Cameo Theatres 1 & 2
14 Columbian Street,
South Weymouth,
MA
02190
14 Columbian Street,
South Weymouth,
MA
02190
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Boston Actor: Thanks for the web link and information. Maybe, some day, the theater can be restored. Hope your acting career goes well.
According to this website: http://www.patriotcinemas.com/cameohistory.html
“The Cameo was designed by architects William Luther Mowll and Roger Glade Rand, and built in 1939. In keeping with the local colonial architecture of Boston’s South Shore, the designers recalled the essential elements of design that enter into the ensemble of Old Colony homesteads. The owners of the Cameo wanted to give as much local color and atmosphere as possible, attempting to make their patrons feel as "at home” as possible. Much of the original treatment is still in place.
The lounge/lobby area is more like an old New England parlor than a part of a modern theatre. It is a colonial room with a fireplace, paneled walls, and glazed Chinese red wall paper.
Originally, the Cameo was a single theater with 672 seats. It had a large screen for cinematic events and a stage for live events. The stage area was flanked by two large fluted columns with Doric capitals.
The auditorium’s walls used four-by-four foot squares of natural colored wallboard, stenciled to imitate Chinese wallpaper. When the theatre was converted to a twin in the 1980’s, the walls were lined with conservative red drapes and consistent white paneling."
When I was in Weymouth South Junior High and Weymouth South High Schools, I went with family or friends, often weekly, to see films here for only $1.
The Cameo was a fairly decent, first run, single-screen venue. It had surprisingly good monophonic sound. The last film I saw there as a single was “The Last Great Train Robbery,” with Sean Connery, 1979. As a twin, it’s less enjoyable with its bowling alley auditoriums. But at least it survives. Some of the colonial revival details also survive.