The Parkside Theatre

933 Taraval St. | map |

Opening: The Parkside Theatre opened December 28, 1928 with "Red Lips" starring Charles (Buddy) Rogers and Marian Nixon. Also on the program was a Mack Sennett comedy, a kiddie revue, and various vaudeville numbers. The initial operator was Golden State Theatre Circuit. The building is on Taraval between 19th and 20th Avenues, in the Parkside district. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the pre-opening photo from his collection

The opening day ad in the December 28, 1928 issue of the Chronicle.

A competing theatre at Taraval and 29th designed by Reid Bros. was being planned at the same time. See the Parkside - unbuilt page for the story on that one and images from the plans.

Seating: 1,329

Architect: F. Frederic Amandes of the firm Clausen and Amandes. The house was Spanish/Moorish in inspiration with an atmospheric auditorium. Johnson & Erlandson were the general contractors, O. Johnson was the plastering contractor, Folsom Street Iron Works did the ornamental iron. Alexander Cantin designed the 1938 moderne remodel.

The opening day article in the Chronicle describing the theatre, the "final development" of a project to improve a neighborhood "but a few years removed from the sand dune stage." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the article. 

Pipe Organ: A Wurlitzer 2/8, style 200 Special. It was Opus 1887, shipped from the factory in May 1928. Thanks to Gary Parks for getting the information from a former owner of the organ, Tom DeLay. Gary adds: "The Parkside's Wurlitzer was removed in 1938, and spent a few decades of use in Salinas Presbyterian Church, and since the early 1990s, has been residing--sometimes with frequent use, at other times, occasional use--in the Golden State Theatre, Monterey. I helped install it."

The  renaming: After a 1965 remodel the theatre was known as the Fox Parkside, with the emphasis on the Fox part of the name. Fox West Coast thought they could make a 70mm roadshow house out of it like the Coronet and the Alexandria. Jack Tillmany recalls Steve Levin describing the theatre's tinny sound system as "The best Radio Shack could offer."

Initial 70mm runs included "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (24 weeks beginning July 7, 1965 and ending December 20, 1965), "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (15 weeks from December 23, 1965 until April 6, 1966). Jack Tillmany notes that business had deteriorated so badly on that one, it was eventually dumped and replaced by a re-release of "The King and I."

That was followed in 35mm by the recent Academy Award winning "Darling" with Julie Christie, paired with "Marriage Italian Style" with Sophia Loren (later replaced by "The Pawnbroker"). Then came "Thunderball" and "What's New Pussycat?" and re-runs of "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Zorba the Greek" + "The Knack," "The Cincinnati Kid" + "Viva Maria," and "A Patch of Blue" + "Murder Ahoy" and finally Disney's "Mary Poppins" + "Island of the Blue Dolphins," which kept the lights on and the doors open until the arrival of "The Blue Max," running 18 weeks from June 30, 1966 until November 1, 1966.

Closing: The first time was September 21, 1976. Fox West Coast got out. The main floor was converted to a daycare center and the theatre reopened as an independent with balcony-only seating. You could look down and see the daycare paraphernalia on the main floor. 

The final closing date as a film house is unknown. Jack Tillmany notes that it was still running as late as September 23, 1990.

Status: The building was gutted in 2001 and 2002 for condominiums. There's still a day care center in there somewhere.

The Parkside's lobby in the early 40s. It's a photo by Ted Newman that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Bill Gabel posted the photo on the Cinema Treasures page.

The lobby following the 1965 renovation. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo from his collection.

Showing off the new lobby chandeliers (and ugly carpet) after the disastrous 1965 remodel. It's a News-Call Bulletin photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection.

The copy with the photo read: "The doors of San Francisco's newest 'hard ticket' neighborhood motion picture house opened today. The Parkside Theater, completely remodeled and renamed the Fox Parkside, will begin Wednesday to show 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. On hand today, as the theater was prepared for an invitation-only showing this evening, were the manager, Charles Minehart, the chief of construction for Fox, John Tartaglia, and John Klee, Pacific Coast division manager for Fox West Coast Theaters."

Gary Parks comments: "To this day, I kick myself for not having a camera with me when the Parkside was being gutted. I did have my sketchbook, and was able to draw the revealed original facade...with its original colors still on it, before they sliced and diced it, but I could only look through a little crack in the construction barricade to see that the 60s lobby had been completely removed, revealing the original 1920s lobby ceiling, which had beautiful stenciled Spanish beams, and best of all, a succession of several cross-beam pediments, which had twisting garlands painted on them, with roundels containing portraits of Spanish nobility, men, women.  Helmets, mantillas.  The paintwork was worthy of the ceilings in the Orpheum. The next week I went by, and all had been destroyed, except for the faux stone block walls, which were painted beige, and were being covered over with steel studs...and therefore are still hidden behind the present walls. But the wonderful ceiling?  Destroyed."

