Beacon Hill Theatre

1 Beacon Street,
Boston, MA 02108

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Eyecatcher
Eyecatcher on December 27, 2010 at 6:34 pm

I remember the second version of this theater with fondness.

It was deep underground, reached by a long, wide flight of stairs. The decor was very stark and “modern,” almost clinical. However, the equipment was all brand-new and technically excellent.

The auditorium seated between 800 or 900. The curtainless screen was 55 feet wide and concave. It was, at the time, the only curved movie screen in downtown Boston (the Cinerama having closed a few years earlier). The booth had 35/70mm projectors, and was capable of showing 35mm with monaural optical and four-track stereo sound, and 70mm with six-track stereo sound.

Beneath the screen was a curious barrier or grille made of white wooden slats, tilted inward towards the screen. It looked like an ultra-wide cow-catcher on a locomotive! Never did figure out what it was for.

My first visit was for the 70mm reissue of THIS IS CINERAMA in 1972. Although probably not as exciting as the original 3-projector version, if you sat up close (as I did) you got a very powerful sense of depth and participation. The soundtrack was played at VERY high volume, and sounded excellent, as did most of the films I saw at this venue.

Many other 70mm films played at the Beacon over the years, including blow-ups of PAPILLON and THE WIND AND THE LION, the re-issue of THE EXORCIST, and the 3-D reissue of HOUSE OF WAX. They also showed the 3-D version of ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN, which was X-rated, although I managed to get in anyway. :)

A pair of large full-range speakers were installed on the side walls of the theater for the “Sound 360” showing of DAMNATION ALLEY. These remained in place until the theater was converted to a triplex in the late ‘70s. The conversion cut the theater in half lengthwise, retaining the curved screen for the main auditorium, and adding two very small auditoriums in the rear.

The last film I saw there was Bertolucci’s 1900.

dick
dick on November 22, 2010 at 6:53 pm

I ONLY went to the Beacon Hill 2 time. One time to see The Towering Inferno because Westgate Mall was sold ot and the other time was to see THIS IS CINERAMA re-release. My wife and I were so disappointed that it was in single projector panavision and no stereo that we walked out After I got Home I was so dissapointed and mad that I sat down and wrote a 7page letter to Sack theatres explaining my distress. About a week later I received a letter with 12 passes to any Sack theatres for free. Sack/USA theatres sure let their properties fall into disrepair didn’t they.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on June 26, 2010 at 7:21 pm

Ron ,Interesting answer to your Question on Sunday showings can be found in an old Motion Picture Almanac.I have one from 1956 and they have everystate and Blue laws on Sundays.If you could ever get ahold of one these Almanacs you would have any Question Answered on Sunday showings.IF you have a state in Question I would be glad type down the Blue laws for that state in Question.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 26, 2010 at 7:03 pm

The cover of Boxoffice magazine, April 28, 1958, had a montage of Ben Sack with four of his theatres: the Saxon, the Capri, the Beacon Hill, and the Gary.
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_042858

…and an article on Sack and his success with the acquisition of Boston theatres:
View link

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 24, 2010 at 8:02 am

I noticed this with certain other films in that period with “adult content.” Apparently it was a type of local blue-law restriction on certain entertainments deemed inapropriate for Sundays.

Another related item I found was that later in 1951 the manager of the Delavan Theatre in Delavan, Wisconsin, quit after the Lions Club protested the showings of “Bitter Rice.” Many locals expressed indignation and suggested that the theatre should be boycotted.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on June 24, 2010 at 7:46 am

Any idea why it could not play on Sundays?

