Update and Timeline for the Mitchell Brothers’ Pornography Palace
(‘Sibling Rivalry,’ Forensic Files)
The last post covered the story of Jim and Artie Mitchell, the California brothers who progressed from small-time pornographers to famous showmen before becoming tragic figures.
Much of the Mitchells’ glory centered on the O’Farrell Theatre, where they staged the most-graphic live sex shows San Francisco had ever seen. But older brother Jim Mitchell had a “knack for seeming more naughty than nasty,” according to Los Angeles Times writer Garry Abrams.
The business, housed in a structure built in 1924, drew serious devotees of adult entertainment as well as folks who were just a tad curious. Many Japanese tourists made the O’Farrell a stop on their itineraries, according to the San Francisco Examiner. The theater’s hardcore productions also drew attention from the San Francisco Police Department. The local government wanted to shut the O’Farrell down.
The Mitchell brothers spent millions defending the O’Farrell and other California theaters they later opened. They paid the legal costs for employees arrested in raids, according to San Francisco Gate. (For the most part, however, the performers didn’t face prosecution.)
For this post, I looked for more details on the O’Farrell’s history and what’s shaking with it today. So let’s get going on a timeline with more information than Forensic Files could fit into “Sibling Rivalry”:
1969: The Beginning
Jim and Artie Mitchell turn a building that had most recently housed a Buick dealership into the O’Farrell Theatre. The adult-entertainment venue, at 895 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco, shows short pornographic movies and clips that the brothers produce.
The building features a huge lighted marquee projecting from the front entrance. A video of a 1969 police raid shows the interior as having typical cushioned cinema-style seats and a wall with a dark red curtain.
A San Francisco Gate article would describe the O’Farrell’s later decor as more lavish, with disco balls, mirrored walls, rotating red lights, and velvet curtains.
Police repeatedly raid the theater. Thanks to an ACLU suit filed on Jim Mitchell’s behalf, a federal judge rules in August 1969 that it was unconstitutional to arrest patrons at the O’Farrell.
The combat-ready brothers make sport of their conflicts with authorities. On their marquee, they display, “For a good time call” followed by the unlisted phone number of then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein. She is intent on chasing the O’Farrell and the Mitchells out of town.
1972: Riding to the Top
The brothers produce the feature-length X-rated movie Behind the Green Door, which debuts at the O’Farrell. The creative effort, lauded as the “Gone With the Wind of X-rated films,” ushers in the short-lived age of porno chic. It brings mainstream recognition to the Mitchells and leading actress Marilyn Chambers.
1974: Everyone wants to get into the act
KRON 4 news reports that the Mitchell brothers have made some 500 hardcore porn films and “they’re always looking for fresh, errrr, faces” for new projects. In the past eight weeks, the station reports, O’Farrell staff members have interviewed 500 applicants for jobs as actors and actresses. They would choose only 50 or 60 of them for roles.
1977: Animal Attraction
The owners have the O’Farrell’s exterior walls painted with gigantic blue-toned murals featuring sea creatures.
1980s: Business Evolves
The advent of the VCR forces the Mitchells to think beyond adult films, which consumers can now watch at home. They begin staging live sex shows featuring themes like lesbian bondage.
The theater becomes the birthplace of the lap dance.
In 1985, police arrest Marilyn Chambers for allowing men to touch her when she mingled with the audience during a live performance. Afterward, the Mitchells agree to have women wear shorts when they visit the seating area.
But the O’Farrell continues its commitment to clothing-free entertainment. A 1988 classified ad in the Sacramento Bee solicits nude dancers and promises a clean, safe work environment and “good $$$.”
The theater’s renowned Shower Show features naked woman dancing around a set that looks like a locker room. Afterward, for $5 tips, they “assumed positions that wouldn’t be out of place in a gynecologist’s office,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
1991: Unimaginable Crime
The Mitchells once again attract worldwide attention, when Jim shoots Artie to death. Jim said that he went to Artie’s house to force him to go into drug and alcohol rehab, and the confrontation turned deadly. He is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and serves three years. He then returns to the O’Farrell.
