to dwodeyla- do you recall when in 1968 the demolition occured? I suspect that it was in the second half of the year. Also, do you recall seeing demolition work underway at the Capri/ Strand nearby on Huntington Avenue ?
Ron Newman- the drawing in your report appears to be a somewhat modernized version of the same building. There was a ornate and rather shallow canopy over the doors (just under the vertical YMCA sign in your drawing). A little of the detail just above and around the doors has been removed in the drawing. Compare your drawing with the 1910 photo posted by Lost Memory. It’s almost certainly the same building.
Correction to the above— the Telepix was in the Park Square building, not the Greyhound bus station. The bus station, a typical ‘Hound semi-Deco structure, was directly across St. James Avenue. There was an earlier Park Square Theatre, not related to this one, located a short distance to the east. It was the former Cort Theatre, a legit house.
The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists Durrell Hall as having 600 seats and operating 6 days per week. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form has a photo taken in April 1941. The entrance is in an imposing building. There is an ornate, shallow canopy over 3 sets of double doors, with half-round poster boards on either side, similar to those at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. The address is Main Street, with no number. The Report states that it is not showing MGM product, that it was built in 1900, that it is in Fair condition, has 600 seats, and recives patronage from a YMCA. The competiting theatres are the Central Square and the Olympia.
The Grand Opera House was famous for its wrestling matches during its final years. (No competition for the Met/Wang there !) I believe it was razed in the 1930s. I don’t know if it ever showed movies. One day in the 1960s I was walking south on Washington St., east side, from the Dover St. el station when I came upon brass letters spelling out “Grand Opera House” imbedded in the sidewalk. It was a large vacant lot. I think that there were road-show movies from time to time at the Colonial, and travel movies at Symphony Hall (I remember ads for those in the 1950s); in recent years they have presented classic silient films at Symphony Hall. To determine which of these houses showed movies would require research thru old newspaper ads.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Ball Square Theatre has a facade photo taken in May 1941. There is a banner hanging from the front edge of the marquee advertising James Cagney in “Stawberry Blond”. The Report states that the house has been presenting MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Fair condition; and that it has 953 seats on the main floor and 295 in the balcony; total: 1,248 seats.
RE: Hub Theatre info above— I should point out that Dover Street is now East Berkeley St., renamed about 30 years ago. Much of the information above is from the Donald King book. In a list of Boston theatres taken from an 1895 city directory, the house is called the Grand Museum, at Wash. & Dover streets. It does not appear in my 1921 list or in the 1927 Film Daily yearbook. In the late-1930s, the name “Hub” was applied to the Park Th. downtown after it was vacated by the Minsky Burlesque company. After about a year, the name was changed to Trans Lux. The old Grand/ Hub Theatre is not to be confused with the big Grand Opera House, also on Washington Street. There’s no question that when the Metropolitan (Wang) opened in 1925, there were many other theatres within a 20-minute walk of it.
“Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath” was the original title of a farce-comedy “Good Night Ladies!” by the then-famous comic playwright Avery Hopwood who was active on the Bway stage in the 1910’s era. The play was revived in the 1940s and toured into the 1950s. It could easily have been condensed and presented at the Selwyn in 1950. I saw it in 1952 at the Majestic, Boston.
Those are good memories, postcon ! I had forgotten that there was a small take-out window on the sidewalk— not many theatres had such a feature. Did your Dad ever mention how many seats the Puritan had? Also, did you and your sister explore back-stage?
The Hub Theatre was at the southeast corner of Washington and Dover streets. It was a rectangular building with the short end on Washington and the long left side on Dover Street. It originally was a market, Williams market. Then a hall was installed upstairs, which eventually became a theatre, then later the entire building was adapted as a theatre. Names were Williams, Hooley’s, Novelty, Windsor, Grand Museum, Grand Theatre and Hub Theatre. It reopened as the Hub Theatre on August 17, 1903, under managment of Stair and Wilbur. Early movies were shown there when it was still the Grand, according to Joe Cifre. He claims that the Grand was the first regular theatre in Boston to offer a show consisting 100% of films. I have seen photos where, if you know where to look, at least part of the Hub Th. can be seen – recent books by Arcadia Publ., maybe their South End book and/or their Orange Line book. (The Orange Line and the Dover el station were right in front of the Hub.)
