Opening: September 2, 1911 as the Cort Theatre with John Cort as proprietor. This pre-opening view looking toward Market is in the collection of the California State Library. A version from the Jack Tillmany collection appears on the Open SF History Project website. The theatre was on the north side of the street between Powell and Stockton. Before the 1906 earthquake and fire the site had been home to the five-story furniture and carpet store of Joseph Fredericks & Co.
The address listed in the city directories flops all over the place. In the early editions it's usually just listed as Ellis between Stockton and Powell, sometimes including the mention that it was on the north side of the street. In 1925 and 1926 (as the Capitol) it's listed as 64 Ellis St. In 1928 and 1930 they give it a 46 Ellis address. In 1938 and 1940 it's listed as at 50 Ellis St.
Architect: Unknown
Seating: It was around 1,700. The main floor sat 692 plus perhaps 24 in the six lower level boxes. The 1st balcony sat 492 plus perhaps 26 in the thirteen boxes along the rail and something like 24 in the six balcony level proscenium boxes. The 2nd balcony appears to be about the same size as the 1st.
A main floor seating chart from the 1915 San Francisco Blue Book. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the image from a copy of the book in his collection. Note who the manager was at the time.
The 1st balcony seating chart from the 1915 San Francisco Blue Book. The book didn't include a chart for the 2nd balcony, also known as the gallery. Thanks, Glenn!
An interior view from the collection of John Bosko that he shared on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page. Originally unidentified, it was determined to be the Cort when compared with the seating charts above. John notes: "It was taken by R.J. Waters, a noted San Francisco architectural photographer. Many of the images I have were taken soon after the 1906 earthquake and into the 19 teens. It has upwards of 1,300 seats on three levels, and dancing maidens on the circular ceiling....For what it's worth the Orpheum and the Cort theaters are the two that I have exterior shots of in the collection. c.1910-1915."
"The Cort, San Francisco's Latest Imposing Theatre." This drawing of the new playhouse appeared as part of "San Francisco's Theatrical Rehabilitation," an article on page 50 of the August 1912 issue of The Theatre Magazine. It's on Google Books. The continuation of the article gave an opening date of August 27.
The cover of the program for an August 10, 1915 Bohemian Grove concert. An inside page titled it "Concert of the Midsummer Music of Bohemia, performed by an orchestra and members of the club." See the club's Bohemian Grove Museum pages for what materials they have online.
A c.1915 program cover located on eBay by Art Siegel. The seller did include some inside pages of ads from the program in the sale listing, but nothing to indicate what show was playing. The bottom of the sculpture says "San Francisco." The text below that says "Green's Adv. Agency."
Peter M. Field, author of "The Tenderloin District of San Francisco Through Time," notes that Rector's, a Tenderloin café of dubious distinction, was in one of the theatre's storefronts in 1916 and was frequently listed as a site of police raids and on lists of places the reformers wanted to shut down. A Chronicle ad in 1916 listed the address as 36 Ellis and noted that it was under the Cort Theatre.
The Cort was renamed the Curran Theatre on September 22, 1918. Homer Curran was the operator.
The San Francisco Symphony onstage at the theatre in 1919. They had given their first performance at the Cort on December 8, 1911 and continued performing at the theatre after it was renamed the Curran. The Symphony later moved over to the Tivoli Theatre on Eddy St.
"Hello, Alexander," a minstrel show featuring James McIntyre and Thomas K. Heath. Thanks to Mark Reed for locating this ad in the October 17, 1920 issue of the Chronicle.
Messrs. McIntyre and Heath in a 1910 photo located by Mark Reed. He notes that the duo performed together for over 50 years in theatres in San Francisco and elsewhere.
Thanks
to Jack Tillmany for finding this image of the program cover for the
February 1921 appearance of Anna Pavlova at the theatre. Homer Curran's
name appeared on a theatre again when he built the present Curran Theatre on Geary St. in 1922.
The theatre was renamed Century in September 1921. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this September 3, 1921 ad for the Fox film "The Queen of Sheba." It was mistakenly posted on the Cinema Treasures page for the OTHER Curran Theatre, the present one on Geary St.
