Wednesday, March 16, 2011

El Capitan Parking Lot

old theatre sign behind a jumble of signs, Mission Street

A few months ago I wrote a post about grand old movie palaces featuring a couple photos of the El Capitan on Mission Street.  Here is another shot of the former theatre, now a parking lot:



 
In the '50s there were over seventy movie palaces in San Francisco.  On Mission Street alone between 16th and 24th you could find the Victoria, Tower, Crown, New Mission, Grand and El Capitan.  Today only a few of those seventy remain.
              
Meanwhile in Los Angeles the El Capitan on Hollywood Boulevard where Citizen Kane premiered in 1941 was restored and is still in operation but only screens kid stuff by Disney.  Too bad it doesn't present a wider variety of films but maybe going to a show there will inspire a new generation to keep up the precious few movie palaces that are left. 

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