The Capitol / Rio / Metro II / Mercury Theatre

2240 Union St. | map |

Opened: August 17, 1912 as the Cory Theatre. It got a little mention in an article in the August 31, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World that Jack Tillmany located. The location is on the north side of the street between Fillmore and Steiner.

The 1947 photo and ticket stubs are from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "In 1947, Line E, Muni's venerable Union Street trolley line, was converted from rail to rubber, and Muni's second trackless trolley line was born, soon to be rechristened Line #41 to conform with their new Post-WWII identification system (rail lines were lettered, rubber lines were numbered). Intrepid rail photographers captured the moment, and here's a newbie trolley coach Eastbound on Union approaching Fillmore, passing the Rio Theatre, with a few souvenirs of my infrequent visits."

Seating: 399 in later years.

 

It was a theatre in search of a name. It was called the Capitol from 1922 to 1924. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for this 1922 "First National Week" ad. It was a post on the site's page for the OTHER Capitol Theatre on Ellis St., a theatre that began as the Cort. 

This theatre was called the Crown in 1924 and 1925 and the Rialto in 1926. 

 

Looking for a partner in an Examiner classified ad in January 1926. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing this ad as well as other articles and ads in a post on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.  

It was called the Union Theatre from 1932 to 1941.

It reopened as the Rio on November 20, 1941. Jack Tillmany reports that "it only rated a tiny paragraph in the Chronicle, which mentioned it 'used a plastic screen, the only one in San Francisco!'" Maury Schwarz was operating the theatre in the 50s and early 60s. He also had the Bridge Theatre.

Later in the 60s it became the Toho Rio, running Japanese product.

 

 An April 1965 ad for the Samurai Series at the Toho that was located by Ken McIntyre.  

 

 "Samurai Assassin" playing in September 1965. 

 

A March 1966 ad Ken spotted for "Brand of Evil."  

United Artists Theatre Circuit reopened the house as the Metro II on August 16, 1968. The location was close to their Metro Theatre at 2055 Union St. 

 

A March 17 article that Ken McIntyre located.  

 

An ad for "Hugs and Kisses," the opening attraction for the rebranded Metro II.  

 

 A November 1979 ad for Bertolucci's "Luna." 

 

Getting near the end of UATC's tenure. It's a March 28, 1981 ad for "Private Benjamin" and "The Great Santini." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the research. See his post on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.  

UATC got out in 1982 and starting in October 1982 it went back to the Rio name under other management. 

On March 11, 1983 it reopened as the Mercury Theatre after being taken over by Marge and John Buckley of the Cento Cedar Cinema. Before running the Cento Cedar, the Buckleys had operated a 49 seat house in the Castro district called the Fether's Point Film Society. 

Status: It closed February 3, 1986 and was demolished in 1990.

 

More exterior photos: 

An entrance detail from the 1947 photo at the top of the page. 

A May 1961 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He notes: "Local showman Maury Schwarz took over the Rio and introduced foreign films. The SF Police Dept. has obligingly placed a No Parking sign out front but Maury doesn't seem to get it. It's in both Japanese and Chinese but not English. I can understand his confusion. 'Storm on the Silvery Peaks' was a story about an Austrian Olympic champ's romance with a Japanese sweetheart. Sounds interesting!"

This photo of the entrance is a screenshot from some Prelinger Archives footage. The film "Sararîman Chûshingura," also known as "The Masterless 47," opened at the Rio on June 7, 1963 according to Jack Tillmany. Thanks to Bob Ristelheuber for the photo, a post on the BAHT Facebook page. He also did a post of the actual Prelinger footage.

A photo taken by Jack Tillmany during the Toho Rio era. 

A 1964 look at the Rio. It's an Alan J. Canterbury photo in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library.

A final look at the Toho Rio in 1968. It's from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

The theatre as the Metro II in May 1969. The Tom Gray photo, from the Jack Tillmany collection, is on the San Francisco Public Library website. TJ Fisher comments: "This double bill really got around! I found it at a good dozen theaters around the Bay Area in 1969. It hit the Metro II on May 14th and ran until June 24th. ('Bullitt' was there before 'Petulia' arrived and stayed after she left.)"

A closer look at the theatre, a detail from the previous photo.  

An August 1975 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.

Back to the Rio name after United Artists Theatre Circuit left. It's a photo from Jack Tillmany. He comments: "The name returned to Rio 20 October 1982 with 'Diner,' which had previously played there in July as Metro II; reasons unknown; maybe UATC gave up their lease, and the Metro II identity had to be abandoned."

Gary Parks comments: "Despite the name changes in later years, the 'UA Brick,' as I call it--those little vertical (occasionally horizontal) courses of quartz masonry UATC loved to put in theatre entryways in the 60s--remained. Other UA houses which had it included the Regency and Golden State in Monterey, the Millbrae, and the Del Mar, in Santa Cruz."

A 1983 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. He comments: "With considerable fanfare, John Buckley, who had operated Cento Cedar as a repertory venue for several years, took over the former Rio, renamed it the Mercury, in honor of the famed Orson Welles company, and reopened 11 March 1983 with Jeremy Irons in 'Betrayal.' Despite high hopes, too much competition for the more lucrative first run product, and the inevitable parking problems doomed his enterprise, almost from the beginning, and it permanently closed 3 February 1986. It was torn down in 1990."

More information: See the Cinema Treasures on this one. They list it as the Mercury.

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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