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Author
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Topic: Forbidden City
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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 03-16-2015 10:00 AM
In my collection of "Old San Francisco Stuff" I have several matchbooks
and menus that came from the original Forbidden City nightclub:
Forbidden City is one of my favorite films, and I've owned a copy for years.
I've met & worked with Arthur Dong on several occasions, and in fact, I'll
be doing all the projection & tech-work at his next San Francisco
appearance this Friday night at NPC in Japantown.
The "Great Star" is an interesting time capsule of San Francisco Theater
history.
I believe that 'back in the day" they had both films and live shows there
because there is a complete "fly loft" for scenery flats above the stage.
The original (un-perforated) silent film screen is still hanging up there!
There are also a number of old scenery flats stored up in some 'loft wings'
located above and on either side of the stage.
As was mentioned, the place was once owned & operated by the Shaw
Brothers, and in the 1960's & 70's they showcased all their films there.
There's a whole stash of their films in the basement of the Great Star.
Many of them are IB Tech prints. Unfortunately, the films were stored in
the same room as building's the fire pumps and emergency water tank,
which at some point in the past apparently sprung a leak, partially flooding
the room, and so now the prints are useless, since mold has almost totally
eaten away all of the organic dyes used in the emulsion.
In 2005 or 2006, I was contacted by the owners to come in and give them
an estimate of what it would cost to get their film projection equipment
running again. At that time the Great Star had been shuttered for several
years, and only used occasionally for Chinese Operas and special events.
They they hadn't projected film for almost 7 years. Pigeons had actually
gotten in through a broken window and built a nest in one corner of the booth.
The place was a mess! Some equipment had been ripped out, and there were
a lot of bare wires everywhere.
The owners had given me keys to for building access,and when I first went
in, all the power was turned off since the building had been unoccupied
for some time. I had to get one of my Chinese buddies to come down to the
theater with me & help me turn on the circuit breakers because everything
was labeled in Chinese, and there were definitely some circuits I did
not want to energize!
Here are some pictures taken on one of those visits about 10yrs ago:
One of the projectors. Note the "rats nest" of wiring above.
The booth had been closed up for almost 7 yrs when these pictures were taken.
The schedule for the last film show they did was still hanging on the wall. It was dated 1999,and was all in Chinese.
I have a photo of it. According to a friend who can read
Chinese
This is the amp rack. They sound system was still full mono,
with phototube soundheads. I believe the amps were old TOA's,
and everything was labeled in Chinese. (Which is what you'd
expect to find at a Chinese theatre..... in Chinatown!)
Also in the basement, there was still an entrance to one of those old
tunnels that used to go under Chinatown. There are all sorts of wild
stories about the tunnels being used for everything from drug & sex slave
trafficking or that they lead to illegal underground opium dens and
gambling parlors. Other say they were simply used to take out the trash.
I don't know, but the tunnels make for some interesting stories & legends.
I was tempted to explore the tunnel a bit, but:
1) there was no lighting and the batteries in my mag-light were getting
weak from a full day's use exploring the theatre.
2) It was dank and dark and stank somewhat of sewage and rodent dung;
(Have you ever seen the size of the rats in Chinatown? I didn't want
to encounter one (or more) of them in an old, dark tunnel! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) )
I've head that the tunnel has since been walled up.
I love the Great Star!
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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 03-16-2015 03:21 PM
Terry-
The last time I was at the Great Star, which was about 7 years ago, the
downstairs walls were covered with some sort of pleated fabric, almost
exactly the same stuff that's on the walls at The Balboa in San Francisco.
I also remember it was in bad shape- - some of it having been eaten
away in spots by moths or mold. (Or both!)
The upstairs walls in the balcony were bare cement or stucco if I recall.
The ceiling lights are VERY "1960's", and probably put in when Shaw Bros
ran the place. Frank Lee, who owns & runs The 4 Star theater in SF and
grew up in Chinatown tells me that there used to be sort of "Chinese
Lantern" style of chandeliers. You can see the those 60's lighting fixtures
in the photo below, and also the bulbs around the proscenium, that you
mentioned, which were apparently working when I took this picture in
October of 2008:
The Great Star is mostly used for live Chinese cultural events now, but
I've heard from several sources that when they do show some sort of
video there, that the projection & picture are horrible.
To answer your other question- "Forbidden City" was shot on 16mm.
I once worked on a project with Curtis Choy, who did the sound recording
for "Forbidden City" and he was telling me what a delight all those old
performers were to interview and work with. It's sad many are gone now.
I dug through my archives, and here's a picture of just some of the old
film that was piled up in one of several rooms in the basement that
I mentioned in my last post. (2005 photo)
Most of these are Shaw Bros films. Unfortunately, due to a water leak
and the constant dampness, every reel I looked at was covered with mold:
Part of my previous post got corrupted, and it was too late for me to
go back & edit it.
What I wanted to say was that in 2005, the film schedule for the last day
they ran film was still hanging on the wall. It was dated July 1999, and
was all in Chinese. I have a photo of it, and a friend of mine who can
read Hanji tells me that their schedule on the final day was a double
feature of two Hong Kong films. One was called "Where A Good Man Goes".
The 2nd film doesn't translate cleanly to English, but a literal translation
of the tilte is "The King Of Debt Collecting Agency".
WoW! - "Actual Photo" This was hanging in the projection room.
(2005 Photo)
You can find both these titles on IMDB, and I was able to confim that
that indeed was the Great Star's last 35mm show, since there were still
a wholebuncha of 1999 newspapers in the booth and managers office!!
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