The first movie presentation in Boston of a film made with the then-new Kinemacolor process was in the Spring of 1913 at Tremont Temple. The movie covered the Imperial Coronation of King Edward VII in Delhi, India and was hyped as “the most spectaculr pageant ever photographed”. It was presented at the Tremont Temple by George “Kid Gloves” Martin. This event is mentioned by Joe Cifre in his essay “Saga of the Movie Industry in Boston”, which he apparently wrote circa 1950 ?? The seating capacity of Tremont Temple in 1896 was : main floor, 834; first balcony and choir loft, 736; second balcony, 1012; total: 2582. For movie presentation, many of these seats at the sides of the balconies and in the choir loft would have little or no view of the movie screen.
Yes, Tom N, if you lived in the South End and didn’t care for what was playing at the Met (Wang), Wilbur, Shubert, or Hollis, you could head for the Castle Square/ Arlington, the National, Columbia, Apollo, Cobb, Grand Opera House, Hub, Puritan, and even our mysterious Lafayette. Have I left any out??
I agree that it seems that the Castle Square/ Arlington Theatre was a live house which never presented movies. It was demolished around 1932. Another theatre to the south of the Wang was the Hollis Street Theatre, also a live house. As for the mysterious Lafayette Theatre, just because it seems like a large structure on the map doesn’t mean it really was a big theatre. Why not see if you can find it in old City Directories, other old maps, and in old newspaper ads. The people who could give us a quick answer about it are, alas, all deceased.
I was a fan of “Burley” shows in Boston in the 1950s and up to 1962. There were some young girls dancing in the shows who would still be with us today. (For example, an 18-year-old at the Casino Theatre in Boston in 1961 — she would be 62 now.) However, the male comics were all middle-aged or older then. Some of the guys in the pit band probably were in their 30s or 40s. It’s not easy today to find people who worked in the Burley troupes back then. There is a Burlesque Historical Society, and there were recent midnight burlesque show recreations on stage at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline MA. So the interest is out there. Good luck, Dorothy!
In the photo which accompanied the article in the Boston Herald mentioned in the above posting, the collector Dave Waller is holding the rounded top of one of the large poster boards which flanked the Old Howard’s entrance. These poster boards were ancient! You can see them in many of the old photos of the lobby entrance. The words “Howard Athenaeum”, the theatre’s original name, are printed on them.
I have no information about the Lafayette Theatre. I never heard of it before. It is not listed in my 1921 and 1895 lists of Boston theatres; nor is it mentioned in J. Paul Chavanne’s essay on the theatres of the South End. It is not mentioned in the text of Donald King’s 2005 book “The Theatres of Boston”; however, in Appendex 1 at the rear of the book he writes “1908 – Idle Hour Theatre. Tremont Street, near Castle Square Theatre. Short-lived motion picture house”. Possibly this was a little cinema which later was renamed the Lafayette.
The Olympia is listed in the 1927 Film Daily yearbook as being open 7 days a week and having 900 seats. I can’t find it in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, which means that it was managed by a company with 4 or fewer theatres. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Olympia has an exterior photo taken in April 1941. The marquee is at the narrow end of the oddly-shaped building and has 3 lines of white letters on a black background, above which is the word “Continuous”. Flat against the narrow wall above is a vertical sign “Olympia”. The Report states that the Olympia has been showing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Poor condition; and that it has 400 seats on the main floor and 200 in the balcony. To look at this distinctive building, one would never guess that it contained a theater.
Further to the Feb. 27 comment above regarding abuse of Eminent Domain laws: Hannity & Colmes on Fox News regularly have had a feature about this problem, with reports from various locations around the country. Most of these reports are very troubling.
