El Capitan Theatre
2353 Mission Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94110
2353 Mission Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94110
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Ackerman and Harris, Fox West Coast Theaters Corp.
Architects: William H. Crim, G. Albert Lansburgh
Functions: Parking Garage
Styles: Baroque, Spanish Renaissance
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The El Capitan Theatre was built in 1928 for the Ackerman & Harris circuit, opening on June 29, 1928 with George Sidney in “We Americans” (a silent movie). This large 3,100-seat theatre in the Mission district offered a downtown stage and screen policy at neighborhood prices. It opened with 5-acts of vaudeville and Mel Hertz opening the 3 manual 11 ranks Wurlitzer (Style 235) pipe organ to accompany the silent film. The interior was a beautiful example of Spanish Renaissance style architecture while the outside was built with a splendid Mexican Baroque facade. It was equipped with Vitaphone sound-on-disc on October 26, 1928, screening “The Lion and the Mouse” starring May McAvoy. On September 20, 1929 it became part of the Fox West Coast Theatres chain.
It was closed by Fox West Coast Theatres on July 17, 1956. It was taken over by an independent operator and was equipped with CinemaScope, reopening on May 1, 1957 with Burt Lancaster in “Brute Force” & Barry Fitzgerald in “The Naked City”. It was closed on October 29, 1957. Another independent operators tried his luck by reopening on November 29, 1957 with a triple bill program: Randolph Scott in “7th Cavalry”, Lee J. Cobb in “Miami Expose” & Damaso Perez Prado in “Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!”, but failed and it closed on December 15, 1957.
The auditorium was converted into other uses, but a slavage sale was held offering all the interior artifacts and it was demolished in 1961 to provide a 350-car capacity car parking lot. Although the auditorium is long gone, the facade and attached hotel still stand, with the Moderne style marquee standing guard over the entrance to the theatre’s new use as a barren parking lot.
The demolition in 1961 of all but the decorative facade and the gutted foyer of the El Capitan Theatre, remains one of San Francisco’s major losses.
Contributed by
Juan-Miguel Gallegos
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Recent comments (view all 49 comments)
Vaudeville dancers at the El Capitan, 1932.
What remains of the El Capitan Theatre and Hotel was designated a San Francisco city landmark in 1996, which was unfortunately long after the auditorium had been demolished. A PDF of the Planning Commission document with the history of the building can be downloaded with this link. The document says that while G. Albert Lansburgh did in fact act as consulting architect on the project, the architect of record was William H. Crim.
Exterior photos from July 2015.
Constructed in 1928
Is the hotel building still used?
It’s still a hotel and even has a web site.
June 29th, 1928 grand opening ad in the photo section.
Not to be confused with that other el capitan theater which went by a different name..
Not sure how this matches the timeline posted here much earlier.
Boxoffice, Dec. 7, 1957: (under San Francisco notes) “El Capitan, one of the local theatres, is expected to be reopened soon by owner Ralph Dostal. It was closed October 30”
Irving C. Ackerman and Sam Harris announced the El Capitan project with hotel in November of 1926 along with George A. Oppenheimer. The $1.3 million project Fox West Coast was a Spanish Renaissance concept with adjoining hotel. Unfortunately for A-H-O, the cinematic universe completely changed in the 18 month buildout. The “most modern theatre” in San Francisco launched June 29, 1928 without sound making the circuit scramble as the Embassy - followed by several other houses - were making hay with talkies. The venue was hastily retrofitted for Vitaphone sound-on-disc technology on October 26, 1928 with the “Lion and the Mouse.” Ackerman and Harris would be gone quickly selling out to Fox West Coast Theatres effective with the September 20, 1929 show - fortunately prior to Black Thursday but not enough to save their bacon. In August of 1932, Ackerman & Harris had been dissolved and the hotel was auctioned off.
Fox West Coast Theatres downgraded the venue to a second-run discount house yet still with a live show. And its 40 cent maximum price point was the ticket as the venue thrived during the Depression and War years. Prior to its leasing expiry, Fox West Coast closed the El Capitan on July 17, 1956 and was subject of a taxing valuation hearing as the circuits successfully contended many urban movie theaters had plummeted in value in the TV age. The Captain’s chairs were vacant for about a year and sublet to independent operator Norman Smiley - likely hoping to steer the El Capitan to the end of its leasing period in 1958. He converted the aged venue to widescreen projection for presentation of CinemaScope titles. The El Capitan reopened as a deep discount house on May 1, 1957 with “Brute Force” and “Naked City” along with KYA-AM providing live coverage. He closed on October 29, 1957 failing to find an audience (and without a live radio exit show) and cutting his losses.
Ralph Dostal reopened here sharing the space with the Golden Gate Evangelistic Temple on November 29, 1957 with third-run triple features beginning with “The Cavalry,” “Miami Exposé” and “Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!” He threw in the towel quickly on December 15, 1957 likely finding no audience - at all. The space would be converted to other purposes.
In 1961, the Parking Authority approved a plan to demolish the El Capitan auditorium and gutting the lobby for a parking lot of around 350 spots. A salvage sale was held offering everything inside for sale. Demolished in 1961, the facade and the footprint of the lobby remained as a gutted pass-through to a parking lot in the auditorium’s former space.