The Roosevelt

[NOTE: Due to the news of the untimely passing of one of my favorite comediennes, Catherine O'Hara, four days after I posted this fourth post for the month of January (2026-01-26) I have moved this minor entry to the top of February instead.]




From a 2026-01-26 reply to post from my ‘San Francisco Remembered' Facebook group.

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My very first memory, or possibly my second,* was there.

It was the Roosevelt then, and I recalled watching a clip from George Melies' 'A Trip to the Moon' followed a little later by Cantinflas' Passeportout. He was madly scrambling to catch a hot air balloon just in the nick of time. 

Both scenes were from the Michael Todd 1956 extravaganza, 'Around the World in Eighty Days'. 

I was two.

;-)

*The other memory competing for first place is the time an old, unused stove fell over and swallowed me whole!

This overview of the theater’s history by Tom Mayer is from Cinema Treasures:

This Mission district neighborhood theatre opened as the Roosevelt Theatre on September 22, 1926 with Norma Talmadge in “Kiki”. It had 1,006-seats and was designed by the architrectural furm Reid Brothers. In 1946 it was remodeled to the plans of architect Otto A. Deichmann. It retained the Roosevelt name until at least 1957. By 1971 it had been renamed Teatro York screening Spanish language movies. In later years the theatre was known as the York Theatre which was programed as a repertory movie theatre in the 1980’s.

The York Theatre closed as a movie house in 1993.

In the fall of 2001, the theatre was restored and reopened as Brava Women’s Theater Arts.

The theatre has retained its screen for movies but is now primarily a performing arts center.

Contributed by Tom Mayer

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