Ron- there is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Olympia Theater in Cambridge, on River St. The photo was taken in April 1941. It’s an odd, narrow, probably triangular building which would fit on the lot in the 1916 map posted above. It had 400 seats on the main floor, and 200 in the balcony. It was over 15 years old in 1941, was not showing MGM product and was in Poor condition. The marquee is at what appears to be the narrow end of the building. The structure is about 4 stories high and quite impressive. Because the photo is of poor quality, I can’t read the marquee, but it says “Continuous” (showings).
The exterior photo of the Central Sq. Theatre printed in the Area 4 Neighborhood Newsletter posted above looks like it was taken at about the same period as the photo which appears in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form. That photo was made in April 1941. The Report lists the address as 573 Mass. Ave. The Report states that the theatre has beeen playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it is over 15 years old; that it is in Fair condition; and has 1870 seats on the main floor and 253 in the balcony, total: 2,123 seats.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Rialto has an exterior photo taken in May 1941. There was a narrow entrance at the right end of a rather imposing, but small, brick building. There was a small vertical sign over a fancy rain canopy. The Report states that the theater was located at 43 Weld St., that it had been playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it was over 15 years old; that it was in Fair condition; and had 800 seats.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form lists the Inman Square Theatre on “North Hampshire” street. On the 1916 map posted above, there is a “Hampshire” street running in back of what is believed to be the theatre’s site. There is a photo taken in April 1941. The theater had an impressive fancy facade with an arch above the 3 sets of double doors. There is a shop on either side of the entrance. A huge rectangular marquee spans the entire facade with “Inman Theatre” in mammoth letters on its front. The Report states that the theatre is not showing MGM product, that it’s over 15 years old and in Fair condition, and has 1100 seats. In the photo, there are trolley tracks in the street, so this must be Cambridge St., and not Hampshire Street behind. The theatre name on the front of the marquee omits the “Square” in the name.
to dwodeyla- do you recall when in 1968 the demolition occured? I suspect that it was in the second half of the year. Also, do you recall seeing demolition work underway at the Capri/ Strand nearby on Huntington Avenue ?
Ron Newman- the drawing in your report appears to be a somewhat modernized version of the same building. There was a ornate and rather shallow canopy over the doors (just under the vertical YMCA sign in your drawing). A little of the detail just above and around the doors has been removed in the drawing. Compare your drawing with the 1910 photo posted by Lost Memory. It’s almost certainly the same building.
Lost Memory- the 1910 photo in the article you posted is almost surely the same building which is photographed head-on and close-up in the MGM Report.
Correction to the above— the Telepix was in the Park Square building, not the Greyhound bus station. The bus station, a typical ‘Hound semi-Deco structure, was directly across St. James Avenue. There was an earlier Park Square Theatre, not related to this one, located a short distance to the east. It was the former Cort Theatre, a legit house.
The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists Durrell Hall as having 600 seats and operating 6 days per week. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form has a photo taken in April 1941. The entrance is in an imposing building. There is an ornate, shallow canopy over 3 sets of double doors, with half-round poster boards on either side, similar to those at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. The address is Main Street, with no number. The Report states that it is not showing MGM product, that it was built in 1900, that it is in Fair condition, has 600 seats, and recives patronage from a YMCA. The competiting theatres are the Central Square and the Olympia.
The Grand Opera House was famous for its wrestling matches during its final years. (No competition for the Met/Wang there !) I believe it was razed in the 1930s. I don’t know if it ever showed movies. One day in the 1960s I was walking south on Washington St., east side, from the Dover St. el station when I came upon brass letters spelling out “Grand Opera House” imbedded in the sidewalk. It was a large vacant lot. I think that there were road-show movies from time to time at the Colonial, and travel movies at Symphony Hall (I remember ads for those in the 1950s); in recent years they have presented classic silient films at Symphony Hall. To determine which of these houses showed movies would require research thru old newspaper ads.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Ball Square Theatre has a facade photo taken in May 1941. There is a banner hanging from the front edge of the marquee advertising James Cagney in “Stawberry Blond”. The Report states that the house has been presenting MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Fair condition; and that it has 953 seats on the main floor and 295 in the balcony; total: 1,248 seats.
