Boyd Theatre

As per their website, “The Boyd Theatre is currently closed for repairs and restoration.” There is no further information. I hope this isn’t a bad sign for the Boyd.

The Boyd Theater is not part of a theater chain. It is locally owned, by a single family. I wouldn’t describe the offer of passes as a “bribe.” Far from it. I completely sympathize with the owners, who are trying to keep this venerable theater going in tough times. More power to them. As a matter of fact, the four passes we were given was not an attempt to get us to leave, but were tendered after we saw the movie, as we were leaving, and were intended as a courtesy because we had sat through the movie in an unheated theater on a miserable cold rainy night. I just want to set the record straight on this, as the discussion seems to have drifted a bit off topic in this regard. I’m sorry that my faulty memory has led to some inconsistency on my part in relating the experience I had at the Boyd, and I apologize to the readers of this forum for any confusion I may have caused.

Times change, At GCC usually when I closed on the WEEKDAYS iT was just the projectionist and Me .And i was on Salary.It was never told to me to ever do such a thing,nor did it enter my mind.Oh sure.there were times when I wished the movie goer had stayed home,but isn’t that the reason WE were There for Escape into the make believe world.Maybe the customer had a tough day at work. It just never entered my mind,Maybe Tisloews will spot this we came up at the same time.

Correction: my wife reminds me that we DID stay for the movie, which was Wallace and Gromit’s “Chicken Run.” So we did not get a refund, as I mistakenly stated, but we did receive the four passes. We were offered the option of a refund if we chose to leave, which we didn’t, but now that I think back on it I’m sure the staff (such as it was—-I’m guessing 2-3 incl. projectionist) would have enjoyed being able to go home on that miserable night instead of having to hang around the theater for just two patrons.

Here are photos from 1983 and 1986, respectively. I saw the 1983 film at the Goldman in Piladelphia.
http://tinyurl.com/qj6cjh
http://tinyurl.com/pgjvmz

Alexander Boyd, as of 1934, no longer owned the Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia. The Boyd in Philadelphia, by then, was owned by Warner Brothers, under the Stanley Warner Theatres division.

The theatre is still operating. It’s still the most affordable area theatre by far and they play a great selection of films. Hopefully the theatre will stay around for generations to come. It would be great if the city could do something to help refurbish this historic gem.

On a sad note, one of the owners, Harold Heydt, passed away Monday Sept. 22, 2008.

The architecture style is colonial but, as indicated above, drapes cover most of the areas around the old organ lofts, the sides of the auditorium, and around the screen. The upstairs area is universally painted beige/tan. All the plaster detail is one color.

The original projection room, which requires a lengthy, angled “throw”, is still in use.

This is certainly one of my favorites. One thing that strike me is the steep pitch of the orchestra seating. Admission is several dollars less than it is at the multiplexes and the concession are inexpensive. Why people don’t pack the place tells you something about the current movie-going audience. I bring my kids here so they can experience the movie palace ambience while it’s still around. My hope is that Bethlehem will eventually use the Boyd as a performing arts center. From what I’ve seen recently and what is written above, it’s screening days are numbered.

Also, the place is not as pristine as it was 5-10 years ago which indicates that there is little money for maintenance. The balcony has been roped off for a good 20 years for insurance purposes.

The Nile Theater a block west of the Boyd was torn down in the 1970s and I believe was replaced by a street extension.

Mercifully, the pedestrian mall in front of the Boyd was removed and auto traffic (Broad Street) is allowed through once again which allow patrons to be dropped off.

The plain, 70ish-looking lobby is the result of the 1966 fire.

I’ve visited this theater quite a number of times over the last few years. It’s a great example of a large, old downtown movie theater. From what I understand a fire destroyed the building front, including the lobby and attached storefronts in the 1970’s, although the auditorium was undamaged. This may explain the earlier comment on how the lobby “looked plain.” It was rebuilt, but certainly has a 1970 kind of feel to it.
The auditorium walls have largely been covered with long gold curtains, almost floor to ceiling. If you walk far enough toward the screen, you can turn around and see most of the balcony and the type of décor now covered by the curtains. Appears to be done in an almost early American Colonial style. I’d guess there’s about 600-700 seats on the main floor, no way to tell how many on the balcony.
When I first visited back in the early 1980’s there seemed to be more decorative lighting under the balcony in the oval coves located there. Perhaps over the years disconnected those lights or never replaced the bulbs.
Overall the theater seems to be kept in very good condition, good sound, and decent projection. Not sure how they are doing with business though since at least 2 multi-screen theaters opened in the area over the last few years.

We should not argue we are all here to share infomation on theatres. It should not matter where it is obtained like tomscott said. I dont believe charles mean any harm either. If everyone work together we can learn much. I think this webpage would be much less without lostmemory so keep up the good work. Peace

Lobby is very plain, but the theater itself is quite nice. Balcony still closed but the curtain looks new as do the seats. Great Dolby sound. Claims to be the only first run single screen theater in the area. Only 6 people for a Saturday night showing of The Incredibles; I would hope that the local market provides more support than this.