Gladys W. Brayton wrote of the origins of the Palace Theatre on the website of the Cranston Historical Society, even though the theatre is geographically just over the border in Providence:
In 1916 Abraham A. Spitz, a veteran theater man and owner of a number of theaters in Providence and elsewhere, opened the Palace Theater at 1520 Broad Street. His manager for twenty-two years was Charles H. Steadman who had supervised the building of the theater. It has a seating capacity of 1000. His license was but $25 at the time, but by the end of year was changed to $1 for each performance. The price of the seats went up a bit, too. Reserved seats in the balcony were fifteen cents.
The Edgewood Library Civic Club gave a play there soon after it was
opened. Occasionally concerts and entertainments took place there. On Saturday mornings a children’s program was offered with three chaperones in attendance. The popular “Wizard of Oz” was featured at one of these sessions.
In 1920 the Palace offered its patrons a special feature, a midnight who at which the elections returns were given, for there were no televisions in those days to keep up to date on the news.
The current vacant lot to the left of what was the Star Theatre is where Odd Fellows Hall used to be. To the right of the Star building today is the Greenwich Hotel, formerly Updike Hotel. The Main Street location is near the intersection with Church Street and across from legendary Jigger’s Diner.
Gladys W. Brayton wrote of the Auburn Theatre origins, on the website of the Cranston Historical Society:
…Town Councilman Alfred Barolet built the Auburn Theater on Park Avenue near the corner of Elmwood Avenue. In February of 1913 he was showing “Motion Pictures and Illustrated Songs.” Admission was five cents, reserved seats ten cents. Pictures changed three times a week and the current program consisted of “The Ranks,” “The Burning Brand,” and the “The Vengeance of Fate.”
The same year the Edgewood Theater was advertised to open at Firemen’s Hall, but due to a misunderstanding of insurance laws this project fell through.
Mr. Barolet, being a public spirited man, allowed use of his theater on off nights for benefits of various kinds, including such affairs for the Fire Companies of the city. It was advertised as “The Small Theater with the Big Features,” In 1915 it was showing “The Political Feud” (two reels), “Giddy, Gay and Ticklish” (a Keystone production), “Two Kisses,” “The Old Maid” and “Mabel’s Flirtation.” On Saturdays it featured “Tess of the Storm Country” with Mary Pickford as the star.
The building that was the original Star Theatre of East Greenwich still exists. The Star was located next to Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street. Odd Fellows Hall had been completed in 1878. It was a building with stores at the ground level and a social hall on the second floor. Over the decades , as a community hall, Odd Fellows Hall was used for theatrical performances, concerts, lectures. As the “East Greenwich Opera House” in 1902 and 1903 it presented first class drama, minstrels and vaudevilles. The life of the hall continued until 1946 when a fire that broke out on April 15 completely destroyed the building. A photo of the place in flames, in a 1991 issue of The Packet, a periodical about East Greenwich history, shows what is identified as the Star Theatre next door. The Star Theatre building was not affected by the fire and survives to this day. There are apartments as well as a ground-level Chinese restaurant called Taste of China in the three-floor structure. Here is a photo of the place now.
The co-hit is advertised as “Willed for Ransom,” which is a mistake. What they meant was World for Ransom, which was directed (uncredited) by Cranston-born director Robert Aldrich of later What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? & The Longest Yard fame.
And for you Laurier fans, here is a history of the theatre from Woonsocket, Rhode Island – A Centennial History, 1888-1988:
To meet Jazz Age demands for additional public entertainment centers, two new theaters and a new ballroom were erected in Woonsocket in the 1920’s. The first of the new playhouses to be opened was the Laurier Theatre, located on Cumberland Street near Social Corner. Named in honor of Sir Wildred Laurier, the first French-Canadian to be elected Premier of Canada, the theater was established to promote French culture in the city.
The first attraction to be presented at the Laurier was the opera “Carmen” on April 19, 1920. Directed by Professor Chambord Giguere, it featured a cast composed mainly of French-Canadian talent from the city. Nearly every seat was filled for the performance. The Laurier Theatre was operated by the Social Amusement Company, and was the site of the first New England appearance of the celebrated Paul Whiteman and his Palais Royal Orchestra on May 14, 1922. A capacity audience of 1,200 people attended the performance sponsored by LaRoe’s Music Store.
For a time, top vaudeville acts and several of Canada’s most popular stock companies and comedians were featured at the Laurier, but eventually it fell upon lean years and was converted into a second-run movie house. The theater was badly damaged in the flood of the Social district in August, 1955, and was razed three years later.
The second playhouse to open during the 1920s was the Stadium Theatre at Monument Square.
A child is lost after movies at the Central Theatre!
From: “A Family’s Enduring Love” by Thomas A. O'Connell:
The story begins sometime after Christmas, the end of May and early June to be precise. The year was 1931. On that warm Saturday afternoon, Michelina Terranova gave her son Albert, 6, permission to attend the movies at The Central Theatre on West Broad Street, Pawcatuck, with his three friends. Before he left the 64-½ Oak Street home his sister Nancy, 12, gave him two nickels. Nancy’s recent tonsillectomy had garnered her some get-well money. She wanted to share her good fortune with her little brother. Mrs. Terranova knew the ways of little fellows and so she wrapped the two coins in a clean handkerchief. She tucked the little parcel into his pocket for an extra measure of security.
