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Author Topic: San Francisco's Fox Theatre? Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 10-04-2013 01:46 PM                        While many of you attend Show West every year, I used to attend the Professional Photographers of America convention annually and most of the time it was in the mid west or the east coast. Only my way home, I used to always stop in San Francisco to see movies in many of the cities fine theatres, The theatres I have been to based on my memory include the Alexandria, Coronet, Warfield, Warner, Regency 1&2., Northpoint, Royal, Alhambra, Presidio, Kabuki, and a newer multiplex right next to where the Regency Theatres were, The only fine theatre I have not been to was the Fox because it was long gone before my first trip to the city, I have heard it was a fantastic house very much like the other grand old movie palaces that are now gone with the exception of a few like our Hawaii Theatre here in Honolulu that is now serving as a performance arts centre. How large was the Fox? Was it used for world premieres a lot and was it a road show house with 70mm? I heard it was on Market Street like the Warner and the Warfield. What proximity was it to those two thestres? What was the reasoning for it shutting down? -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mark Ogden Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 943 From: Little Falls, N.J. Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-04-2013 02:00 PM                     A good place to start would be the Cinema Treasures page on the Fox Theatre. As it turns out, the theatre still has an active webpage. You may be also interested in Jack Tillmany's excellent Theatres of San Francisco which I have and highly recommend. Very few great cities have taken it on the chin like San Francisco, as far as losing their single screen, movie palace history goes. How I wish I could have visited some of them.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-04-2013 03:02 PM                     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjFSKTvGBHE the closing of the SF fox  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 10-04-2013 06:49 PM                       The majority of the answers are in the links mentioned. The reason it closed is it was making no money due to its enormity and SF was in a wave of greedy and short sighted development. These were the same people who wanted to turn the bay into a l00 yard wide trench, just enough for ships to come and go. Sadly, this icon was replaced by a very ordinary 10 story or so Fox Plaza apartments. You had to be here to appreciate the greed. It took a bunch of Berkeley university wives to start a save the bay movement with spectacular outcomes. These days they would be thought of as commies trying to wreck developers rights to pillage the bay. Now back to your regularly scheduled program in progress...  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-04-2013 11:22 PM                     A piece about the Fox and the subsequent closing SF my grandmother recorded one day back in the early 90's http://www.lffltd.dreamhosters.com/fox The projectionist interviewed, Dick Bartel, has a roll of b/w negative from newsreel cameras showing the wrecking ball taking out the building. It's quite sad.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-02-2013 12:31 PM                     The Fox Theatre was just a 35mm 4-Track Mag Stereo house, no 70MM. The longest runs were 9 weeks with "The Robe" and "The King and I". And a few films that ran 5 week runs "The Egyptian", "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Carousel" & "Anastasia" and a hand full with 4 weeks. This house changed shows every week or so.  |  IP: Logged

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