1034 Kearny St. | map |
Opened: December 6, 1957 as a foreign film house called The Movie, operated by Larry Jordan and partners. They used Raymond Rohauer as a supplier for at least some of their films. The building is on the east
side of the street just south of Broadway, across from the Tosca Cafe. It's next door to the building that used to house the Kearny Cinema, 1030 Kearny.
An opening day ad located by Jack Tillmany. He notes that "The Proud & the Beautiful" was the US release title of the highly rated 1953 French film "Les orgueilleux." As far as that "newest and most beautiful foreign film theatre... intimate in tone... elegantly quiet..." copy, Jack adds:
"In reality, it was quite dark, one aisle down the middle, as usual, expresso coffee in the lobby. But OK."
The building in 1943 with The Camel Club as a tenant. Thanks
to Jack Tillmany for locating this image by an unknown
photographer. The Il Trovatore Restaurant to the right was later the home of the Kearny Cinema.
A shot by Jack Tillmany taken about November 1961 when The Movie was running "Hiroshima mon amour" and "The 400 Blows." He comments:
"Definitely some worthwhile programs there its first ten years. Went there quite often. Personnel converted screen size from standard to scope with hand held folding shutters. It worked! Cute trick!"
The August 1964 photo by Alan Canterbury from the Jack Tillmany collection that appears on the Open SF History Project website. "The
Girl With the Golden Eyes" was a French film released in the US in 1962
that starred Marie Laforêt, Paul Guers, Françoise Prévost and Françoise
Dorléac. "Candide," also released in the US in 1962, starred Jean-Pierre
Cassel, Pierre Brasseur, Daliah Lavi. The program opened at The Movie in June 1964.
Thanks to David Miller for sharing this photo taken by Clay Geerdes c.1967. It was a post on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. And thanks also to Kevin Walsh for spotting it. "Knife in the Water" was available in the US in 1963. "Mother Joan of the Angels" got a US release in 1962. Gary Meyer comments:
"Just off Broadway next to Tommaso's Italian
Ristorante was The Movie that started as an art house run by Bill Raney
who did some innovative programs and shorts compilations like 'What is
Camp' and 'The Acid Test.' He sold it (and moved to Santa Cruz to build
the lovely Nickelodeon with a glass enclosed booth so you could watch
the projectionist and changeovers). Lou Sher's Art Theater Guild took
over with Les Natali as General Manager and renamed it The North Beach
Movie."
It became The North Beach Movie and went to a porno policy on March 27, 1967. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the opening day ad. He notes that at the time of the change it was operated by the same team running the Presidio Theatre.
Ter Solomon comments:
"I worked at the NB Movie just after Lou Sher bought it from Bill Raney, and later on bought the Kearny Cinema as a co-owner with fifty per cent silent investor Les Natali. We had great fun making films and operating the theatres. And you may know that Kenneth Anger lived above The Movie before Sher bought it."
Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this c.1968 photo by Tom Gray. It's on the Open SF History Project website. Note the signage advising us that they're exhibiting their films in the latest high tech process called "Beaverama."
Nature enthusiast Gary Parks asked:
"Isn’t that the kind of lens and film Disney used on their True Life Adventure 'Beaver Valley'?"
But when he conferred with his wife Rebecca, she commented:
"Beaverama?! You wouldn’t use anything remotely like Cinerama to film a beaver! You’d have to use Tunnel Vision!"
Jack found this October 25, 1969 Herb Caen item in the Chronicle:
"Les Natali, the theater owner, is begging for another bust. He has a
duplicate print of that dirty movie filmed aboard a Muni bus - 'Seat of
Passion: Park of Pleasure' - and starts running it tonight at his North
Beach Movie. The cops already have the original print, but I guess they
can always use another. As for the bus, Good Old No. 2603, it is having
its seats cleaned."
A 1969 view by an unknown photographer. It was shared in a 2023 post on the Facebook page Historic San Francisco.
Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this 1969 photo by Tom Gray. '69 Expo is the venue that was later rebranded as the Kearny Cinema.
A c.1972 photo by Clay Geerdes of the North Beach Movie and the '69 Expo.
Another c.1972 Clay Geerdes photo. Thanks to Kevin Walsh for locating these.
"We Need No Barkers - We Have the Best Hardcore." And you got free coffee! It's a c.1973 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection.
In the 1973 city directory Sam Calhoun was listed as manager.
"This Is The Real Thing!" And you even got a patriotic color scheme for the bicentennial. It's a 1976 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Thanks to Jonathan Orovitz for sharing this September 1983 photo he took.
Looking south on Kearny from Broadway in January 1984. On the left it's the North Beach Movie running "Hungry Slave Girls" and "Forced Submission." That's the Kearny Cinema beyond. On the right it's the future Lusty Lady with the dark signage of the Palladium Club beyond. It's a photo by Jonathan Orovitz, one of eight North Beach
night views he shared in a 2022 post on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. Thanks, Jonathan!
Closing: The date is unknown. In 2007 there was a "For Lease" sign stuck onto the former theatre's readerboard.
Status: The ground floor that was once the theatre is now home to the non-profit organization North Beach Citizen.
The building in 2020. The Secrets boutique beyond was once the Kearny Cinema. Photo: Google Maps
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.
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