Circle Cinemas
399 Chestnut Hill Avenue,
Brookline,
MA
02146
399 Chestnut Hill Avenue,
Brookline,
MA
02146
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American Repertory Theatre is definitely putting on a Punchdrunk show next season, but it will not be Faust. It will be “Sleep No More, an immersive production inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, told through the lens of a Hitchcock thriller.”
Whether it will take place at the Circle, I don’t know. The ART’s web page says only “An extraordinary, unexpected location will be exquisitely transformed into an installation of cinematic scenes that evoke the world of Macbeth.” I guess they’ll announce the actual location some time in the fall.
The Brookline TAB posted an article online last Friday:
One last curtain call at Circle Cinema?
I assume it will be published in this week’s printed newspaper. The article confirms that the American Repertory Theatre “scouted out the empty building as the possible setting for an elaborate theatrical piece”, which may or may not be Faust. The ART hasn’t made any decision on whether to go ahead with such a site-specific production.
The TAB article also discusses prospects for condominium, hotel, or other development on the site.
I looked at your article over at Universal Hub, Ron. Thanks.
I also saw the film “Love Story” at the Circle years ago.
Here’s hoping that they build another theatre instead of luxury condos or a parking lot, and that they build a theatre that doesn’t play the same schlocky stuff in the way of movies that most of the theatres these days play.
Over at Universal Hub, I speculate some more about Faust and the ART and the Circle Cinemas.
I remember the Circle Cinemas (along with other now-defunct cinemas) with a somewhat sad fondness. It was a beautiful theatre before it got “twinned”, and I saw some very nice films there, before and after it was “twinned'.
The Great Race
Chinatown
Superman I and Superman II
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Munich
Zodiac
to name afew. Just as often as not, as kids, my sister and I would attend movies there with or without family or friends, and then eat in the Howard Johnson’s afterwards.
Harry Potter and the Phoenix
He’s a member of this Flickr group, whose description suggests that the American Repertory Theatre is scouting locations to stage a production of Faust.
I couldn’t figure that out, Ron. I looked at the people in the pictures, thinking that maybe they were members of some sort of theatrical company, but that didn’t seem to be the case. The most oblique comments which accompany the photographs include one mentioning that an opening at the parking garage ‘could be enclosed with plastic and made into cornfield’ (huh?) and another that the cabinets and desk in one of the offices ‘could be struck’ – all kind of weird, at least on the surface…
What are all those people doing in the closed theatre? Are they looking at it with the idea of reopening it, or demolishing it?
A random set of photographs of the Circle Cinemas, taken in mid-October: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31393958@N02/
You’re welcome. Also, if you visited it in 1966, it was still then a single screen.
Thanks, Ron for the correction on my posting. I gues my own nostalgia for The Circle got the best of me (too)!
adding to the above: the letter-writer was manager of the Circle from 1971 to 1976, and assistant manager before that.
A long letter from James Bodge in yesterday’s Boston Globe City Weekly: The Circle was grand as long as it lasted
> I don’t believe that one single-screen theatre was built in Boston after the Circle went up
The Abbey, (second) Beacon Hill, Charles, Pi Alley, Paris, and Village Cinema (West Roxbury) all opened as single-screeners after 1940, though the first four eventually acquired more screens.
There was also Cinema 733, the second Kenmore Square theatre, and the Garden Cinema, but these opened in buildings originally built for other purposes.
In the final analysis, how many twinnings of single-screen theatres ever improved on the originals? Younger moviegoers on this site who are nostalgic over what they saw at “the cinemas” on hard ticket really missed out on experiencing “Boston’s Finest Suburban Theatre” as Ron Newman noted above the original theatre boasted. We did have a couple of nice theatres nearby – the Coolidge Corner and Allston that were built in the old-time movie palace style (but smaller) 20’s and 30’s. But when the Circle was opened in 1940 it was unique, the hopeful beginning of a new era in modern movie theatre buildings. But I don’t believe that one single-screen theatre was built in Boston after the Circle went up; and it stood alone in that department for too many years – it wasn’t until the megaplexes were built many years later. And the first of those were mostly inadequate from the beginning (Newton, for instance). But the Circle? Imagine – in the 40’s – reclining seats, air conditioning (they called it air-cooled, I think) a clean modern look without any frou-frou, a luxurious house curtain that was opened and closed between every single portion of the program (which often included a travelogue, a comedy short, cartoons, newsreel, previews and …. a double feature until (when?) maybe the mid 50s. Now that’s nostalgia! The first time I set foot in the Cinemas (1966) was the last time I went there. I hate to throw cold water on the young ones here, but …. good riddance.
1965 is the year that Sumner Redstone and his National Amusements circuit purchased the theatre.
It is widely known by local residents that the theatre has been in operation since 1940, however National Amusements chose to use their take over year of 1965 for publicity purposes regarding the theatres closing.
Here’s a photo of the marquee on the now-closed theatre.
The 1-4 side says
CIRCLE CINEMAS
1965 to 2008
while the 5-7 side says
THANK YOU FOR
OVER 40 YEARS
OF PATRONAGE AND
MOVIE MEMORIES
This is a classy thing to do. So many local cinemas have closed unceremoniously with no ‘goodbye’ of any kind to their long-time customers.
(But, once again, the theatre opened in 1940, not 1965.)
I agree- the letters-in-circles which say “Circle” on the right side of Lost Memory’s photo of Sept 15 look identical to the same letters on the 2 marquees in MGM’s photo of April 1941 when the Circle was new.
What do the small signs say?
The letters-in-circles signs on top of the current building look the same as the ones on the marquees in the 1941 photo.
The photo which the MGM agent took in April 1941 shows the twin marquees, but my copy is not sharp enough to figure out what the logo was. I can now see that it is indeed “M&P” (Mullin & Pinanski). The photo was taken from the street out front. I knew that the Circle opened in 1940 but I didn’t know the actual date, Saturday October 12.
Sol Israel’s Globe article is now online.
The printed version has a photo that unfortunately is not online. It is captioned “The community moveihouse opened in 1940”, and shows two marquees both reading
BOSTON’S FINEST SUBURBAN THEATRE
GRAND OPENING
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12
A circular logo for the M&P chain is next to the word CIRCLE, where each letter is on its own separate circular sign.
The Circle’s closing leaves only two cinemas still open within Boston city limits: AMC Loews Boston Common 19, opened in 2001, and Regal Fenway 13 (originally General Cinema, then AMC), opened in 2000.
I’m a correspondent for The Boston Globe, and I’ll be covering the closing day of the cinema tomorrow.
If you have been a patron or employee of the cinema and have any information about the theater that you think I ought to know, or if you have any old photos of the cinema, I would appreciate it if you could email me –
Thank you!
And more comments here:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/circle-cinemas-brookline
Lots of blog comments from people who remember the theatre here:
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