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Coffee Dan's, Off Union Square
San Francisco was the leader in the development motion pictures while Hollywood was still just an orange grove. The first instantaneous motion picture ever captured was in San Francisco by Eadweard Muybridg in 1872. Next, the first narrative film The Great Train Robbery (1903) was shot in nearby Niles Canyon. Additionally, San Francisco can also claim a share in the first talkie film every shot. Performance sequences in The Jazz Singer (1927) were shot a Coffee Dan's, a local speakeasy, at the corner O'Farrell and Powell, now Marquard's. Coffee Dan was a early San Franciscan who owned the club in the 1870's. To nobody's surprise today there is a Starbuck's across the street from Coffee Dan's old nightclub.
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6 Comments:
I love that marquee and look forward to seeing it every time I walk down Powell. I wish so much it was still Marquard's, or even better, Coffee Dan!
That is such a cool bit of SF/cinema lore. Love it.
Every time I visit this site I am struck by your photographic style -- and you've done it again with this shot. Amazing! You are gradually revealing how things can be seen in a whole different way.
Enjoyed reading about the early film history of San Francisco and Niles. San Rafael and San Anselmo can also boast about their place in early film history -- as early as 1915 they were cranking out Cowboy Billy one-reelers.
In the '20's Leon Douglass of San Rafael developed a color process using three film strips behind filters that paved the way for the Technicolor process.
And of course everybody knows about LucasFilm and ILM (George Lucas is a San Anselmo fixture), but lets not forget about Gumby -- my personal all-time favorite...
Thanks for the comment, TangoBaby.
APAD, thanks for the compliment and the great film facts. I didn't know that Gumby was a Bay Area creation, I'll have to read up on that.
Hi Fogbay,
Just a follow-up on Gumby...
For way too many years I worked for Creative Merchandisers in San Rafael (now out of business), and one of our favorite customers was a fellow by the name of Todd, who was the runner for the Gumby production company (or as he described himself -- the gopher). I never met Art Clokey, but Todd would come in about once a week during the late '80's and early '90's with a long list of supplies to pick up -- stuff like pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, glitter, felt, popsicle sticks, and all sorts of other craft items. We sold a shade of green plastilina clay that we called "gumby green", but for the life of me I can't remember if he bought clay from us or not. Nor can I can't remember exactly which city their studio was located in.
What I do remember is that sometime in the early '90's I noticed that Todd wasn't coming in anymore, so I asked another employee only to hear that their new series or movie deal (or whatever it was) had fallen through.
But I understand that there is a new movie coming out soon -- oh, I'll wait until it surfaces on TV or something, but it should be fun...
Thanks for the opportunity to travel down Memory Lane. Long live Gumby and Poko...
That's really interesting, thanks great story. I had no idea that the Gumby studio was located anywhere near here. I remember Gumby as the hip option to 'Davey and Goliath' claymation.
BTW, I miss Creative Merchandisers, they were a great resource for art supplies and did the best framing in the area. It's too bad they've closed.
Does anyone know where I can find a history of Coffee Dan's
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