Opening: Sometime around 1909. This entrance view with signage bragging they had "The most Spacious and Sanitary Auditorium in the City" appeared in the June 1910 issue of The Film Index.
The photo's caption: "Star Theatre, San Francisco, Cal. Rothchild & Frooman, proprietors. Seats 400. Admission, 5 cents. Photo by Bilkalem for The Film Index." Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the item from his collection.
The Star was nestled into the northwest corner of Chutes amusement park ark which was in the block bounded by Fillmore, Eddy, Webster and Turk. The park opened in 1907, the first version called Coney Island Park.
Closing: The Star closed with the burning of Chutes park in May 1911.
The arched entrance of the Star can be seen way down at the end of the block in this 1911 post-fire photo. We're looking north on Fillmore. Note the sign for the Musee nickelodeon in the second storefront at 1206 Fillmore. The stagehouse of the Chutes Theatre, the big theatre in the park, is visible in the upper part of the photo, right of the center. Thanks to John Freeman for sharing the photo from his collection.
The Star's entrance is seen on the far right in this 1911 view. We're looking east on Eddy St at the left and it's Fillmore St. on the right. The photo is from a scrapbook of Hamilton Henry Dobbin that's in the California State Library collection. The photo is also in the San Francisco Public Library collection.
That dark portal part way down the block was probably an exit from the Chutes Theatre. After a rebuild, it was reborn as the Lyric. Later it was renamed the American. See the page on the American Theatre for more photos of the park.
More information: Jack's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.
We also had a Star Nickelodeon nearby at 1939 Post St., running around 1907-08. Cinema Treasures has a page about the Star Theatre on Fillmore but the data is confused and one photo is of another theatre.
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