220 Jones St. | map |
"Romaine
was a
legitimate photographer with clients like KNBC at Taylor and O’Farrell
streets who sent their disc jockeys and other talent there for
professional photos. Karl and his wife Emilie quickly achieved stature
and success as one of the premier professional photography studios in
the city, specializing in photographing dancers and theater performers,
as well as entertainers in general. Both were well-known photographers.
He was the president of the Professional Photographers Association of
California, and active in the annual Western States Photographers
Convention and the Photographers Association of America."
Mohawk Productions Film Studio was listed from 1961 to 1964, managed by a guy named Walter Bowley. Peter notes that they advertised acting classes in 1961 (mentioned in 'Special Notices,' on page 43 of the March 26, 1961 Chronicle). Also sharing the premises in 1961 was the TV-Film Registry -- "no experience necessary.” Peter notes:
"Walter
Bowley was listed as the director for an effort titled 'The Saucy
Aussie,' also known as 'The Oblong Couch' in 1963, associated with a
production company that did only XXX titles. A Herb Caen item on page 17
of the June 30, 1964 Chronicle mentioned Mohawk filming a nudie movie,
'Follow That Skirt.' So it seems pretty clear that Mohawk’s film
production business was pornography."
Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this c.1967 Tom Gray photo from his collection. He comments:
"This photo caught it just in time, as it had just recently
been abandoned by its former occupants and had taken on a new identity
as The Screening Room, a pioneer tenderloin X-rated venue, but had not
yet changed the original signage."
A Tom Gray Photo from the Jack Tillmany collection showing the venue's remodeled facade and new signage. Jack notes that the Musicians Union was upstairs in the brick building on the left.
Peter Field notes:
"A 1977 San Francisco Examiner expose of the Tenderloin listed the Screening Room
property as owned by Alex DeRenzy, the guy who made the first
feature-length XXX movie in the United States after attending a film
festival in Scandinavia. The business permit owner was one Kathryn A.
Reed."
A 1981 ad for the Screening Room as a gay venue. Thanks to Peter Field for providing it. He notes that it came from Chris Carlsson.
On August 22, 1986 it was renamed the Campus Theatre. This 1987 Tom Gray photo is from the Jack Tillmany collection.
Peter Field has a story about new tenants next door:
"An only in San Francisco moment happened during this period when the San Francisco Rescue Mission (which has been in the neighborhood since around 1987) bought the old Musicians Union building next door in 1997. In 2001, they started picketing the Campus Theatre next door, so Terrance Allen, who himself was a gay pornographer of many years standing (who mostly starred in his own films), complained to the Mayor’s Office of Community Services, claiming his business was being harassed, coming up with lines like they 'aggressively prayed' in front of his business and calling the behavior 'homophobic.' Allen made enough money in the Sixties and
Seventies to donate to the Democratic Party, which eventually earned him
an appointment to the Entertainment Commission. He was a controversial
figure in the Tenderloin because of his proliferation of XXX businesses
and his later opening of several clubs that all became major trouble
spots.
"By 2004 the Mission had started a Christian school on the site and the business, now the Chez Paree, was being picketed by students from the school. Interestingly, the students would picket from 3 to 5, 5 being when Chez Paree opened for business. Meanwhile, Reverend Huang, the Korean minister who runs the Mission, went on a hunger strike over the issue. Articles on the issue included 'Missionaries pray for gay club’s demise, but city helps to settle the dispute' (Central City Extra, August/September 2001), 'Rescue Mission tries to save face' (Central City Extra, June 2004) and 'Dog Bites' (San Francisco Weekly, August 4, 2000)."
A c.2005 photo taken by Peter Field of the venue as Chez Paree, the last of four locations to use that name. He comments:
"The Leg never made it to the last site on Jones Street, as my photo confirms. My friend John Law, who has worked in the Bay
Area sign industry for decades, says the last he heard Terrance Allen
had acquired it. Allen was (maybe still is) the owner of 220 Jones where
the last incarnation of Chez Paree was located. But Allen never installed the sign on
Jones Street."
Status: By 2011 the former screening room had become Power Exchange. It's still in business. Peter comments:
"It's a sort of quasi-consensual sex joint that moved from Mason near Market because of the objections of many neighborhood activists and residents. It got more objections in its new location, but somehow managed to hang on."
The locations of the Barbary Coast / Chez Paree 'Leg Sign':
Thanks to Peter M. Field for his research. 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.
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