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 24, 2010 at 7:08 am

Item in Boxoffice magazine, January 6, 1951:

George Kraska, managing director of the Beacon Hill, said that the opening day of the Italian film “Bitter Rice,” broke every record for the showing of a foreign film in the house and that “it looks like a six weeks' or longer run.” The picture cannot play Sundays. The previous record for the theatre was held by “The Bicycle Thief,” which ran eight weeks.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on February 8, 2010 at 1:29 pm

The Carving Station restaurant was replaced by another called Pressed Sandwiches, but now that has closed as well.

pmont
pmont on October 17, 2009 at 7:36 pm

Regarding Ron’s post from June 2005 — “The book also says that "on November 10, 1948, a refurbished Beacon became the Beacon Hill Theatre” — I came across an article on the refurb of this & two other NE theatres in the Motion Picture Herald’s Better Theatre’s section (12/18/1948). Included are various before & after images of the exterior and interior, as well as a floorplan and some interesting prose.

You can see the images here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yloxt58

I couldn’t Photoshop the interior images into anything worthwhile, so they’re not in that album. You can see those images & read the article, if you’d like. I’ve made the PDF available here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxpvjt

MPol
MPol on January 9, 2009 at 12:20 am

Could be, Ron. I think that I may have also viewed the Beatles film “Yellow Submarine” there, too.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on January 8, 2009 at 10:39 pm

You probably saw all of those at the first Beacon Hill Theatre, the one that was torn down in 1969.

MPol
MPol on January 8, 2009 at 9:18 pm

The Beacon Hill Theatre….yup—I remember it very well. I saw a number of movies there, including the movie “Fantasia”, which I saw three times during the fall of 1963, as a seventh grader, due to attending friends' birthday parties, and one with some family friends when my mom had just given birth to my younger brother. Afew years later, I saw the movie “101 Dalmations”, which was also cool, and I think I may have even seen “Mary Poppins” there, too.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on May 1, 2008 at 12:56 pm

The former entrance to this theatre is now a sandwich restaurant called The Carving Station.

Tom10
Tom10 on May 15, 2007 at 9:04 am

If I recall correctly, the emergency exits in the theater opened into the adjacent underground garage near the ramp for the cars, so in an emergency, there was a direct, unobstructed, and relatively fireproof, exit up to Tremont Street. After the theater closed, they knocked down the walls and created more parking.

RonnieD
RonnieD on May 14, 2007 at 8:03 am

I only went to the “new” Beacon Hill Theater once. Did not care for it at all. It was down what seemed like an endless flight of wide stairs and gave me a very uncomfortable feeling that if any emergency occurred (other than a nuclear disaster) being underground felt precarious to me. I remember the spanking new theater feeling very clinical and cold nothing ornate or individualizing about it and I think the dominant color scheme was white. JoeyO could confirm or refute it. The film was Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”.

RonnieD
RonnieD on May 11, 2007 at 9:52 am

This site is amazing. I enjoy the wealth of information and everyone’s fond remembrances.
My own recollections of the “old” or original Beacon Hill, the single screen theater above ground at the corner of Beacon and Tremont Streets are from the late 1960’s. I use to sometimes cut classes to attend the daytime screenings. The first time I went there, I remember having a hard time finding the theater because the address was 1 Beacon St and the entrance was on Tremont Street. Go figure. I remember asking several people if they knew where the Beacon Hill Theater was.
I thought this theater was not as ornate or stylish as some of the other Sack houses (Savoy, Music Hall, or the Saxon). As I remember, the auditorium was rather shoe-boxy rather than fan shaped and seemed smaller than the other theaters with a smaller screen more suited to art films rather than glossy Hollywood movies. (The great and much appreciated photo provided by TC illustrates that). Strangely, I don’t recall the two balconies lining the side walls. Films I remember seeing at the Beacon Hill: Louis Malle’s “Viva Maria”; Richardson’s “The Loved One”; Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451”; Stanley Donen’s “Two For the Road”.

joeyO
joeyO on February 18, 2007 at 8:51 pm

Very interesting having found this thread. I was an usher at the Beacon Hill from around 1975 to 1978. I’d love to hear from any old friends who worked there. Some of the things I remember the most and thought was so cool were the underground exits that catacombed along the right side when it was one big theater… and the candy girl that I fell in love with too… Lots of laughs, I also got chosen in Boston magazine for number 3 of the top ten most boring jobs in Massachusettes working as the ticket taker there when I was 15. It was just beginning to struggle badly in the late 70s with crowds of 45 normal on any given weeknight amd 80 on a weekend night in what I remember being an 837 seat theater but I could be wrong with that number (it was long ago and my mind was on the candy girl :) ). I’d be happy to answer any questions on this place or hear from the people who became my best friends that I’ve lost touch with.

