White City Cinemas

Two screens on June 24th, 1977. Grand opening ad posted.

A chronology of the Worcester region’s 70mm presentations history has recently been published. White City gets several mentions in the article.

If you go to the online recollection link posted by Logan5, you will note the White City spelled Katharine Ross' name correctly on the marquee, but misspelled it on the makeshift one-sheet display lettering next to the entrance as “Katherine Ross.” Perhaps the assistant manager was in a tizzy over the studio finding out.

I was the manager at White City from ‘75 to '77 and worked with Charles Gobron and Kathy Blake as my assistants. The theater was really beautiful, but like many of the huge houses was pretty hard to fill. We did screen a week of “1776” for school groups, and that was about as full as it got. I remember the ushers changing the huge marquee in the winter with wind just blasting off Lake Q – it was brutal. We screened “Nickelodeon” for Christmas in 1976 and as a promotion the studio only charged a nickel on opening night. It was predictably frigid, though, and the theater was only half full. A few days later I arrived to open and found a bunch of suits from Redstone inside. They had bought the theater and no one from RKO had even told me. I worked for them a week and transferred to the RKO Merritt in Bridgeport, CT. I miss the wonderful kids that staffed the place – they were a lot of fun.

**In response to Michael Coate's statement that "2001: A Space Odyssey" never played at White City Cinema in Shrewsbury, Ma. I need to reply that no matter what the newpaper advertisement states, the fact is that the movie never played at Showcase Cinemas on Southbridge St. in Worcester. Perhaps there may have been a bidding war happening at the time of publication and White City Cinema won out over Showcase. I'm sticking to my guns on this one because I was there.**

bulzi…you’re not a nutcase, are you?! You’re starting to remind me of budyboy100. :-)

There are plenty of verifiable sources to support my claim that in its original first-run, reserved-seat Worcester engagement “2001: A Space Odyssey” ran at SHOWCASE CINEMAS and not at WHITE CITY. Here’s one reference. Here’s another.

Also consider that “2001” was initially released exclusively to Cinerama theaters (as this article details), of which SHOWCASE CINEMAS was the only such venue in Worcester.

Another verifiable fact is that the third movie to play WHITE CITY, (despite your insistence it was “2001”) was “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?” which began on 06/29/66 and followed “The Sound Of Music’s” 53-week run. (At this point in time, “2001” hadn’t even been made!)

Dude, just deal with it, you’re simply misremembering what occured. What you probably are remembering is a re-release or return engagement that took place years later. It’s human nature and not uncommon to misremember details, especially those from several decades past.

In response to Michael Coate’s statement that “2001: A Space Odyssey” never played at White City Cinema in Shrewsbury, Ma. I need to reply that no matter what the newpaper advertisement states, the fact is that the movie never played at Showcase Cinemas on Southbridge St. in Worcester. Perhaps there may have been a bidding war happening at the time of publication and White City Cinema won out over Showcase. I’m sticking to my guns on this one because I was there.

I worked at the White City Theatre (later named White City Cinemas) from 1967 through 1978. As was stated, the late 60’s saw lengthy runs of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Doctor Dolittle, Hawaii, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly, and others enjoyed long engagements as well. Reserved tickets were sold and we learned how to “dress the theatre” making sure we distributed tickets evenly around the large orchestra and 325 seat loge. The number 1097 sticks vividly in my mind, but I can’t remember if that was the total seating of the complex or just the orchestra!

The theatre was run by Stanley-Warner and later by RKO Stanley Warner. I remember the home office being in Wilkes Barre, PA.

Sometime in 1976 or 1977, Showcase Cinemas took over the operation. I recall the theatre being closed and then reopening as White City Cinemas. In June 1977, we opened with Star Wars in Cinema 1 and I believe New York, New York in Cinema 2. The sell out crowds for Star Wars made the summer of 1977 fly by. I cannot believe that was thirty years ago.

I am sorry the the cinemas were demolished. Many happy memories remain, however!

Minor correction: A few posts back “dwodeyla” wrote that “The Sound Of Music” ran at WHITE CITY for six months. My research reveals it ran for 53 weeks, which would actually make it a 12-month run. Whatever the duration, it was a very successful engagement by any standard.

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In 1964 when the theater first opened, Mary Poppins was the first movie there. Second was The Sound Of Music, but the third movie really blew me away: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Considering the enormous size of the single screen, the state of the art sound system and the fact that I was only 14, I came away with a greater appreciation of classical music since Stanley Kubrick used that ingredient throughout. One added note: I first read about 2001 in a Howard Johnson Restaurant menu. That restaurant was located next to Spag’s in Shrewsbury.

Is this the same White City Theatre seen in this photo?

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The White City Cinema opened in 1964 with Mary Poppins. Sound of Music played for 6 six months. The original single screen was split sometime in the 1970’s, and a third auditorium was made in what was originally a balcony, in 1985 following renovation from a fire. The Theatre closed the final Sunday in March, 2001. (thanks to a Worcester Telegram article by Virginia Lucier for the information)

Modest facelift! Ha! They tore the place completely down and replaced it with an all new restaurant.

I believe this was originally a Stanley Warner theatre, but closed as a Showcase Cinema. It was a nice 60’s style house that had seen better days but was a step above most multiplexes.