Reel World

The Shuttered Room
The Regency I on Van Ness will be the next single-screen San Francisco movie theater to fall, according to informed sources, with the last show unspooling Nov. 6. Operated by Blumenfeld Theaters, the 785-seat house parlayed first-run Hollywood pablum into financial success until the multiplex revolution arrived in recent years. The UA Galaxy across the street and, most recently and acutely, the AMC Van Ness two blocks away, marked the beginning of the end of filmgoing in the old Scottish Rite Temple. Exhibition insiders expect the Regency II, also operated by Blumenfeld, to give up the ghost in the near future. As is their custom, Blumenfeld representatives did not return Reel World's calls. With its closing earlier this year of the Alhambra and Royal theaters on Polk, the Blumenfeld chain is now down to just the Castro and the Regency II. If there is a silver lining in the Regency I's demise, it's that some of the sound equipment (including speakers) may be transferred to the Castro.

By Michael Fox
foxonfilm@aol.com