The Bridge Theatre, located at 3010 Geary Blvd., first opened in 1939, named after the city's newest attraction, the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sadly, the home of the self-proclaimed world's best popcorn, the 72-year-old Bridge Theatre at 3010 Geary Boulevard, closed its doors for good just before New Year's. In September 2012, the 45-year-old Lumiere on California Street in Nob Hill shut down its three screens after failing to reach agreement with its landlord.
The Bridge Theatre, located at 3010 Geary Blvd., first opened in 1939, named after the city's newest attraction, the Golden Gate Bridge. It was operated by Landmark Theatres, as was the Lumiere. Landmark operates the Clay Theatre, Embarcadero Center and Opera Plaza Cinema, which remain open, plus four in Berkeley and two in Palo Alto.
In "Theatres of San Francisco", author Jack Tillmany recalls a pre-multiplex time when every neighborhood boasted its own movie palace and locals came out in force, dressed to the nines, to see and be seen.
Consider the tragedies of lost San Francisco by Mother Nature's hand. The demolition of the opulent 1929 Fox Theatre and its magnificent Wurlitzer organ was an unfortunate chapter in the city's history. While a wrecker's ball is the last thing we'd care to see, it is sad to see so many of these movie palaces now standing vacant, others being used as fitness centers or for housing.
According to the San Francisco Examiner, six other theaters have closed in the past decade, including Upper Haight’s Red Vic Movie House which closed in July 2011 after 31 years.
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