DennisJOBrien
DennisJOBrien on January 11, 2007 at 9:26 pm

I do believe that this was where our parents took us in 1958 or 1959 to see “Gigi” starring Maurice Chevalier. I was only 7 in 1958, so don’t blame me if I am wrong. But I do remember exactly that in the autumn of 1968 “Yellow Submarine” arrived here. We had seen that movie in London in July 1968, just days after The Beatles had come to the world premiere in Piccadilly Circus. But when we saw it in Boston again we were shocked that the song “Hey, Bulldog” had been cut. This was apparently done for the entire U.S. release and it was not the individual theater’s responsibility.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on February 19, 2006 at 5:08 am

Oops — that should have said this 1928 map !

Warning to dialup users: the map image is huge and will take a long time to load.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on February 19, 2006 at 5:06 am

The Beacon Theatre is visible on this 1982 map. It is on the west side of Tremont Street, just north of Beacon Street, adjoining Houghton & Dutton Co. Dry Goods.

sinclair
sinclair on January 22, 2006 at 3:03 pm

You guys are so good with info! Amazing.
My first memory of attending a show/movie here was to see “The Loved One,” which I skipped school to go see after an article in Playboy about it which flipped my switches. I sat and watched in awe all day and for a few more times after that initial viewing. Little did I know what had been excised from the reel for what reason one can only surmise, what with Boston’s notorious old laws and what-have-yous that brought scissors to the films. Years later, as this film was unavailable in any form by the 35mm, it was run on the San Francisco PBS affiliate (1980 or so) with a scene that I had never seen before. Zounds! It could be shown on TV but not in this theater in 1965/6? This removed footage was of the meeting with the astronaut’s stripper wife. It amazes to this day that this snip was unseen by me for so long.
Same thing happened with the Beatles' “Yellow Submarine.” Whether it was to show more screenings per day or whatever, the film got chopped up more with every visit made to see it.
Does anyone recall Ben Sack’s full-page in the Boston papers to get people in to see “Darling” for free after it was scrutinized by the Catholic church? The Legion of Decency had such a hold that no one went to see this “condemned” film. “Darling” did not play here, though; it was at another downtown Sack theater.

Tom10
Tom10 on January 8, 2006 at 3:17 pm

Ron. Yes, it was Houghton and Dutton. Here’s a web page showing a trade card for the store: http://www.cyberbee.com/september05.html I saw a picture of the store in Jane Holtz Kay’s “Lost Boston.” Tom

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on January 1, 2006 at 10:42 am

I think that the name of the department store which occupied the building just south of the original Beacon Th. was “Houghton & Dutton” or something like that. Their building was converted into office space and was demolished to make way for the present One Beacon Street tower. The architect for the theatre was, of course, Clarence Blackall, not “Blackwell” as above.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on December 13, 2005 at 11:52 am

RE: the discussion above of Donald King’s recent Boston theatres book. He did not leave the Boston area in the 1970s or 1980s, but way back in the early 1950s! Or maybe in the 1940s. The original Beacon Theatre was opened about Feb.1910, designed by Clarence Blackwell and had 700-plus seats. It was on the west side of Tremont St., a short distance north of Beacon. It had a big verical sign, and was similar in size to the Modern/Mayflower. It had a balcony. I remember seeing the first Brigit Bardot film there in the late-1950s and there was a full house on a Friday evening, as she had generated a great deal of publicity. I seem to recall that the office building which stood just south of the theatre and which was located at the corner of Tremont and Beacon had originally been a famous Boston department store. When all of this was torn down, the entrance for the new Beacon cinema was approximately on the same site. I saw “Caligula” in there in the Fall of 1980. It had 3 screens then, and I recall that it was spotless, immaculate inside.