Castro Theater, San Francisco

For most moviegoers today, you walk into a sterile, narrow room with a white screen in front of you. The lights go out, and you are shown a movie (after a bunch of commercials and previews first). But that wasn't the way it used to be. Movie houses were large, beautiful, ornate buildings, rightly called palaces. A curtain covered the screen, gracefully pulling away when the movie was about to start. And best of all, you had the treat of an organist playing before the film, filling the theater with live music!

Those movie palaces have mostly disappeared, but a few remain. One of the best is the Castro Theater in San Francisco. If you get the chance to catch a movie at the Castro, take it. I made this video on the last night of the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, June 29, 2008. It's always a thrill when the organist launches into "San Francisco," signaling that the movie is about to start.

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Travel & Events

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• castro
• theater
• san
• francisco
• movie
• houses
• palaces
• film
• cinema