When the New Balboa Theater opened in the outer Outer Richmond District in 1926, the cinema might as well have been operating in the Farallon Islands.
Market Street had a wealth of new movie palaces, and Balboa Street between 37th and 38th avenues was still marked by empty lots and lit by gas street lamps. But the cinema-building Levin family believed in this isolated foggy outpost, hiring the Cliff House and Fairmont Hotel architects to design an 800-seat neighborhood theater.
Bigger and less remote west-of-Masonic movie theaters — the Coronet and Alexandria included — have long since shuttered. But the Balboa abides, through a combination of hard work, neighborhood support, a wild and perfect film mix (“Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Fruitvale Station” and “The Fugitive” all playing in the next week) and one of the most fascinating retail ecosystems in the city…