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Building History

The second Alcazar Theatre opened on 03/18/1907 replacing the first, built in 1885, that burned in the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 04/18/1906. The Alcazar Theatre #2 originally occupied a corner site and was done in the Mission Revival Style. The Alcazar Theatre #2 operated under several names: New Alcazar (1907-1911); Republic (1912-1925); Sutter (c. 1926-1929) Uptown (1930-1970);The Alcazar Theatre #3 operated on a different site (260 O'Farrell Street) under various names: the Alcazar (c. 1911-1922), Wilkes Alcazar (1922-1924), Federal (1937-1939), United Nations (1945-1952) and Alcazar (again) (1952-1961). (See "San Francisco Theaters, Cinemas, Dancehalls, after 1906,"accessed 04/27/2015.)

In 1910, it was owned and operated by actor and theatre manager Isaac Frederic Belasco (1862-1920), brother of the famed impressario and playwright David Belasco (1853-1931) and Maurice E. Mayer. According to the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Culture at the University of California: "In 1894, Frederic Belasco, David's brother, formed the Alcazar Stock Company in San Francisco with M.E. Mayer. Belasco and Mayer, with the help of several Belasco brothers, produced and staged plays each week for a theatre-hungry public. In time, the Company had 30 actors on its staff. In 1907, the brothers-in-law Belasco and Mayer built a new theatre at Sutter and Steiner streets to showcase their productions. Within four years, the partners had outgrown that venue and relocated "uptown" to the new 1,400-seat Alcazar Theatre on O'Farrell, between Powell and Mason." (See The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Culture, University of California, Berkeley.edu, "Himmelstern (Marjorie) collection on the Belasco and Bender families, 1892-1926," accessed 06/18/2019.)

Building Notes

In 1928, Carlton Miles managed the Alcazar Theatre and worked as its publicity agent. (See notice in Billboard vol. 40, 1928, p. 48)

The Uptown Theatre had a change in management in 1937.

Alteration

The Alcazar Theater #2 underwent a massive renovation around 1930 and its name was changed to the "Uptown," becoming San Francisco's only "atmospheric" movie palace. The interior of the Uptown featured exterior building walls done in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style.

Demolition

The New Alcazar Theatre #2 was demolished c. 1970.

PCAD id: 11775