“Meanwhile, Doctor Zhivago was being unreeled for an almost equally incredible 66 weeks Exclusive RoadShow Engagement at the Orpheum from February 1966 until May 1967. The Balboa picked up the exclusive sub-run (at “popular prices”) and opened it on 25 December 1966 and ran it until. A claim to fame was landing the first and exclusive neighborhood sub-run of Sound of Music, which had played an unbelievable 92 weeks Exclusive Roadshow Engagement at the United Artists on Market Street, opening on 18 March 1965, and closing 22 December 1966. Our friend Jack Tillmany writes, “In the mid-1960’s the theater was getting long engagements of popular films. Market Street was no longer the preferred first run exclusive engagement as movies tended to open around the bay area simultaneously. As the business changed, films showed longer in their first run engagements. This is an incredible neighborhood of family restaurants and businesses and our audiences appreciate the personalized attention we provide.”įrom 1926 through the late 1950s the Balboa changed programs 2-3 times a week.
Continuing the 76-year-old policy of playing second run engagements of quality movies in intriguing double feature combinations Meyer explained, “I just can’t let another old theater close. Meyer, an original co-founder of Landmark Theaters and film consultant for the past 6 years, had many fond memories of seeing movies at the Balboa and decided to give it a try. The Levin family had continuously operated the Balboa until February, 2001 when they asked Gary Meyer to take over operation of the cinema rather than close down due to the difficult competition from new megaplexes and changing film distribution patterns. The New Balboa (called that because of another Levin Theater named the Balboa on Ocean Avenue) was designed by renowned architects James and Merritt Reid who designed the Cliff House, Fairmount Hotel, Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park and numerous other theaters including the Alexandria and Fox Redwood City. It’s stayed open offering quality second-run films booked in double features. Like the Alexandria and the 4-Star, the Balboa split from a single-screen to a mini-multiplex (two screens in 1978) to raise revenue. In the New Balboa, as in all my theaters, I seek to supply the comforts and intimate surroundings associated with the higher ideals of home life.”
Levin stated: “In building theaters nearest the home, it is my aim to provide entertainment for them of a standard worthy of family patronage. Located at 3630 Balboa Street, in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond, the Balboa Theater opened February 27, 1926.