It reopened as the Morosco on September 3, 1922 with Oliver Morosco's production of the musical comedy "You'll Be Surprised." It became the Capitol on October 7, 1923. W.P. Cullen is listed as the manager in the 1925, 1926 and 1928 city directories. Peter Field notes that in 1926 there were several reports that the theatre was to be razed and a hotel-apartment building erected in its place but the deals didn't happen.
The cover of a 1930 program on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.
For much of the 1930s the Capitol was a 15 cent grind film house. Peter Field notes that in 1931 the assistant manager was one Eddie Skolak. He had come from Chicago and was living at the Hotel Butler at O'Farrell and Mason. Skolak had moved up to being listed as treasurer in the 1933 and 1934 city directories. Field says: "He was absent from the city directories in 1935 and 1936. Bet there’s a story there."
The Capitol goes Burlesque: In 1937 Skolak returned to the Capitol, this time as proprietor. The theatre began offering burlesque and was then known as the Capitol Follies.
A 1938 Follies program from the Jack Tillmany collection.
A portion of the inside of the 1938 Follies program.
A 1940 advertising card for the Follies. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Peter Field comments: "At the time, burlesque at
the Capitol must have made economic sense, located as it was in a
largely single male neighborhood, to say nothing of all the servicemen
coming to the Tenderloin from all the military bases around the Bay
Area. As a Tenderloin resident, Skolak was a little unusual. He held
steady jobs, and he lived in the same place—the Hotel Crossen on Ellis
between Powell and Mason—for a number of years. With his name,
occupation, and Chicago antecedents, he might have been a real
character, but a relatively dependable one. After all, he eventually
bought the President Theatre and kept it going to 1963. And he left a
substantial estate from its sale to his wife. Not so bad."
Closing: June 22, 1941 was the last day of operation. After the closing the Follies moved over to the President Theatre.
Status: The theatre was demolished in 1941. Its site is now the south end of the Ellis-O'Farrell Parking Garage. The Orpheum was where the north end of the garage now is.
More exterior views:
An early postcard view of the Cort. Many thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the card from his collection.
A 1911 look at the new theatre. Thanks to John Bosko for posting the photo from his collection on the BAHT Facebook page.
A detail from the same image that's in John Bosko's collection. This one, from Jack Tillmany, appeared on the Facebook page Lost San Francisco where they give a nice history of the San Francisco Symphony's wanderings around many different downtown theatres over the years. A smaller version of the photo is on the San Francisco Public Library website.
A 1918 photo with the San Carlo Opera appearing. The photo from the Jack Tillmany collection appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre. There's a smaller version of the image on the San Francisco Public Library website.
A November 1922 photo of the theatre as the Century from the Emiliano Echeverria / Randolph Brandt Collection. The event was the premiere of "Hunting Big Game in Africa With Gun and Camera" by Oakland hunter/explorer H.A. Snow (1869-1927). The photo is on the Open SF History Project website. There's also a version in the San Francisco Public Library collection from Jack Tillmany where they give it an October 24, 1921 date.
Another November 1922 "Hunting Big Game" photo from the Emiliano Echeverria / Randolph Brandt Collection. Thanks to Peter Field for spotting this one on the Open SF History Project website.
We're looking up from the corner of Market and Ellis in the 20s after the theatre got renamed the Capitol. It's a photo on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. There's also a smaller version from Jack Tillmany on the San Francisco Public Library website.
A July 16, 1928 photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection.
"Now Playing 15 cents Anytime" "3 Big Hits." It's a May 13, 1935 view of the theatre as a grind house. The photo from the Jack Tillmany collection appears on a Cinema Tour page. A detail from the photo is on the San Francisco Public Library website. The theatre was demolished in 1941.
Looking west toward Powell c.1956. The Morton-Waters Co. photo was to be cut up for art students' collage projects when it was rescued for inclusion in the Open SF History Project. They note that the garage was almost finished with a sign advertising an August 1 opening.
On Ellis looking toward Powell St. in 2016. The garage on the right sits on the site of the theatre. Photo: Google Maps
More information: Thanks to Peter M. Field for his research on the Cort. For a fine history of the neighborhood see his 2018 Arcadia Publishing book "The Tenderloin District of San Francisco Through Time." It's available through Amazon.
See the Cinema Tour page about the theatre, which they list as the Capitol. Cinema Treasures also has a page on the 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.
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