre (later called the Hub, 727 Market). Thanks to Bill Gabel for the photo, a contribution of his on the Cinema Treasures page about the theatre, which they list as the Paris.

A 1916 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection shows (left to right) the Odeon (747 Market, with the big marquee), the Unique (757 Market, the building with the light colored arch), the Wonderland (763 Market, just this side of the Unique), the Portola (779 Market), and the Pastime (787 Market), 5 of 6 theatres in that block in 1916. Note the 5 cent signs on the Pastime. Missing is the Silver Palace/Hub Theatre, farther off to the left at 727 Market.  

An ad in the March 25, 1916 issue of Motion Picture celebrated the business the Portola was doing with "The Ne'er Do Well." 

A closer look at the photo from the ad showing the crowd "filling the lobby." Thanks to Robert Ristelhueber for finding the ad for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.

The Portola appears in this 1917 postcard view shot during a parade. On the far right the California Theatre is under construction. Thanks to Glenn Koch for spotting the card on eBay.  

A May 1918 look east on Market at 4th. Beyond the California Theatre on the corner we get a glimpse of the Portola Theatre. The photo, from the Emiliano Echeverria / Randolph Brandt Collection, appears on the Open SF History Project website. 

Jack Tillmany notes that the William S. Hart film advertised on the California's marquee is "Selfish Yates." A version of this shot is in the San Francisco Public Library collection. The photo also appears with a November 2016 SF Gate story "Rare, unseen photos from the Chronicle's morgue...."

 

 

 

A 1920 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. A smaller version of it appears on the San Francisco Public Library website.

 

 

 

A unique billboard shot from a trade magazine: The Imperial, Portola and Granada all sporting 24-sheet billboards, side by side, in March 1922. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the item from his collection.  

A December 1923 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "The usual street work on Market St. Note: The Portola marquee has vanished!" 

   

An October 1924 photo of the Portola from the Jack Tillmany collection. The big marquee down the block at the left of the photo belonged to the Odeon Theatre. By the time of this photo that space had been repurposed as the Metropolitan Market. 

 

 

A November 13, 1925 photo taken by Horace Chaffee for the Department of Public Works. The Portola was running "Little Annie Rooney," an October release with Mary Pickford. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the photo in the Open SF History Project collection. He notes that although the theatre is without  a marquee, there is a large electric sign at the top of the facade and film advertising above the storefront to the left of the theatre. 

 

 

A detail that Art extracted from the 1925 photo, and that John Harris cleared up a bit. On the far right it's the signage of the California Theatre running "The King On Main Street" with Adolphe Menjou and Bessie Love. Also on the bill was a Chaplin comedy. The Humboldt Bank Building is between the two theatres.

The poor Portola as a Gray Line bus station, a period that began in late 1931 or early 1932 and lasted until 1944. That's one of their buses out front. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the January 1, 1932 photo from his collection. The theatre had closed in 1928 and had a brief run as a Pee Wee Golf Course beginning October 1930. Gary Parks comments: 

"No wonder the Levins put up that cheap corrugated sheet metal facade when they reopened it in 1944...the original facade was nowhere to be seen--obliterated. If you look at the flank of the Bank of America (Italy?) building, you can see the outline of how tall the facade had been. Gray Line trashed the whole thing."

A late 1942 or early 1943 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection with the Portola site still in operation as the Gray Line Depot.

 

An April 1943 look west from the Jack Tillmany collection. Note the Gray Line signage.

 

 

An April 1943 Chronicle photo that appeared with Bob Bragman's 2017 SF Gate article "Rare unseen downtown San Francisco photos show city life in the 1930s and 1940s." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting it for a post on the Market Street Railway Facebook group.

 

 

A detail that Jack Tillmany took from the April 1943 Chronicle photo for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. He comments: "James Cagney in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' at the State Theatre; the former Portola Theatre is still a Gray Line Bus Depot. It would be the Portola again in 1944."