RE: Hub Theatre info above— I should point out that Dover Street is now East Berkeley St., renamed about 30 years ago. Much of the information above is from the Donald King book. In a list of Boston theatres taken from an 1895 city directory, the house is called the Grand Museum, at Wash. & Dover streets. It does not appear in my 1921 list or in the 1927 Film Daily yearbook. In the late-1930s, the name “Hub” was applied to the Park Th. downtown after it was vacated by the Minsky Burlesque company. After about a year, the name was changed to Trans Lux. The old Grand/ Hub Theatre is not to be confused with the big Grand Opera House, also on Washington Street. There’s no question that when the Metropolitan (Wang) opened in 1925, there were many other theatres within a 20-minute walk of it.
“Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath” was the original title of a farce-comedy “Good Night Ladies!” by the then-famous comic playwright Avery Hopwood who was active on the Bway stage in the 1910’s era. The play was revived in the 1940s and toured into the 1950s. It could easily have been condensed and presented at the Selwyn in 1950. I saw it in 1952 at the Majestic, Boston.
Those are good memories, postcon ! I had forgotten that there was a small take-out window on the sidewalk— not many theatres had such a feature. Did your Dad ever mention how many seats the Puritan had? Also, did you and your sister explore back-stage?
The Hub Theatre was at the southeast corner of Washington and Dover streets. It was a rectangular building with the short end on Washington and the long left side on Dover Street. It originally was a market, Williams market. Then a hall was installed upstairs, which eventually became a theatre, then later the entire building was adapted as a theatre. Names were Williams, Hooley’s, Novelty, Windsor, Grand Museum, Grand Theatre and Hub Theatre. It reopened as the Hub Theatre on August 17, 1903, under managment of Stair and Wilbur. Early movies were shown there when it was still the Grand, according to Joe Cifre. He claims that the Grand was the first regular theatre in Boston to offer a show consisting 100% of films. I have seen photos where, if you know where to look, at least part of the Hub Th. can be seen – recent books by Arcadia Publ., maybe their South End book and/or their Orange Line book. (The Orange Line and the Dover el station were right in front of the Hub.)
The first movie presentation in Boston of a film made with the then-new Kinemacolor process was in the Spring of 1913 at Tremont Temple. The movie covered the Imperial Coronation of King Edward VII in Delhi, India and was hyped as “the most spectaculr pageant ever photographed”. It was presented at the Tremont Temple by George “Kid Gloves” Martin. This event is mentioned by Joe Cifre in his essay “Saga of the Movie Industry in Boston”, which he apparently wrote circa 1950 ?? The seating capacity of Tremont Temple in 1896 was : main floor, 834; first balcony and choir loft, 736; second balcony, 1012; total: 2582. For movie presentation, many of these seats at the sides of the balconies and in the choir loft would have little or no view of the movie screen.
Yes, Tom N, if you lived in the South End and didn’t care for what was playing at the Met (Wang), Wilbur, Shubert, or Hollis, you could head for the Castle Square/ Arlington, the National, Columbia, Apollo, Cobb, Grand Opera House, Hub, Puritan, and even our mysterious Lafayette. Have I left any out??
I agree that it seems that the Castle Square/ Arlington Theatre was a live house which never presented movies. It was demolished around 1932. Another theatre to the south of the Wang was the Hollis Street Theatre, also a live house. As for the mysterious Lafayette Theatre, just because it seems like a large structure on the map doesn’t mean it really was a big theatre. Why not see if you can find it in old City Directories, other old maps, and in old newspaper ads. The people who could give us a quick answer about it are, alas, all deceased.