So off they walked Albert and his pals James Strafach, Albert Servidio, and Charles Pendola down Oak Street, onto High Street, and into the downtown Westerly business district. A right turn over the Pawcatuck River Bridge brought the boys almost to the movie house’s entrance next to Higgin’s Pharmacy.
That day Albert saw the movie twice, Nancy recently attested. By 6 p.m. he was hungry. Spying his older sister Josephine 17, at the show, he let her know of his desire to be fed. She apparently asked his three pals to bring him home and give him his favorite food, a banana.
Albert and his comrades probably talked some more, forgetting Josephine’s request. Soon Albert wandered away on his own. The boys must have thought that he’d left the place with his sister. However, Albert had plans. The three foot six inch lad thought himself capable of finding the home under his own power. So he walked out of the front door, took a right, and headed for home.
Later that evening, the three friends arrived back home. Mrs. Terranova, noticing Albert was not with them, asked of the child’s whereabouts.
The whole story can be found on this page of the Westerly Historical Society.
From an article in The Providence Journal on December 18, 2003:
“In May 1999, authorities announced with great fanfare that they had cracked one of the biggest of the unsolved cases, the 1996 Christmas Day fire that destroyed the Odeon Theater. They charged a local man with first-degree arson; the charge was eventually dropped for lack of evidence.”
When Fellini’s The Nights of Cabiria had its U.S. premiere here in October of 1957, the film was known simply as “Cabiria” for a short while. Here’s the ad.
Not this season…if I am to believe the absence of newspaper ads. And I intended to post that the arrival of this multiplex was responsible to a great degree for the demise of the Narragansett Theatre in nearby Narragansett, as well as the Campus Cinema in Wakefield, which is also in South Kingstown.
Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.
Gladys W. Brayton wrote of the origins of the Palace Theatre on the website of the Cranston Historical Society, even though the theatre is geographically just over the border in Providence:
In 1916 Abraham A. Spitz, a veteran theater man and owner of a number of theaters in Providence and elsewhere, opened the Palace Theater at 1520 Broad Street. His manager for twenty-two years was Charles H. Steadman who had supervised the building of the theater. It has a seating capacity of 1000. His license was but $25 at the time, but by the end of year was changed to $1 for each performance. The price of the seats went up a bit, too. Reserved seats in the balcony were fifteen cents.
The Edgewood Library Civic Club gave a play there soon after it was
opened. Occasionally concerts and entertainments took place there. On Saturday mornings a children’s program was offered with three chaperones in attendance. The popular “Wizard of Oz” was featured at one of these sessions.
In 1920 the Palace offered its patrons a special feature, a midnight who at which the elections returns were given, for there were no televisions in those days to keep up to date on the news.
The current vacant lot to the left of what was the Star Theatre is where Odd Fellows Hall used to be. To the right of the Star building today is the Greenwich Hotel, formerly Updike Hotel. The Main Street location is near the intersection with Church Street and across from legendary Jigger’s Diner.
Gladys W. Brayton wrote of the Auburn Theatre origins, on the website of the Cranston Historical Society:
…Town Councilman Alfred Barolet built the Auburn Theater on Park Avenue near the corner of Elmwood Avenue. In February of 1913 he was showing “Motion Pictures and Illustrated Songs.” Admission was five cents, reserved seats ten cents. Pictures changed three times a week and the current program consisted of “The Ranks,” “The Burning Brand,” and the “The Vengeance of Fate.”
The same year the Edgewood Theater was advertised to open at Firemen’s Hall, but due to a misunderstanding of insurance laws this project fell through.
Mr. Barolet, being a public spirited man, allowed use of his theater on off nights for benefits of various kinds, including such affairs for the Fire Companies of the city. It was advertised as “The Small Theater with the Big Features,” In 1915 it was showing “The Political Feud” (two reels), “Giddy, Gay and Ticklish” (a Keystone production), “Two Kisses,” “The Old Maid” and “Mabel’s Flirtation.” On Saturdays it featured “Tess of the Storm Country” with Mary Pickford as the star.
The building that was the original Star Theatre of East Greenwich still exists. The Star was located next to Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street. Odd Fellows Hall had been completed in 1878. It was a building with stores at the ground level and a social hall on the second floor. Over the decades , as a community hall, Odd Fellows Hall was used for theatrical performances, concerts, lectures. As the “East Greenwich Opera House” in 1902 and 1903 it presented first class drama, minstrels and vaudevilles. The life of the hall continued until 1946 when a fire that broke out on April 15 completely destroyed the building. A photo of the place in flames, in a 1991 issue of The Packet, a periodical about East Greenwich history, shows what is identified as the Star Theatre next door. The Star Theatre building was not affected by the fire and survives to this day. There are apartments as well as a ground-level Chinese restaurant called Taste of China in the three-floor structure. Here is a photo of the place now.
