The Former Royal Theatre – 1529 Polk Street, Nob Hill, San Francisco, California

The Royal Theatre opened on September 6, 1916. It was built at a cost of $200,000 by Oppenheimer, Karski and Levi. It was designed by two of San Francisco’s most prominent architects, James William Reid and his brother Merritt J. Reid, who created a number of San Francisco landmarks during the "City Beautiful" period.


The Royal could accommodate 1,515 patrons when it opened. The opening program featured Ella Hall in the film "Little Eve Edgarton." The story of the film was adapted from a novel by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, a nationally recognized author of the time. It tells of an improbable romance that blossoms between two characters who under most circumstances would never give one another the time of day. Eve is a shy girl who is remarkably talented and intellectually gifted, while her eventual beau Jim Barton is a social climber and dandy who tends to focus on the superficial.


But I digress. The theatre was completely remodeled in the art deco style by Timothy Plfueger during the mid-1930’s for the Nasser Brothers chain which operated it at the time. The remodeling eliminated every trace of its original appearance. Unfortunately, no pictures of its first look seem to have survived. Since the theatre’s narrow stage was incapable of properly accommodating wide screen CinemaScope projection of the 1950’s and 60’s, the screen was situated in front of the proscenium, While this provided audiences with a most satisfactory wide screen presentation, it also masked many of the architectural elements of the theatre’s interior.


In its heydey, The Royal welcomed sellout audiences for such films as The Great Escape or Deliverance, and Blum’s Soda Fountain across the street (on the SW corner of Polk and California) was a great place to have an ice cream treat before or after the movie. But the stretch of Polk Street on which the theatre was located became run-down as time passed. The Royal Theatre’s last day of operation was February 22, 1998. The building was demolished in June of 2003 except for its art deco facade which was incorporated into the furniture store and six-story housing unit that were constructed on the site.