We’re diving into the restoration of Lewis Milestone’s silent gem THE GARDEN OF EDEN. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing rare photos, posters, and an inside look at the restoration journey. This week, we’re kicking things off with the film's San Francisco premiere.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN premiered on Saturday, April 28, 1928, at The Warfield Theatre (yes, the same beloved Warfield still going strong on Market Street). EDEN faced stiff competition that opening weekend—Charlie Chaplin’s THE CIRCUS was playing at the St. Francis (now American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco’s Strand Theater), and William Wellman’s aviation epic WINGS was still packing theaters in its third week at the Columbia (Eddy and Mason Streets). Despite this, THE GARDEN OF EDEN was well-received by both critics and audiences.
The San Francisco Bulletin called EDEN “probably one of the smartest comedy dramas ever made.” It ran for several weeks at The Warfield before expanding to other theaters across the city, including the Casino Theatre (Ellis and Mason Streets), where it was still showing as late as November. Nearly a month after its premiere, Variety ran an ad celebrating the film’s box office success.
SFFP is hard at work restoring this lost masterpiece—we can’t wait to share more with you! Stay tuned to all of our social media channels and sign up for our free weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/g5QH9j8A!
Photos: Variety, May 16, 1928; The Lowe’s Warfield as it appeared in November, 1928, seven months after EDEN premiered; clipping from The San Francisco Examiner, April 28, 1928; movie listing for EDEN at the Casino Theatre, November 27, 1928; Corinne Griffith and Louise Dresser in a promotional photo, The San Francisco Bulletin, April 26, 1928.
(Big shout-out and THANK YOU to the Facebook group Bay Area Historic Theatres and https://lnkd.in/gTnu_A7t for the incredible work they do preserving the history of theaters in San Francisco!)