A 40s shot of the redone proscenium area taken by Ted Newman that's in the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks to Bill Gabel for posting the photo on the Cinema Treasures page.

Jack comments: "This is the original 1928 proscenium of the Parkside, flanked by a couple of typical Depression-era murals, added during the mid-1930s modernization. All of this was hidden behind the ubiquitous drapes of the 1965 remodeling."

A 40s look to the rear of the house from the Jack Tillmany collection.

The vanished proscenium following the 1965 renovation. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo from his collection. He notes: "The ubiquitous drapes of the era succeeded in hiding whatever was in back of them, but the screen itself, although properly ratio-ed, wasn't very impressive, considering they were attempting roadshow presentations and 70mm projection. 35mm at El Rey was bigger and better!"

More exterior views:

An opening week photo that appeared on SF Gate.

A January 22, 1943 view of the theatre showing the effects of the 1938 moderne re-do. Note the interesting display technique -- put your hours and other policy information on the readerboard and hang a banner underneath with the show title. Here they're running "Panama Hattie" with Ann Sothern and Red Skelton. The photo, from the Jack Tillmany collection, is on the San Francisco Public Library website.

Jack comments: "After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, San Francisco was logically considered a possible potential target, and blackout regulations were put into place. Exterior decorative nighttime lightning was abandoned, and in 1943, cone caps were put on top of street lamps to prevent light shining upwards. Since neighborhood theatres like the Parkside only operated at night, except on weekends, and their marquees could not be lit, many of them opted for the banners you see in the photo. No need to change the readerboard if nobody could read it in the dark. That's why you see so many generic messages on so many neighborhood marquees during this era."

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this 1947 view from his collection. The Parkside is running "Dark Passage."

A night shot on Taraval from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes: "Yes, all those ticket stubs have my fingerprints on them. Note the admission prices!"

The theatre in February 1951. It's a photo on the San Francisco Public Library website. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this sharper version from his collection.

A 1959 look at the theatre from Roy C. Thomas on the California History Facebook page. There's also a cropped version from Jack Tillmany's collection on a Western Neighborhoods page.

Jack comments: "For thirty years, from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s this handsome façade of the Parkside Theatre was the anchor of the Taraval Street shopping district, as this 1959 photo shows. Muni #1003, also seen here, was a fixture on the L-line during most of the same time period, and is preserved today at the California Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction."

A detail from the 1959 photo courtesy of Jack Tillmany. He comments: "Can you imagine! One of these days they will go up to a DOLLAR, and everybody will stop going, and stay home and watch TV instead."

A 1960 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. His comment: "'Ice Palace' was intended to be the Alaskan version of 'Giant,' but never thawed. WB dusted off 'The Silver Chalice' (1954), Paul Newman's debut film, and a lifelong embarrassment to him, (it was sub-dreadful), which didn't help to make the program better, only longer, M-U-C-H longer."

An entrance view taken during the run of "Ice Palace." It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.

Gary Parks comments: "Ah yes--regarding the entrance, and indeed the whole 1938 facade remodel: Clearly the work of Alexander Cantin. The details everywhere bear his hallmarks: From the style of the vertical sign and marquee, to the neon being the sole soffit light source, and even the little grille over the doors, which shows up in almost all of his remodels of that time."

The theatre in August 1964, before the Fox circuit remodel and the slab facade installation. The photo is one from the Jack Tillmany collection. There's a version of it on Cinema Treasures as a post of Bill Gabel. The San Francisco Public Library also has a version on their website. It also appears on the Western Neighborhoods Facebook page.

Jack Tillmany comments: "Sadly, in 1965, Fox West Coast decided to make the Parkside a first-run, reserved seat outlet for the then trendy road show attractions, and the embarrassingly ugly marquee with which it played out it final years replaced this one. 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines,' 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' and 'The Blue Max' were the first three, and the only important films to be shown under the new policy, but they did succeed in ending the Parkside's days as a second-run 'neighborhood' theatre, thereby doing more long-term harm than good, and no doubt contributing to its eventual demise."

The renovated theatre on July 7, 1965 for the opening of  "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the photo from his collection.