 

 

A January 1944 photo from Jack Tillmany. He notes: "The Gray Line seems to have vanished from the Portola site, probably as the result of WWII gasoline rationing impacting its operation."

A September 18, 1944 photo of the recently reopened theatre playing "The Awful Truth" with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne along with Richard Dix in "Tombstone." It's a photo by Ted Newman from the Jack Tillmany collection on the San Francisco Public Library website. Jack notes: 

"'The Awful Truth' is a re-release of the well known 1937 comedy, and 'Tombstone' (full title: 'Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die') is a 1942 release, still making the rounds. Obviously the Portolá had already joined the ranks of the rest of the Market Street grind houses."

A Time/Life photo taken on August 14, 1945. Celebrated as VJ Day, it marked the official end of World War II. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for posting the photo on the BAHT Facebook page.

A July 1946 Shriners parade photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: 

"The Portola was still using a banner instead of a vertical, and running grind. 'Scarface' is the 1932 Howard Hughes classic, and 'Gangs Inc.' a retread of a poverty row quickie from 1941 originally titled 'Paper Bullets,' revived with a fresh title because of the participation of Alan Ladd in one of his early roles."

An October 1947 photo from Jack Tillmany's collection featuring a streetcar decked out to promote the annual Community Chest drive. He comments: 

"Interesting for a couple of reasons: 'Driftwood' was a Republic B+ trying to pass itself off as an A, which 'enjoyed' its SF Premiere at the State, but the savvy moviegoing public knew that if it was worthwhile, it would have opened at Paramount or St. Francis, and also recognized that 'All Star Cast' translated as 'nobody worth mentioning' and apparently stayed away in droves, because it was replaced the following week by a rerun of the eternal Frankenstein & Dracula combination.

"Meantime, we can see just enough of the Portola banner to read '1st Run.' Yeah, sure. I checked the Chronicle. They were offering two ten year old 1937 retreads with fresh titles: 'Wings Over Wyoming' (nee 'Hollywood Cowboy') with George O'Brien and 'Wings of Glory' (nee 'Love Takes Flight') with Bruce Cabot, both of them ten years old, and barely B+ at their best." 

 

 

A June 3, 1948 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: 

"A different banner at the Portola. It's already found its niche as Market Street's first exploitation outlet with 'Hitch Hike to Hell' and 'Forbidden Adventure,' two bottom of the barrel entities which failed to pass the Production Code and bypassed mainstream venues."

A 1951 photo from the Ronald W. Mahan collection. Just beyond the State, the vertical of the Portola is seen, with the neon overlay on the sign saying "Theatre." Thanks, Ron!  Jack Tillmany notes that this double bill of "Cocaine" and "Frustration" played the State in mid-August and adds: 

"It's another chapter in our on-going saga of 'Why Theatres Closed?' Don't blame TV. 'Cocaine' was an Italian import, 'Frustration' was a Swedish import, both of them were at least two years old, but advertised as 'Two First Run Adult Hits.' Probably the State was trying to steal the Portola's audience. Competitively speaking, the Portola that week was running a triple bill of 'Sinful Souls,' 'Slaves in Bondage' and 'Nude Range,' all of them re-titled crud from the 1930s that never played mainstream venues." 

 

 

 

A detail from Ron's 1951 photo.

A 1952 look at the theatre running "Paris After Midnight" starring Tempest Storm. The photo appeared on the Facebook page Lost San Francisco, along with many comments about the theatre and its demise to an ill-fated urban renewal scheme in 1971.

Another September 1952 "Paris After Midnight" photo, this one from the Jack Tillmany collection. No, they're not lined up to see the show -- it's yet another parade.

A July 4, 1953 photo appearing on the Open SF History website courtesy of a private collector. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this improved version of the photo. He comments:  

 

"St. Louis Car Company 'Magic Carpets' 1001-1005 arrived in SF in 1939 and went into service, primarily on Line L (Taraval); their colors were blue and gold. St. Louis Car Company PCC's 1006-1015 arrived in SF in 1948, and went into service initially on Line L (Taraval) & Line N (Judah). Their colors were green and cream."

