The Castro Theater is among the storied neighborhood’s most easily identifiable landmarks, and since its 1922 opening has cemented itself as one of San Francisco’s foremost cultural hubs.
During its initial construction, The Nasser Family - who first opened the theater and continue to operate it today - enlisted the aid of influential architect and Mission District-native Timothy L. Pfleuger, who in addition to the Castro conceived a series of movie houses throughout California in the early 1900s, one of them being the Alameda Theatre just across the bay.
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Almost a century later, the Castro Theater has evolved into much more than a movie house: live music, comedy shows, LGTBTQ+ film festivals, and even the famed Rocky Horror Picture Show have all visited the venue’s hallowed halls. In fact, the Castro just hosted the 2022 SF Film Festival, at which Dakota Johnson, Michelle Yeoh and Sandra Oh made appearances.
The theater’s 100th Anniversary lands on June 22nd of this year, and the Nasser family along with Another Planet Entertainment - the Bay Area-based concert promoter collaborating with the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and Berkeley’s Greek Theater - have scheduled almost two weeks worth of screenings (June 3 through the 12th) to observe the occasion.
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This screening series offers a crash-course in film history, featuring titles from each decade the theater has been in operation. Kicking off the celebration on Friday, June 3rd is the 1920 classic The Mask of Zorro with the prototypical silent film star Douglas Fairbanks. Sunday’s focus is the 1940s, and you can finally check seeing Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman on the big screen off your bucket list in the seminal 1942 melodrama Casablanca.
On the following Tuesday, which will center on the 1960s, you can catch the paradigmatic 1969 Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring the legendary action star Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Wednesday, the 70s day, will screen three of the most essential films to have been released in the latter half of the century: Roman Polanski’s neo-noir Chinatown, George Lucas’s sci-fi epic Star Wars, and Francis Ford Coppola’s mobster drama The Godfather.
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On 80s Thursday, don’t miss Ridley Scott’s moody sci-fi noir Blade Runner, the film that codified all the most common characteristics of the cyberpunk genre. Thankfully, the Castro’s showrunners are well-studied, and will be screening the final cut of this classic (the edit of the film over which Scott had the most creative control and which is regarded to be the conclusive version of the film).
On Sunday, visitors can see some of the most popular films to have come out in the past decade, including Quentin Tarantino’s latest outing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Ryan Coogler’s Marvel blockbuster Black Panther.
On the theater’s birthday, June 22, a series of famed movies filmed in San Francisco will be screened. Catch Robin Williams’ delightful, infinitely rewatchable Mrs. Doubtfire as well as the Steve McQueen 1968 action classic Bullitt, which contains an electrifying car chase through San Francisco’s winding streets and near-vertical hills.
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Many landmarks, after being tossed around by different owners and having to withstand the passage of time, often fall from grace over the years and cease to be what they once were. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the San Francisco-based owners who have retained control of the space, the Castro Theater is still in its glory days and is as vital to the community as it was 100 years ago.
You can see the full breakdown of the Castro theatre's 100th anniversary plans here.
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