What Makes a City Worth Living In?
The Castro Theatre is one of the last-standing iconic landmarks that ties San Francisco to its glorious past. The 100-year-old opulent movie theater is a "sacred place," in the words of filmmaker and impresario Marc Huestis, who has organized many LGBTQ events there. But the theater, which has hosted countless current and revival movies over the years as well as film festivals, is a hallowed place for all cinema lovers. The battle over the Castro Theatre's future is coming to a head this month, with key votes before the Board of Supervisors and civic commissions. On one side is Another Planet Entertainment, the current leaseholder, which wants to remove the theater's raked floor and movie seats and make it primarily a concert venue. On the other side are filmmakers and fans -- as well as much of the Castro community -- who want to retain the legendary status of the theater.
I have friends on both sides of the bitter dispute, and I understand their positions. The theater has fallen into disrepair -- under the careless supervision of the Nasser family, which has owned the Castro throughout its long history -- and APE is promising to rehabilitate it. And yes, movie attendance is declining. But, as APE opponents have pointed out, what if the concert strategy fails? Will the converted theater then become another gym?
To avoid this "train wreck" -- in the words of Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who along with Castro district Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is trying mightily to work out a compromise -- the Nasser family should sell the Castro Theatre to the nonprofit conservancy that wants to protect it. This would ensure the survival of one of the few landmarks that still defines San Francisco. So far, the Nasser family has rejected this option. But the city should force them to the negotiating table. The Castro Theatre is bigger than one family's commercial interests.
Everyone who lives in the Bay Area has a Castro Theatre memory. I have several. There was the time we took our aging father Lyle Talbot to the Castro for a screening of his Warner Bros., pre-Code classic, Three on a Match (with a young Bogart, Bette Davis and Joan Blondell) -- when my father reminisced about the making of the film for the rapt audience. There were many such great film revivals (and show biz appearances) at Eddie Muller's Film Noir festivals -- which Eddie has now moved to the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland in protest against APE's plans for the theater. I took my 12-year-old son Joe to the Castro for a big-screen showing of Lawrence of Arabia. He was mesmerized -- and after growing up and making trailers for Eddie's Film Noir festivals, he made his own movie, The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
The premiere of that film – which HAD to take place at the Castro, on May 29, 2019 – is one of the highlights of my life, as it was for many of the electrified 1,400 people who packed the cavernous theater that night. I can’t explain to you how overwhelmed I felt that night – watching Joe address the audience, my “honorary” son Jimmie Fails (the honor is all mine) co-star in the film, remembering all the ups and downs since the two of them made a student film together (the film teacher and kids from that public high school – SF’s School of the Arts -- were sitting in front of us that night) and finally watching Emile Mosseri, the composer of the film’s gorgeous soundtrack, rise from the orchestra pit playing the Castro Theatre’s famed organ, accompanying Mike Marshall on the song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).” When he was a kid, Joe heard me playing that treacly song from the city’s hippie past. He brilliantly turned it into a gospel-tinged anthem for Mike Marshall to sing in the movie and live at the premiere. Listen to it now – it will give you goosebumps.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco was a valentine to what makes the city great – and a requiem for what it is losing. The Castro Theatre should not be another civic casualty. San Francisco Supervisors and Commissioners – vote to preserve this sacred place.
Joe Talbot and film co-star Danny "Mr. San Francisco” Glover at the Castro premiere.