An April 1956 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. The show looks better down the block at the Portolá Theatre with "Hollywood Jungle" and "Models on Parade."

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this 1958 photo from his collection.  We're looking west toward 4th St. In addition to the Hub on the left, down the block we get a glimpse of the red vertical for the Portolá, at this time called the Farros Theatre.  

A March 1961 Chronicle photo by Ken McLaughlin. Off to the left of the closed State Theatre note a look at the Portola Theatre when it was named the Farros. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this version of the photo from his collection. A cropped one appeared on the Chronicle Facebook page. 

Another March 1961 shot with an even better view of the Farros. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting the photo by an unknown photographer on the Open SF History Project website. 

A detail from the March 1961 photo giving us a better look at the Farros vertical.

An August 10, 1964 view of the theatre as the Paris by Alan J. Canterbury. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this version of the photo. A smaller one is on the San Francisco Public Library website. It's also been seen on the Facebook page Lost San Francisco.

A lush July 22, 1966 view by Charles W. Cushman looking east from 4th St. That's the Humboldt Bank building this side of the theatre. And that sad parking lot nearest us is the site of Alfred Henry Jacobs' California Theatre. A new building for Roos-Atkins later arose on the site, now housing a Ross store.

The photo appears on the French blog San Francisco Pictures as part of that site's interesting array of vintage Market St. photos. It's also been seen on the Facebook pages Lost San Francisco and San Francisco Remembered.

Another July 22, 1966 Charles Cushman photo of the theatre. Thanks to Lily Castello for spotting the post of this one on the Facebook page Kodachrome Forever.

Another Charles Cushman photo from July 22, 1966. "Flesh and Lace" was a December 1965 release. The Cushman Collection, housed at Indiana University, contains many San Francisco photos.

"Holiday Show of Shows." It's a look west from "San Francisco Market Street 1960s," three minutes of footage on YouTube from San Francisco Neon that was taken during the last week of December 1966. 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.

 

 

A 1968 photo by Clay Geerdes. Thanks to David Miller for sharing it on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. And thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for spotting the post. 

 

 

A 1968 photo with "3 All Sex Hits." Two of them were "Chained Girls" (from 1965) and "The Snatcher." Roos Atkins is here seen in a building on the left. They had started construction on their new building on the right, on the site of the California / State Theatre. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this photo from his collection. 

 

An October 1968 photo by an unknown photographer. Note the scaffolding on the right for construction of the Roos-Atkins store. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the photo in the collection of the Open SF History Project. He notes that you can see the marquee of the Hub Theatre in the distance. 

 

A c.1970 photo from the Sean Ault collection. Thanks, Sean! 

A November 1970 photo by Bill Koska in the San Francisco Public Library collection.

 

A September 1971 photo by Bill Koska from the San Francisco Public Library collection. The theatre had closed in August. The photo appeared with this newspaper copy: 

 

"BIG HOLE ON MARKET SOON -- Market street is about to lose some of its prominent front teeth. Demolition contracts have been let by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency along the south side of Market between Third and Fourth streets for a number of buildings beginning with the Paris Theater and extending east along the block to a food store at 747-749 Market. Structures from 747 to 781 Market will be removed; all but one are now Redevelopment Agency properties.

"Their removal is part of the $385 million Yerba Buena Center redevelopment project, a complex of convention and other commercial and recreational facilities. The land will be vacant for about two years. The Redevelopment Agency was faced with the decision of leaving a hole or spending large amounts of money to shore up buildings destined to be razed. New underpinning would have been necessary because of below-surface work for an access pavilion connecting Yerba Buena Center with the Powell street subway station..." 

 

Jack Tillmany notes that the marquee is advertising "Mona" and "Hollywood Blue" at the Centre Theatre. The films had been the final attractions at the Paris.

 

More Information: Jack's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.

See the Cinema Treasures page about the theatre, which they list as the Paris.

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