Group 8 Blog 3

Authors: Kristen Vitolo, Christina Wang, Yunfei Qiang, and Abby Oxley

A Deeper Look into the History of the Great Star Theater

    As we found from our previous research, the Great Star Theater is one of few operating Chinese theaters in San Francisco. In the past week, we have analyzed flyers for this theater in order to familiarize ourselves with what type of films were shown at this theater. We also wanted to compare the flyers from the Great Star Theater to the other theaters we discussed in our previous blog post, Grandview and Sun Sing theaters, however, we were unable to locate any flyers from these theaters. Thus, we will primarily focus on the history of the Great Star Theater drawn from primary sources at the C.V. Starr East Asian Library and from the Berkeley Library database.

    Aside from our initial visit to the East Asian Library on campus, the first place we looked for sources of information independently was the UC Berkeley Online Library. After searching for Chinese theaters in San Francisco in this database, we found that the Great Star Theater is really the only Chinese theater that has relevant results. The search alone told us that this theater was probably more popular than the others nearby considering it has better documentation. One finding from a newspaper based in New York called Box Office told us that the Great Star Theater had new screens installed around 1962. This is around the same time the name of the theater was changed from “The Great China'' to “Great Star.” The 60’s is an important time in San Francisco history regarding Chinese immigrants. During this time, many immigrants from Hong Kong arrived in San Francisco’s Chinatown. These immigrants were mainly of working-class status, however, once in the United States, they were forced to take up low-paying jobs due to their limited English. It might be interesting to further investigate how the theater name change, the screen update and the immigrant influx all occurred in the 1960s. Compared to other theaters, the Great Star Theater is the only theater to have both Chinese and English writing on the flyers. This may be the theater’s attempt to attract Chinese-American audiences wishing to assimilate into American culture. It could also be seen as an effort among Chinese immigrants to learn more about the English language. 

From analyzing the primary sources of flyers from the Great Star theater, we found out that a lot of them    advocated for Wuxia or Kung Fu films. These movies often contain violence, traditional Chinese values and sometimes references to Chinese histories or literature. Couple reasons could contribute to this fact. The time period when Chinese theater started to prosper in Chinatown could match the time period when Wuxia films were largely produced. It could be also due to the fact that working-class Chinese immigrants felt relief or escape from harsh living conditions in the graphic violent scenes depicted in Wuxia films. In addition, the traditional touch of Wuxia films helped to create a sense of nostalgia to both new Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans by portraying a Romanticized and empowered Chinese culture. 

San Francisco Chinatown Flyers collected by Stephen Horowitz at C.V. Starr East Asian Library

    The Great Star Theater seemed to gain quite a bit of popularity in the Chinatown community as many would flock to see the new movies, until the big places like AMC and Regal Cinemas sadly began taking over their movie crowds. After closing its doors in July 1999, the Chinatown community rallied behind Sam Wong in the hopes to preserve the community theater. Wong gathered hundreds of signatures from the Chinatown community in 2000 to show the owners the enthusiasm for a theater and to convince them against selling, which expresses just how vital the theater was to Chinese-Americans’ assimilation into American culture. As Wong looked for financial support in order to renovate the theater to be comparable to its more modern theater counterparts, he stated that “Local troupes have tried other places, like the Yerba Buena center but it was too big and too inconvenient for many people here. This theater is the perfect size.” The location in the heart of Chinatown made it convenient for the Chinatown community and acted as a space where they felt comfortable and safe to hold onto their Chinese culture and pass it on for generations to come through film watching. 

    Our next step as a group is to connect more historical events to relate to our research. We are planning on booking an appointment at the Film Library or the Ethnic Studies Library in order to find more relevant sources for the Great Star Theater and hopefully Grandview and the Sun Sing Theater.

Citations:

San francisco remodeling shows definite uptrend. (1962, Jan 08). Boxoffice., 80 Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/san-francisco-remodeling-shows-definite-uptrend/docview/1670957422/se-2?accountid=14496

Banerjee, N. (2000, Nov 22). Chinese theater threatened. Asianweek Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/chinese-theater-threatened/docview/367583558/se-2?accountid=14496 

History.com Editors. “History of San Francisco's Chinatown.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 25 May 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/san-francisco-chinatown.