556 Broadway | map |
Opened: It was running in the late 1970s as part of Big Al's bar and strip club. The building is on the north side of the street just east of Columbus Ave.
A c.1978 view from the San Francisco Public Library collection.
"Comfortable Seating" to watch "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones." It's a 1979 photo by Jodi Darby that she shared on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered. She notes that she took the shot when taking a photography class from the U.C. Berkeley Extension.
They were still running the same double feature when Jonathan Orovitz snapped this shot looking toward Columbus. He says it dates from either September 1983 or January 1984 -- he wandered the area on two occasions. This is one of eight North Beach night views he shared in a 2022 post on the San Francisco Remembered Facebook page. Thanks, Jonathan!
Closing: It's unknown when Big Al's stopped showing movies.
The building in 2020. That's Columbus Ave. on the far left side of the image. Photo: Google Maps
More information: Wikipedia has a page on Big Al's. It includes a list of films the club has appeared in.
The Open SF History Project has this nice shot looking across Columbus c.1970 with no signage up yet for the theatre at Big Al's. Also see a 1967 photo.
