Opened: 1909. A theatre at this location was listed as the Venice in the June and December 1909 telephone directories. The building is on the west side of the street between Geary and O'Farrell. The theatre was demolished and a new one built on the site.
Architect: Frank S. Holland designed the 1910 replacement building for the Premium Theatres Co.
Seating: Nearly 1,000 was the boast. It was probably more like 800.
Another July 1910 news account about the construction of the new theatre on the site. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection.
The November 17, 1910 issue of the San Francisco Call had this item in their Building Contracts column that was spotted by Art Siegel via the California Digital Newspaper Collection website:
The replacement theatre was called the Premium, and is listed as such in the October 1910 and April 1911 telephone directories. The opening date is unknown.
There had been an earlier Premium Theatre at 1305 Fillmore, a venue that became the Quality
Theatre when the company moved their name to this new location. Louis R. Greenfield became the operator of the Quality.
This new theatre is listed as being operated by Premium
Theatres Co. in the 1911 Crocker-Langley city directory. The company was also listed as operating the Premium Theatre at 1063 Market St. and the Premium at 2550 Mission. That Mission location was later called the Idle Hour and then turned into the lobby for the New Mission.
This Premium at 1525 Fillmore is listed as the Gayety in the 1911 and 1912 city directories. At some point the Premium Theatres Company was bought out by Louis R. Greenfield. He soon dropped the Premium on Market St. to focus on neighborhood houses. He remodeled this theatre and it became the Progress on June 30, 1912. For a while he also continued to operate the Quality at 1305 Fillmore.
A closer look at the east end of the block. The theatre, here with a 1535 address, is indicated as being of "Reinforced Concrete Fire Proof Construction." That structure at Geary and Fillmore, here seen as the Majestic Hall, is now the concert venue known as The Fillmore. Thanks, Art!
The 1913 city directory uses a 1527 address. In 1914 the best they can do is "between Geary and O'Farrell."
Sometime before 1915 Greenfield acquired Leon L. Kahn as a partner and the firm morphed into Kahn and Greenfield. In addition to the Progress and the Mission district's Idle Hour they also had the New Fillmore (1529 Fillmore St.) and the All-Star (2030 Sutter, formerly the Victory, later the Sutter). By 1916 they had dumped the All-Star.
Greenfield, the surviving partner of the firm Kahn & Greenfield, was profiled in "Public Is Boss Slogan, Key To Success," an article in the December 9, 1922 issue of the San Francisco Call. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it via the California Digital Newspaper Collection. The history of the circuit was also discussed in "Good Luck Fairy's Magic Wand Nothing But Hard Work...," a
story that appeared in the December 10, 1922 issue of
the Chronicle.
Closing: 1925. The space was then used for retail.
Status: The restaurant State Bird Provisions opened c.2010 in one of the building's storefronts at 1529 Fillmore St. In 2015 the team running State Bird, Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza, added a second restaurant in the actual theatre space, called The Progress.
Looking north on Fillmore during the September-October 1913 Fillmore Street Carnival. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. The arched facade of the Progress is in the shadows on the left.
A detail from the 1913 photo. Up near Sutter St. we get a view of the side of the Class A Theatre at 1745 Fillmore St. It was later known as the Temple Theatre.
An article profiling the Kahn & Greenfield circuit in the July 10, 1915 issue of Moving Picture News. It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the article for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. The All-Star was the former Victory Theatre and ended up as the Sutter.
A September 2, 1916 Moving Picture World ad. It's on Internet Archive.
A closer look at the theatre images used in Moving Picture World. Note the new vertical sign on the Progress. Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for adding this version to her Vintage Cinemas: California album on Flickr, a compendium of many interesting trade magazine items.
The building in 2017. Photo: Google Maps
An aerial view from Google. Thanks to William David French for it.
More information: See Cinema Treasures page about the Progress. But there's not much there.
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.
A 2012 SF Gate article profiled the restaurant and discussed the team's expansion plans.
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