Castro Theatre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Castro Theatre, San Francisco, California.

The Castro Theatre, a popular San Francisco movie palace and historic landmark in the Castro district, built in 1922, with a Spanish Colonial Baroque façade that pays homage - in its great arched central window surmounted by a scrolling pediment framing a niche - to the recently rebuilt basilica of Mission Dolores nearby. Its designer, Timothy L. Pflueger, also designed Oakland's Paramount Theater and other movie theaters in California in that period. The Castro Theatre opened on 22 June 1922 for an invitation-only screening, with local luminaries such as Mayor James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, of the Paramount release Across the Continent (1922), starring Wallace Reid. The theater opened the following day to the general public. The Nasser brothers, who built the theater and who still own it, also owned several movie houses in the San Francisco area. The interior is luxurious and ornate, with subtly convex and concave walls and ceiling and a dramatic Wurlitzer pipe organ that is played before performances. The large neon "Castro" sign, visible from much of the city, is emblematic of both the theatre and the Castro District.

The extravagant interior ceiling and chandelier of the Castro Theatre, as it appears in the darkened movie hall.

Today, The Castro hosts repertory movies, film festivals, and special events, including gay and/or multicultural focus, such as The San Francisco International Film Festival, Noir City: The Film Noir Festival, The SF Asian American Film Festival, The German Film Festival, The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, SF Indiefest, The Silent Film Festival, Midnites for Maniacs, and the "Shock It To Me!" Classic Horror Film Festival.

The Castro Theatre is located on Castro Street near the intersection of Market/17th Streets across from the Castro Street Station on the Muni Metro subway.