1671 Ellis St. | map |
Architects: O'Brien & Werner. The estimated cost of the reinforced building and furnishings was $175,000. Among the many other theatres designed by the firm was the Orpheum/Garrick, right next door.
Opened: This Fillmore district house was opened by Sam Loverich as the Princess Theatre on August 31, 1907 with vaudeville. Thanks to Glenn Koch for this view of the theatre from his collection.
It's a card from a package of "Between the Acts Little Cigars."
The rear of the card. Thanks, Glenn!
This was one of many hastily built playhouses constructed in the
aftermath of the April 1906 earthquake and fire that resulted in both
the Fillmore and the Mission district becoming thriving entertainment
centers. The Princess was on the south side of Ellis between Fillmore
and Steiner. It was just west of the Garrick Theatre, a house that opened in 1907 as the Orpheum.
Before the Princess opened, Sam Loverich was operating the Novelty Theatre
at O'Farrell & Steiner, a venue that began as a tent theatre in May
1906 and later got a roof over it. Before the earthquake he had been running
the Novelty Theatre on Powell St.
A sign from the Princess that's in the Scott Harris collection. It's been handed down in the family. Sam Loverich was his great grandfather. Thanks for the photo, Scott.
Architects: O'Brien & Werner. The estimated cost of the reinforced building and furnishings was $175,000. Among the many other theatres designed by the firm was the Orpheum/Garrick, right next door.
The project was announced in the December 30, 1906 SF Call. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this illustration and the accompanying text via the California Digital History Collection website. The Call's story:
"Class A Theater to Be Erected in Ellis Street, Next to Orpheum - Contracts have been let and the steel ordered for the construction of a class A theater on Ellis street, adjoining the new Orpheum building on the west. Thomas H. B. Varney and J. Charles Green of the advertising firm are promoting the project. The theater will be leased by the Ellis Street Amusement Company and will be of the most modern design. The structure will be of reinforced concrete and will be of the old mission type. The street front of the building will be finished in cement, with a heavy cornice capped with tile.
"The Spanish lines of the exterior will be sustained throughout the interior and the building will be one of the most attractive in the city. The cost of the theater will be $125,000, while an additional $50,000 will be expended on the fittings and furnishings. Special attention will be paid to heating and ventilation and every precaution will be observed to insure safety. O'Brien & Werner, who drew up the plans of the Orpheum, are the architects."
Another early sketch of the theatre from the architects. Thanks to Bob Ristehueber for finding it in a c.1910 article. He had it as a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
Seating: 1,700 according of the 1907-1908 edition of Henry's Official Western Theatrical Guide. It's on Google Books.
It was 1,476 according to the 1909-1910 edition of Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide, also available on Google Books. They broke it down as with 998 on the main floor and 478 in the balcony.
Stage specifications: Proscenium: 34' wide x 31' high | Footlights to back wall: 27' | Curtain line to footlights: 2' 6" | Wall to wall: 75' | Distance between fly girders: 48' | Height of grooves: 18' | Number of grooves: 1 -- it could be taken up flush with the flyfloor | Grid height: 65' | Height of fly floor: 25' | Paint frame: yes | Depth under stage: 10' | Illumination: Gas and both AC and DC. The AC service was 110-220V, 200A. The stage data comes from the 1909-1910 edition of Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide.
The Princess is also listed in the 1919 edition of "Vaudeville Trails Thru the West." It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting it. They note that the theatre had 10 dressing rooms, none of which were at stage level. At the time, the stage was rigged with 35 battens. They say the proscenium was 35' wide. Henry's 1907-1908 edition had said the proscenium was only 32' wide.
Cahn's Guide for 1909-1910 noted that S. Loverich was the general manager with H.H. Campbell as secretary and Gerald L. Dillon as press agent. Loverich continued to operated the nearby Novelty Theatre after the Princess opened.
A March 27, 1909 ad for the Princess. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
An article that appeared in the January 15, 1910 issue of the San Francisco Call. Thanks to Scott Harris for locating it.
A photo of the cup presented by the musicians, which has stayed in the family. Thanks to Scott Harris for the photo.
A closer look at the inscription. The musicians names are on the back: F. Paret, S. Bennett, L. Cantilena, W. Dabelow, M. Earl, S. Greene, E. Keller, D. Kenney, F. Knell, J. Mundwyler, S. Polak, D. Schuchholz, H. Stahl, H. Strelitz, C. Wilson, F. Zeh.
The cover for a 1910 program. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the image.