The renovated entrance. It's a photo from Jack Tillmany. He comments: "Note the 'indoor-outdoor' carpet which had replaced the terrazzo outside the box office. Very trendy in the theatres of the mid-1960s. Very practical? NOT! Parkside had the multi-colored red/orange version; the Parkway in Oakland the multi-colored green/blue version. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

The Parkside during the run of "A Patch of Blue" in May or June 1966. It's a photo by Jack Tillmany, who comments: "After Shelley Winters won the best supporting actress Oscar for 'A Patch of Blue' (1965), MGM tried to revive it on that basis, but it didn't click. Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple in 'Murder Ahoy,' the only one of that popular series not adapted from an Agatha Christie original, didn't win any new fans either, and Rutherford retired from the role. Looks like the doorman and the candy attendant are taking a break, discussing what they might be showing next week."

It's 1967 on the L-Taraval line as we pass the theatre running "The Jokers" and "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." The FOX vertical we see was from the poorly conceived 1965 remodel when Fox West Coast thought they could turn it into a roadshow house. Thanks to Steve Souza for the post on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered of L Taraval line photos taken by Roberta Hill.

A 1968 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes: "'Around the World in 80 Days' was revived in March-April 1968 in 35mm CinemaScope, but only played a couple weeks. Audiences had their fill of it ten years earlier in Todd-AO during its two year run at the Coronet on their 49 foot screen, so didn't need to see it again in this smaller version."

"Boatniks" at the Parkside in 1970. Jack Tillmany comments about the photo from his collection: "A decade earlier, Walt Disney films usually played the Fox; after its demise, and Market Street ambiance began to descend into the garbage can that it would eventually become, the Parkside was chosen as the venue of choice. In July 1970, Historic Muni Car #1, having been restored for the 1962 Muni Golden Jubilee, and making the rounds on one of its popular fan trips, passes the SF premiere of  'The Boatniks,' kept afloat with a rerun of another bunch of Boatniks, Disney's popular 'Swiss Family Robinson' who had first landed at the Fox in January 1961. Yes, that's the same vintage Muni car you see passing the Fox in all those 1962 images."

A January or February 1971 shot from Jack Tillmany. He comments: "After a record breaking 66 week 70mm run downtown at the Orpheum, 'Doctor Zhivago' made his inevitable 35mm rounds to the neighborhoods; so this is just a 1971 grind engagement at the Parkside." A smaller version of the photo from Jack's collection appears on the San Francisco Public Library website. Mark Sheehy also had a post of it on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered. Jack notes that the film played the theatre several times. It was back again for another run in May 1975.

The Parkside running "American Gigolo" and "Sunset Blvd." in 1980. It's a photo from the American Classic Images collection.

"Coffee - Sandwiches - Ice Cream." It's an 80s photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.  

 

 

An 80s shot that was located by contributor Chromejob for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 A 1986 photo from the American Classic Images collection.

Gary Parks commented in 2003: "Last year for a brief time during the ongoing remodel of this building, the original facade was exposed intact when the 1960s facade was removed. There was a single large arch in the center, flanked by gryphons, with three small arches over it...The gyphons and arches are gone now, though some basic traces of the facade (some flat inset panels and fluting) remain around the modern rectangular windows which were inserted. Now even the ornamental arches on the back of the stagehouse have been brutally hacked through with new windows, giving no regard to harmonizing with the existing features. Definitely the work of a second-rate architect unaware of history at all."

The original facade (and its colors) were revealed in 2002 when the 1960s facade was removed. Thanks to Gary Parks for this sketch he did at the site. 

Yes, that gray thing is the facade of the once glorious Parkside. It's a 2015 Google Maps photo.  

The very strange stagehouse end of the building. It's a 2017 Google Maps shot.

More information:  See the Cinema Treasures page about the Parkside for a few comments and historical tidbits.  The Cinema Tour page has some 2003 exterior views.

See the Western Neighborhoods page about the Parkside. On the page Irene Sullivan Fay comments: "There were sand dunes on both sides of it (the Parkside Theatre). We had to walk quite a ways to get to the movies. I had these new black patent-leather shoes, and we came back and they were dull: all the shine was gone."

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.  

See the Parkside - unbuilt page for the story about a competing theatre at Taraval and 29th designed by Reid Bros. that was being planned at the same time. The page has images from the set of plans that are in the Gary Parks collection.  

| back to top | San Francisco Theatres: by address and neighborhood | alphabetical list | list by architect | pre-1906 theatre list | home |