The co-hit is advertised as “Willed for Ransom,” which is a mistake. What they meant was World for Ransom, which was directed (uncredited) by Cranston-born director Robert Aldrich of later What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? & The Longest Yard fame.
And for you Laurier fans, here is a history of the theatre from Woonsocket, Rhode Island – A Centennial History, 1888-1988:
To meet Jazz Age demands for additional public entertainment centers, two new theaters and a new ballroom were erected in Woonsocket in the 1920’s. The first of the new playhouses to be opened was the Laurier Theatre, located on Cumberland Street near Social Corner. Named in honor of Sir Wildred Laurier, the first French-Canadian to be elected Premier of Canada, the theater was established to promote French culture in the city.
The first attraction to be presented at the Laurier was the opera “Carmen” on April 19, 1920. Directed by Professor Chambord Giguere, it featured a cast composed mainly of French-Canadian talent from the city. Nearly every seat was filled for the performance. The Laurier Theatre was operated by the Social Amusement Company, and was the site of the first New England appearance of the celebrated Paul Whiteman and his Palais Royal Orchestra on May 14, 1922. A capacity audience of 1,200 people attended the performance sponsored by LaRoe’s Music Store.
For a time, top vaudeville acts and several of Canada’s most popular stock companies and comedians were featured at the Laurier, but eventually it fell upon lean years and was converted into a second-run movie house. The theater was badly damaged in the flood of the Social district in August, 1955, and was razed three years later.
The second playhouse to open during the 1920s was the Stadium Theatre at Monument Square.
And here is the first decent photo I’ve found of the theatre front. Looks to be about 1952.
The Kent was demolished in 1995. The site is now a Centreville Bank with front parking area.
A child is lost after movies at the Central Theatre!
From: “A Family’s Enduring Love” by Thomas A. O'Connell:
The story begins sometime after Christmas, the end of May and early June to be precise. The year was 1931. On that warm Saturday afternoon, Michelina Terranova gave her son Albert, 6, permission to attend the movies at The Central Theatre on West Broad Street, Pawcatuck, with his three friends. Before he left the 64-½ Oak Street home his sister Nancy, 12, gave him two nickels. Nancy’s recent tonsillectomy had garnered her some get-well money. She wanted to share her good fortune with her little brother. Mrs. Terranova knew the ways of little fellows and so she wrapped the two coins in a clean handkerchief. She tucked the little parcel into his pocket for an extra measure of security.
So off they walked Albert and his pals James Strafach, Albert Servidio, and Charles Pendola down Oak Street, onto High Street, and into the downtown Westerly business district. A right turn over the Pawcatuck River Bridge brought the boys almost to the movie house’s entrance next to Higgin’s Pharmacy.
That day Albert saw the movie twice, Nancy recently attested. By 6 p.m. he was hungry. Spying his older sister Josephine 17, at the show, he let her know of his desire to be fed. She apparently asked his three pals to bring him home and give him his favorite food, a banana.
Albert and his comrades probably talked some more, forgetting Josephine’s request. Soon Albert wandered away on his own. The boys must have thought that he’d left the place with his sister. However, Albert had plans. The three foot six inch lad thought himself capable of finding the home under his own power. So he walked out of the front door, took a right, and headed for home.
Later that evening, the three friends arrived back home. Mrs. Terranova, noticing Albert was not with them, asked of the child’s whereabouts.
The whole story can be found on this page of the Westerly Historical Society.
From an article in The Providence Journal on December 18, 2003:
“In May 1999, authorities announced with great fanfare that they had cracked one of the biggest of the unsolved cases, the 1996 Christmas Day fire that destroyed the Odeon Theater. They charged a local man with first-degree arson; the charge was eventually dropped for lack of evidence.”
Here’s an ad for Rossellini’s Paisan which had its Providence premiere here in March of 1949.
When Fellini’s The Nights of Cabiria had its U.S. premiere here in October of 1957, the film was known simply as “Cabiria” for a short while. Here’s the ad.
This Casino Theatre is not to be confused with the Narragansett Casino, a dance and live entertainment venue and a Narragansett Pier legend.
Not this season…if I am to believe the absence of newspaper ads. And I intended to post that the arrival of this multiplex was responsible to a great degree for the demise of the Narragansett Theatre in nearby Narragansett, as well as the Campus Cinema in Wakefield, which is also in South Kingstown.
Of course the “original Italian version” has Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart dubbed in Italian. You hear their own voices in the English version.
D'accordo! For me the best Fellini films are Le notti di Cabiria, La strada, I vitelloni… and I bow to his somewhat later film Amarcord.
I like the name “Absinthe” for a theatre. Wonderfully decadent.
Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the former Somerset Theatre and former furniture store.
Here is a crowd of mostly men beneath the marquee of Loew’s State in 1928.
Better image than I posted earlier of the interior and stage of the Majestic.
Slightly better image of the above famous photo of the 1931 closing night.
Audience at the final gala show at the Providence Opera House on March 14, 1931.
La Strada, 1956.
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.