Opened: August 17, 1912 as the Cory Theatre. It got a little mention in an article in the August 31, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World that Jack Tillmany located. The location is on the north side of the street between Fillmore and Steiner.
The 1947 photo and ticket stubs are from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "In 1947, Line E, Muni's venerable Union Street trolley line, was converted from rail to rubber, and Muni's second trackless trolley line was born, soon to be rechristened Line #41 to conform with their new Post-WWII identification system (rail lines were lettered, rubber lines were numbered). Intrepid
rail photographers captured the moment, and here's a newbie trolley
coach Eastbound on Union approaching Fillmore, passing the Rio Theatre, with a few souvenirs of my infrequent visits."
It was a theatre in search of a name. It was called the Capitol from 1922 to 1924. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for this 1922 "First National Week" ad. It was a post on the site's page for the OTHER Capitol Theatre on Ellis St., a theatre that began as the Cort.
This theatre was called the Crown in 1924 and 1925, the Rialto in 1926, the Union Theatre from 1932 to 1941.
It reopened as the Rio on November 20, 1941. Jack Tillmany reports that "it only rated a tiny paragraph in the Chronicle, which mentioned it 'used a plastic screen, the only one in San Francisco!'" Maury Schwarz was operating the theatre in the 50s and early 60s He also had the Bridge Theatre.
Later in the 60s it was the Toho Rio, running Japanese product.
United Artists Theatre Circuit reopened the house as the Metro II on August 16, 1968. The location was close to their Metro Theatre at 2055 Union St. UATC got out in 1982 and starting in October 1982 it went back to the Rio name under other management.
On March 11, 1983 it reopened as the Mercury Theatre after being taken over by Marge and John Buckley of the Cento Cedar Cinema. Before running the Cento Cedar, the Buckleys had operated a 49 seat house in the Castro district called the Fether's Point Film Society.
Status: It closed February 3, 1986 and was demolished in 1990.
This photo of the entrance is a screenshot from some Prelinger Archives footage. The film "Sararîman Chûshingura," also known as "The Masterless 47," opened at the Rio on June 7, 1963 according to Jack Tillmany. Thanks to Bob Ristelheuber for the photo, a post on the BAHT Facebook page. He also did a post of the actual Prelinger footage.
A 1964 look at the Rio. It's an Alan J. Canterbury photo in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library.
The theatre as the Metro II in May 1969. The Tom Gray photo, from the Jack Tillmany collection, is on the San Francisco Public Library website. TJ Fisher comments: "This double bill really got around! I found it at a good dozen theaters around the Bay Area in 1969. It hit the Metro II on May 14th and ran until June 24th. ('Bullitt' was there before 'Petulia' arrived and stayed after she left.)"
Gary Parks comments: "Despite the name changes in later years, the 'UA Brick,' as I call it--those little vertical (occasionally horizontal) courses of quartz masonry UATC loved to put in theatre entryways in the 60s--remained. Other UA houses which had it included the Regency and Golden State in Monterey, the Millbrae, and the Del Mar, in Santa Cruz."
More information: See the Cinema Treasures on this one. They list it as the Mercury.
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.
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I booked the Metro II in the mid 1970s but it was a challenge. If I remember correctly THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW premiered and bombed her like it did everywhere. Also doing a bit better was the animated science fiction film WIZARDS.
ReplyDeleteSub-run double features had more success that those on the reader board,
John Buckley held a contest for the renaming and got some good publicity but it did not translate into box office.
I attended the premiere of the RHPS at the Metro II and was astonished that the audience just didn't get it. They laughed at the wrong parts and when I laughed everyone else was silent. I think I saw it 3 times at the Metro II
ReplyDeleteThanks, David!
DeleteHi David, I am a few years late in seeing your comment, but I was given a couple of original window cards from that event (12/19/75 at the Metro II). I wanted to learn more about the theater and that’s how I found this site. What you said about the experience backs the description on Wikipedia of those early premieres! I don’t think I can upload a photo of the posters or I’d share one.
ReplyDeleteHi, George. Well, you can't upload here on this site. But you could send me whatever you have via email and I can then put it on the page. I'm at counterb@gmail.com
Delete