I was a fan of “Burley” shows in Boston in the 1950s and up to 1962. There were some young girls dancing in the shows who would still be with us today. (For example, an 18-year-old at the Casino Theatre in Boston in 1961 — she would be 62 now.) However, the male comics were all middle-aged or older then. Some of the guys in the pit band probably were in their 30s or 40s. It’s not easy today to find people who worked in the Burley troupes back then. There is a Burlesque Historical Society, and there were recent midnight burlesque show recreations on stage at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline MA. So the interest is out there. Good luck, Dorothy!
In the photo which accompanied the article in the Boston Herald mentioned in the above posting, the collector Dave Waller is holding the rounded top of one of the large poster boards which flanked the Old Howard’s entrance. These poster boards were ancient! You can see them in many of the old photos of the lobby entrance. The words “Howard Athenaeum”, the theatre’s original name, are printed on them.
I have no information about the Lafayette Theatre. I never heard of it before. It is not listed in my 1921 and 1895 lists of Boston theatres; nor is it mentioned in J. Paul Chavanne’s essay on the theatres of the South End. It is not mentioned in the text of Donald King’s 2005 book “The Theatres of Boston”; however, in Appendex 1 at the rear of the book he writes “1908 – Idle Hour Theatre. Tremont Street, near Castle Square Theatre. Short-lived motion picture house”. Possibly this was a little cinema which later was renamed the Lafayette.
The Olympia is listed in the 1927 Film Daily yearbook as being open 7 days a week and having 900 seats. I can’t find it in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, which means that it was managed by a company with 4 or fewer theatres. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Olympia has an exterior photo taken in April 1941. The marquee is at the narrow end of the oddly-shaped building and has 3 lines of white letters on a black background, above which is the word “Continuous”. Flat against the narrow wall above is a vertical sign “Olympia”. The Report states that the Olympia has been showing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Poor condition; and that it has 400 seats on the main floor and 200 in the balcony. To look at this distinctive building, one would never guess that it contained a theater.
The Plaza in Salem was part of the E.M. Loew circuit.
OK- I will look in one other source first and then add the Olympia. One correction to the info above: it was showing MGM product.
Further to the Feb. 27 comment above regarding abuse of Eminent Domain laws: Hannity & Colmes on Fox News regularly have had a feature about this problem, with reports from various locations around the country. Most of these reports are very troubling.
Ron- there is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Olympia Theater in Cambridge, on River St. The photo was taken in April 1941. It’s an odd, narrow, probably triangular building which would fit on the lot in the 1916 map posted above. It had 400 seats on the main floor, and 200 in the balcony. It was over 15 years old in 1941, was not showing MGM product and was in Poor condition. The marquee is at what appears to be the narrow end of the building. The structure is about 4 stories high and quite impressive. Because the photo is of poor quality, I can’t read the marquee, but it says “Continuous” (showings).
The exterior photo of the Central Sq. Theatre printed in the Area 4 Neighborhood Newsletter posted above looks like it was taken at about the same period as the photo which appears in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form. That photo was made in April 1941. The Report lists the address as 573 Mass. Ave. The Report states that the theatre has beeen playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it is over 15 years old; that it is in Fair condition; and has 1870 seats on the main floor and 253 in the balcony, total: 2,123 seats.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Rialto has an exterior photo taken in May 1941. There was a narrow entrance at the right end of a rather imposing, but small, brick building. There was a small vertical sign over a fancy rain canopy. The Report states that the theater was located at 43 Weld St., that it had been playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it was over 15 years old; that it was in Fair condition; and had 800 seats.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form lists the Inman Square Theatre on “North Hampshire” street. On the 1916 map posted above, there is a “Hampshire” street running in back of what is believed to be the theatre’s site. There is a photo taken in April 1941. The theater had an impressive fancy facade with an arch above the 3 sets of double doors. There is a shop on either side of the entrance. A huge rectangular marquee spans the entire facade with “Inman Theatre” in mammoth letters on its front. The Report states that the theatre is not showing MGM product, that it’s over 15 years old and in Fair condition, and has 1100 seats. In the photo, there are trolley tracks in the street, so this must be Cambridge St., and not Hampshire Street behind. The theatre name on the front of the marquee omits the “Square” in the name.