1994: Employer Out of Step
Former O’Farrell dancers Ellen Vickery and Jennifer Bryce sue Jim Mitchell. They allege that the only pay they received came from tips and that performers had been charged stage fees of $100 to $200 a month, the Associated Press reports. It comes to light that the Mitchells’ entertainment company shifted dancers’ status from employees to independent contractors to justify making them pay fees and not giving them benefits. Eventually, 500 former employees join the suit and the O’Farrell settles the case for $2.85 million, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
In 1999, the O’Farrell’s 30th anniversary, Marilyn Chambers announces that she will be returning for some live performances. Chambers, who is 47 years old and three-times divorced with an 8-year-old daughter, tells San Francisco Gate that being at the theater is strange without Artie Mitchell there.
2000: O’Farrell Enters the Millennium
Hollywood actor Emilio Estevez produces the movie X-Rated in 2000. The film depicts the events leading up to the shooting, with Estevez and brother Charlie Sheen portraying the Mitchells. The real Jim Mitchell bans the film from the O’Farrell Theatre and asks Estevez how he would like it if Charlie died and someone made a movie about it. Jim doesn’t have to worry; the Esteves-Sheen film is an utter failure.
In 2007, history repeats itself when a group of former dancers files a class-action suit alleging that the O’Farrell took a portion of their tips, a violation of California law. The plaintiffs say that when they didn’t attain their quota of dance fees paid by customers, they were obliged to pay the O’Farrell to make up the difference, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Again, the dancers win the suit. Superior Court Judge Mary Wiss rules that, in addition to other compensation, the theater has to reimburse dancers for the purchase of required costumes such as nurse and policewoman uniforms.
Jim Mitchell dies of a heart attack at the age of 63 on July 12, 2007 at his ranch near Petaluma. He leaves behind four children and wife Lisa Adams. His mother, Georgia Rae Mitchell, survives, bearing the sadness of outliving two sons. The McClatchy-Tribune Regional News reports that Jim’s memorial service included a profanity-laced tribute from Michael Kennedy, Jim’s longtime lawyer. Kennedy (not related to the famous Kennedy clan) lauds Jim as a first-amendment protector.
In 2009, Jim’s son James Raphael Mitchell, 27, kills his estranged girlfriend Danielle Keller, 29, by beating her with a baseball bat. Just as his father had claimed in Artie Mitchell’s death, James says he didn’t mean to kill anyone but a situation spun out of control and he loved the victim very much.
Jasmine Mitchell
2010s: New Generation of Mitchells
Artie’s daughter Jasmine Mitchell is arrested in connection with an identity-theft ring in 2014.
Around 2018, with Jim’s daughter Meta managing the business, the family puts the 12,920-square-foot O’Farrell up for sale, marketing it as office space. They seek $10 million for purchase or $39,000 a month to rent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper notes that real estate agents show the property only during morning hours, before the $60 nude lap dances commence.
No deal materializes.
Even as business slims down, it continues to attract celebrities, including Trevor Noah and Justin Bieber, according to SFist.com.
The 2020s: Curtain Comes Down
In 2020, family members of the Mitchell brothers close the O’Farrell amid the covid pandemic. “We all kind of grew up there in a sense,” a 35-year-old dancer tells San Francisco Gate. “We went from being teenagers up to no good to women with purpose. It’s a sisterhood I’ve never experienced with any other job I’ve ever had.” She also says she could make $1,000 a night at the O’Farrell.
In December 2022, the O’Farrell is listed for sale for $12 million as residential space with the potential to develop it into 339 units.
In 2024, Corcoran touts the O’Farrell as a commercial redevelopment opportunity that “promises to redefine the city.” Sale price is $4,950,000.
There are no takers to date.
Finally, as a side note, it should be mentioned that longtime O’Farrell detractor Dianne Feinstein, who went on to become a U.S. senator, got the satisfaction of seeing the theater close before she died at the age of 90 in 2023.
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Read Part I of the Mitchell brothers’ story.
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube or Tubi or Amazon
