365 Wow Places:
If you like these posts, click here to subscribe. (It don’t cost nuthin’.) And feel free to pass them along to your friends, family and colleagues!]
Wow Place #274: Castro Theater, San Francisco, CA
I went to a movie, the other day, at a perfectly respectable “multiplex” theater. The sound was good. No one was blocking my view. And my leather chair actually reclined! This wasn’t, however, what I’d call a “luxurious” experience. The theater was plain and boxy, there were no decorations on the walls or ceiling. And God forbid they’d have a velvet curtain on the screen. But hey, what do you want for $12?
There was a time, though, when movie theaters were SO much grander than they are today. Back in the 1920s and 30s, if you wanted to see the latest movie with Charlie Chaplin, or Greta Garbo, or Mary Pickford, you’d get in your Model T Ford and drive to the nearest movie palace, a structure of extravagant ornamentation. Your movie-going venue might reference any number of exotic visual styles, varying wildly from one to the next. Here you might find a theater in the French Baroque style. There you might discover one in the High Gothic style. Across town, you might stumble upon a movie palace done up in Moroccan ornamentation, or Mediterranean, Spanish Gothic, Hindu, Babylonian, or Egyptian Revival style(after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922).
The wealth of ornamentation wasn’t just for aesthetic effect. The theater owners meant to create a fantasy environment, transporting you to a world of exotic opulence. Needless to say, you didn’t wander into a classic movie palace in shorts and flips flops; this was a dress-up opportunity – a chance for someone from any social class to feel like they were someone important, someone special.
Alas, you don’t find many movie palaces from that era anymore, and if you do, they’ve likely been converted to a regular theater showcasing concerts, plays and operas.
The ones that are left are indeed special – and one of the very best still in existence is the Castro Theater in San Francisco.
Located at 429 Castro Street, the theater was built in 1922 with a “California Churrigueresque façade” paying homage to the nearby basilica of Mission Dolores. Its main façade features a great, arched central window surmounted by a scrolling pediment framing a niche. Opening on June 22, 1922, the Castro’s first screening was strictly invitation only: various members of the glitterati were in attendance, including Mayor James “Sunny Jim” Rolph. The object of their attention? Paramount Pictures’ “Across the Continent,” starring Wallace Reid. The Castro Theatre opened to the general public the following day.
I can only imagine what it must have been like to walk into the Castro in the 1920 and 30s… stepping through the lobby into the main hall… being greeted by ornate decorations as far as the eye can see… gazing with delight at the subtly convex and concave walls and the extravagant ceiling, featuring a massive, art deco chandelier.
And to top it all off, at the Castro you’re welcomed by a Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ performance, a tradition that continues to this day. Savvy movie-goers cleverly use the organ music to time their arrival; after all, when the organist starts playing “San Francisco, Open your Golden Gate,” you know that is the signal for the show to begin.
How the single-screen, 1,400-seat Castro Theater survives today in the era of home streaming and multi-screen, multiplexes is beyond me. Although currently closed for renovation and historic restoration, its best days may still be ahead. At least one can hope!
(Although most of us don’t have the resources to decorate our own living spaces in an “exotic opulent style,” I wonder, “What can we do – at least occasionally — to transform our daily lives into something extra-ordinary?” Can we add rosebuds to our bath tubs? Can we light candles and burn incense when we’re meditating? Can we have a movie night with film posters on the wall and popcorn served in movie theater buckets? Can we dress to the nines and go shopping at the local mini mart?!! The possibilities are endless.)