Forward of the yearlong (or longer) closure of the Castro Theatre — which embarks on a renovation mission deliberate to incorporate the controversial elimination of the fastened orchestra seating, renovating the constructing’s techniques and restoring components of the inside — Chronicle employees writers Allen Johnson and Tony Bravo received collectively to share their recollections of the 101-year-old film home. Given Berkeley-based theater administration firm One other Planet Leisure’s emphasis on making the Castro a mixed-use venue, it felt acceptable to give attention to remembrances of movie programming previous, from festivals to the every day repertory.
The last screening earlier than the closure will likely be a singalong of the musical “Victor/Victoria” at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4.
From administrators Orson Welles and Gus Van Sant to presenters Marc Huestis and Peaches Christ, many shared themes emerged between the writers. Most of all, each hope that movie continues to be an essential a part of the Castro’s identification when it reopens.
AJ: I moved to the Bay Space in October 1996. I realized instantly how particular the Castro was later that month. The primary movie I noticed in San Francisco was the 70mm restoration of “Vertigo,” the primary week it was out. I had by no means seen a film palace so crowded — it was near a 1,400-seat sellout.
Turned out it was the top-grossing theater in america for that week — even over theaters enjoying the brand new Leonardo DiCaprio-Claire Danes film “Romeo + Juliet.”
TB: My first movie was the recut director’s model of “A Contact of Evil” after I was 14. When director and star Orson Welles got here on the display screen, the viewers broke into applause and I discovered my cinema tribe.
AJ: Do you keep in mind your first dwell occasion there? I’m unsure I do. Certainly one of my fondest was Wu Tang Clan’s RZA dwell DJ’ing the ’70s Hong Kong martial arts traditional “The thirty sixth Chamber of Shaolin.”
TB: It should have been one in all Marc Huestis’ legendary occasions the place he introduced again previous Hollywood stars for talks and screenings. Over time I noticed Patty Duke, Jane Russell, Rita Moreno and Debbie Reynolds, amongst others. Later on the Frameline competition in 2022, I interviewed Marc and Lauretta Molitor onstage after her documentary about Marc, “Impresario.”
AJ: My final Marc Huestis occasion — you wrote about it! — was Kim Novak and “Vertigo.” She was interviewed onstage by Eddie Muller, then she partied with followers at Twin Peaks bar afterward.
TB: That screening was the one time my grandmother requested to go on task with me; she’s an enormous fan. Kim kindly took a photograph with us on the after-party, and my grandmother appreciated to casually present it to her associates.
AJ: Bless your grandmother! You’re proper, the Castro has been an actual treasure to older stars who might have felt forgotten. To fill an enormous theater like that and have individuals hanging in your each phrase when your final hit was a long time in the past have to be an awesome feeling. I like all of them.
TB: I do know we each even have a particular affection for the San Francisco Silent Movie Competition. It’s magical seeing a silent movie in a home that was constructed for silent films with dwell music.
AJ: Agreed. But in addition, there have been new movies that made historical past. Two world premieres that come to thoughts are Gus Van Sant’s “Milk,” which options the Castro within the movie, in 2008; and likewise “The Matrix Resurrections” in December 2021. I imply, shutting down the block for Keanu Reeves!
TB: To be a homosexual man watching queer historical past in “Milk” with a protest scene the place they approached the theater gave me chills. After I began protecting premieres and screenings for the Chronicle a couple of years later, I had one other expertise that resonated deeply when HBO’s “Wanting,” a collection about homosexual males round my age residing in San Francisco, premiered there. The Castro Theatre was a cinephile mecca and a queer haven. It’s such an essential a part of the LGBTQ group’s shared historical past.
AJ: Nicely mentioned. It means a lot to so many individuals, together with us. Andrew Haigh, who’s received an awesome movie out now known as “All of Us Strangers,” instructed me he went to the Castro Theatre on a regular basis when he lived right here making “Wanting.”
TB: So many nice filmmakers have instructed me they beloved seeing films there. John Waters and John Cameron Mitchell have each paid tribute to it. Waters known as it “Radio Metropolis Music Corridor for homosexual individuals in San Francisco .”
“Victor/Victoria” Singalong: 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4. $15 advance/$20 on the door. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. www.castrotheatre.com
AJ: Martin Scorsese was right here to current “The Irishman” in 2019. It was only a few months earlier than the pandemic. He mentioned he first got here to the theater in 1971 to see a restoration of Abel Gance’s silent traditional “Napoleon” and known as it a “very particular place for cinema.”
TB: Most memorable interview you probably did there?
AJ: Ethan Hawke, years in the past. He was on the mezzanine, and he was making an attempt to turn into a director. I used to be a younger interviewer with not that a lot expertise, and he handled me significantly and was very expansive and considerate in his solutions.
How about you?
TB: Speaking to Rita Moreno in regards to the new “West Aspect Story.” We mentioned the rape scene in each variations of the movie and the way it felt like her character within the 2021 model was in some methods rescuing Rita’s youthful self as a result of she saves Anita (performed by Ariana DeBose) within the new movie.
AJ: I received one. What was your most cliched expertise on the Castro? I’ll inform you mine. I as soon as took a date to “Casablanca.” I imply, apparent, proper? However I’d by no means seen it in 35mm, so …
TB: Getting a PG-13 “lap dance” throughout one in all Peaches Christ’s screenings of “Showgirls.” Earlier than you suppose I pulled a Lauren Boebert, it was a part of the preshow: a free lap dance with each giant popcorn!
TB: Did you might have a favourite singalong? I’m a “Sound of Music” man.
AJ: Truly I by no means went to a singalong! Ought to I am going to “Victor/Victoria” on Sunday?
TB: Sure!
AJ: The closest I’ve been to a singalong is after I went to see my all-time favourite movie, “The Woman from Shanghai.” I do know all of the strains, so sort of a speakalong? It was 2010 and Peter Bogdanovich was in dialog with good ol’ Jan Wahl.
TB: It at all times comes again to Orson Welles. Did you ever see a film there that modified you as a cinemagoer? I noticed Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” and felt like I’d had a spiritual expertise on this cathedral to movie.
AJ: I wouldn’t name it a spiritual expertise, however I noticed an awesome print of “Experiment in Terror” (1962) someday within the aughts. That was filmed in San Francisco, and it’s uncommon in that in every single place they mentioned they have been, they have been really there. In different phrases, once they mentioned “Meet me at twenty fifth and Clement,” the following scene they have been really there.
It was an awesome film and I keep in mind strolling out in complete peace, considering as somebody who grew up within the Midwest, how fortunate I’m to have the ability to go to a theater like this and see an awesome film that principally was made proper outdoors the theater doorways. There’s simply no place prefer it.
TB: What are your hopes for the way forward for the Castro? And can you attempt to seize one of many previous seats in the event that they find yourself in a dumpster?
AJ: My hopes are the redesign will really be workable — at the very least sufficient to get again the large festivals and occasions like a Peaches Christ present. All we are able to do is cross our fingers.
A seat? Unsure the place I’d put it! I like the concept although.
TB: I share your hopes, and I’ll redo my lounge to accommodate a row of seating. Within the meantime, I’ll see you on the Roxie, the Grand Lake, the Vogue, the Balboa, the 4 Star, the Stanford and the opposite nice impartial film homes within the Bay Space.
AJ: You most definitely will! Subsequent bag of popcorn is on me.
Attain Tony Bravo and Allen Johnson: tbravo@sfchronicle.com, ajohnson@sfchronicle.com