The April 27, 1911 issue of the San Francisco Municipal Record reported that Samuel Loverich had been granted a permit to show movies at the Princess. Thanks to Cinema Treasures researcher Joe Vogel for the data. It's unknown how long Loverich continued to operate the theatre. Scott Harris notes that he died in 1926.
The
Garrick and the Princess are seen in this detail from the 1913 Sanborn
Fire Insurance Map. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it. Ellis St. is
running up the left side of the image and Eddy St. is on the right.
On October 14, 1935 it became the Ellis Theatre and operated as a third run movie house as well as still running occasional stage shows.
Vaudeville at the Ellis. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the ad in the October 8, 1943 issue of the Examiner.
The Ellis is seen on the left in blue in this detail from plate 346 of the 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Thanks to Aaron Goldstein for finding it on the Library of Congress website. Its neighbor the Orpheum/Garrick is shown in pink as a bowling alley and dance hall.
That's
Fillmore St. across the top. Note the gray marquee at 1329 as the
entrance to the long, long lobby for the two auditoria of the New Fillmore. See a wider map at the bottom of the page.
Closing: The Ellis closed in 1952. The building was later used as a church.
Status: The entire block, and most of the other structures in the neighborhood, got demolished in the 1970s.
A 1907 photo with the Princess still getting finished. It's from a scrapbook of Hamilton Henry Dobbin that's in the California State Library collection.
An undated photo by H. Blair from the San Fransisco Public Library collection.
A summer 1907 look at the two theatres from a Wild About Harry blog page about Houdini and a rival booked side by side at the two vaudeville houses. They comment:
"In 1907, Houdini was appearing in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theatre on Ellis Street near what's known as the Fillmore District. The Orpheum had relocated to the area while downtown was being rebuilt after the devastating earthquake and fire of 1906. Right next door to the Orpheum was another vaudeville house, The Princess. During the final week of Houdini's engagement, a rival escape artist, Brindamour, was booked into the Princess Theater.
"[The photo is]... from Brindamour's own scrapbook showing the side by side theaters at this time. In fact, you can see a Brindamour poster in front of the Princess. ...Today the Orpheum and Princess are long gone, and Ellis Street has been subdivided with a shopping center and condos.... But it's fun to know that, for one week in 1907, Houdini and Brindamour shared the street as co-handcuff kings." Thanks to Robert Muller for finding the photo.
A May 23, 1908 photo from the San Francisco Public Library collection. We're looking west across Fillmore St. to the Orpheum with the Princess Theatre beyond.
A
September 1908 view west on Ellis toward Webster. In the distance it's
the arch across the street at Fillmore. Thanks to Art Siegel for
locating this one in the Open SF History Project collection. It's a photo by John Henry Mentz from the United Railroads / McCormick Collection.
A view of the two theatres looking west after Orpheum had left and the theatre nearest us had been renamed the Garrick. Orpheum had moved back downtown when their new house was done in 1909. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.
A lovely 1910 view of the Garrick and Princess. We're looking west from Fillmore St. along Ellis in the heart of the then-thriving theatre district. Note the side wall sign still in that stylized Orpheum script -- but with Garrick replacing Orpheum. It's a photo on Calisphere from the Jesse Brown Cook scrapbooks in the UCB Bancroft Library collection.
A look northwest across Chutes Park after its May 1911 fire toward the back of the Garrick and Princess theatres. That chunk of building on the far right is
the stagehouse of the Chutes Theatre, later rebuilt as the Lyric with an entrance on Fillmore. It finished up as the American. It's a San Francisco Public Library photo.
A 1947 view of the Princess still running as a film house called the Ellis. Beyond, the
Garrick Theatre is in its Bagdad Bowl days. It's a photo from the Jack
Tillmany collection.
A detail from the 1947 photo.
The Princess after it got churched. Note that the boxoffice was still in place. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.
A 60s view from the Jack Tillmany collection. By this time the Garrick had also become a church. At the Princess the ticket lobby got walled in.
The two theatres in 1968. It's a photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection.
Near the end for the two. It's a Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Demolition was in the 1970s with the Garrick going first.
A c.1970 look at the theatre standing alone after the demolition of the Garrick. The photo is on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.
A 70s Tom Gray photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.
A c.1970 stagehouse view on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.
A c.1970 photo taken by Steve Levin looking at the screen ends of the 1917 and 1915 auditoria of the New Fillmore Theatre, 1226 Fillmore St., before demolition. We're looking north with the back wall of the Princess at the left. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for his copy of the photo.
A 1977 look at the stagehouse of the doomed theatre. It's a photo from Marilyn Berg Cooper on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.
More information: 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.
Cinema Treasures has a page on the theatre, which they list as the Ellis.
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