In his 1964 My Autobiography Charles Chaplin wrote of having performed at the Empress circa 1910:
“We played at the Empress, owned by Sid Grauman and his father, friendly, gregarious people. It was the first time I was featured alone on a poster with no mention of Karno. And the audience—-what a delight! In spite pf The Wow-wows being a dull show, there were packed houses every performance and screams of laughter. Grauman said enthusiastically, ‘Any time you’re through with the Karno outfit, come back here and we’ll put on shows together.’ This enthusiasm was new to me. In San Francisco one felt the spirit of optimism and enterprise.”
Westerly, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut (part of Stonington) border on each other, separated by the Pawcatuck River. I’m coming to the conclusion that the Lyric, at West Broad Street (“on the bridge,” as directories indicate) places it…and the Central as well, geographically on the Connecticut side. Westerly has Broad Street, no West Broad Street. When you cross to Pawcatuck, it becomes West Broad. “Westerly” is generic rather than true geographical reality. The Westerly city directories of the time add the symbol “PA,” which means Pawcatuck, in referring to these theatres. This might have implications for the listing information.
Westerly, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut (part of Stonington) border on each other, separated by the Pawcatuck River. I’m coming to the conclusion that the Central, at 41 West Broad Street, places it…and the Lyric as well, geographically on the Connecticut side. Westerly has Broad Street, no West Broad Street. When you cross to Pawcatuck, it becomes West Broad. “Westerly” is generic rather than true geographical reality. The Westerly city directories of the time add the symbol “PA,” which means Pawcatuck, in referring to these theatres. This might have implications for the listing information.
Excerpts on the background on the Strand Theatre from Roger Brett’s 1976 Temples of Illusion:
“The Strand Theater…was built by businessmen rather than showmen…The National Realty Corporation headed by Isaac Rose and Archibald and Charles Silverman, had a complex structure designed to cover the block bounded by Washington, Union, Worcester and Clemence Streets. The Strand itself occupies the northwest two-thirds of the National Building, while street level stores front on Washington and Union Streets and two floors of office space rise above them.. Their rent has saved the theater from the wrecking ball….
“The theater is of ‘shoe-box’ shape, as opposed to wide, shallow, and almost square size favored by designers of the era’s legitimate and vaudeville houses. It was fashoned primarily for motion pictures…. An original capacity of 2500 was later reduced to 2200 by the installation of newer wider seats.
“Through the World War I years, the Strand presented Sunday afternoon and evening concerts of classical and ‘middlebrow’ music… They performed in front of the curtain, the footlights and concert border lights being the only installed stage lighting, and were accompaned by the Strand Theater Orchestra playing in the pit. With the exception of these concerts, live performance has never taken place on the stage of the Strand.
“The new Strand’s major features were its then unparalleled size and comfort of its lobbies and lounges, and the music of its Wurlitzer theater organ, the first organ to be heard in a Providence theater…. The Strand’s architecture followed that of the New York City Strand, one of the very earliest movie palaces, after which it was named.
(…)
"The opening [June 12, 1915] was not a big social event…. The feature film that opened this house was The Shooting of Dan McGrew (in five acts). A two-reeler, The House of a Thousand Relations, was the second feature; there were two shorts…and a…cartoon. In all, ten reels. Admission was ten cents in the balcony at all times, fifteen cents in the main part of the orchestra during afternoon hours, and up to a quarter for the best orchestra seats after six o'clock.”
In July of 1931, not only was there a film on the bill, Annabelle’s Affairs with Jeanette MacDonald and Victor McLaglen, but also five acts of Keith-Albee vaudeville.
In December of 1935 one of the Gem’s programs was the Astaire-Rogers musical Top Hat with a John Wayne oater Desert Trail and a Tom Mix serial. They were showing films in 1945, according to what I found on microfilm in the Pawtuxet Valley Times. By 1952 the ads had disappeared, but I have no proof about the last year of operation.
City directories from the 1970s and early 1980s also list a Cinema 1—2-3 at 1500 Diamond Hill Road and a Cinema 4 at 2000 Diamond Hill Road. Go figure. I am trying to sort it all out, as well as learn about a “Walnut Hill Cinema” that I know I went to, and whether some of these places were identical, underwent name changes, etc. C'mon, Woonsocketonians, help.
The Warwick City Times for August 17, 1932 shows an ad for the Scenic Theatre bill of Girl Crazy and Gloria Swanson in Tonight or Never…plus kiddie shows. I have been unable to determine whether the Scenic became the Midway, only that it was an Oakland Beach theatre that existed before the Midway and, like it, was located on Oakland Beach Avenue. It may well have been a seasonal theatre, open only in the summer months.
The Lyric and the Central had to have been different theatres. On New Year’s Day in 1925 the Central was showing Little Robinson Crusoe while on the screen at the Lyric one could see Flaming Hearts. The Central was a pre-World War I theatre. In July of 1917 we note a program of Freckles with Louise Huff and Jack Pickford.
Great nostalgia there! Wouldn’t it be spooky if after you printed out the form, filled it, and mailed it in with a check, the tickets arrived in a few days!? You would go and there would be a magic Rivoli showing Oklahoma in Todd-AO.
…Trouble is, you would then wake up.
I walked into this place a couple of times to peek around at the facilities but never watched anything here. Essentially it is a bar-lounge with video/DVD type projection onto a pull-down screen. The programs, as displayed on a poster, are often quite interesting and well-selected, with a good variety of movies and, as its name implies, some revivals of classics. It would be nice, however, to have back in Westerly a movie theatre with 35mm capability and theatre seating in a non-socializing-and-non-drinking ambiance. At the moment Westerly has none. This is not to put down this establishment. Indeed having one like it in every community everywhere would be an asset, and I wish the place well, but I would like to see what I underlined above also. To my way of thinking, that is what real movie theatres are about. I should add that I do not live in Westerly, but in Johnston, about 35 miles away.
On January 20, 1906, according to an ad in the Pawtuxet Valley Times, this place was known as Thornton’s Opera House and promoted showings of “Belmont’s Moving Pictures and Illustrated Songs.” At the end of May of 1906, a movie San Francisco After the Earthquake was advertised. No other movie theatres or theatres of any kind were listed in the local paper at that same time.
And on October 11 & 12 of 1950, they had shown Rossellini’s Open City. Those two programs, exactly one year apart, coincided with Columbus Day and were meant to be cultural presentations for the R.I. Italian-American community. Perhaps the drive-in should have been renamed “Neorealist Auto Theatre.”
In going through microfilm of the Westerly Sun I jotted down a program of the Bliven Opera House from July, 1918: William F. Hart in Wolf Lowry and one from January of 1925 as the New Opera House: North of ‘36 with 4 acts of vaudeville.
A 1936 directory lists a Luna Hall Theatre at 233 Main Avenue. Must have been the same as the Rainbo, with a typo in the address number for one of the listings.
In July of 1917 the Princess at West Broad Street “on the bridge” was showing films. In the 1920s the Lyric (West Broad Sreet, “on the bridge”) is advertised in the Westerly Sun; there is no longer a Princess being advertised. The Princess had been renamed the Lyric. The Lyric and the Central, on the other hand, were separate theatres. They were both advertising in the Sun in 1925 along with the New Opera House, formerly Bliven Opera House.
The first appearance of the Odeon in city directories was in the 1923-1924 edition with the address of 19 Maple. In the 1927-28 edition there is now a Lyric Theatre at that address. In 1933 it is given as 10 Maple…which I think was a typo. Going back to 1913, there was a Lyric Theatre (pictures) at 34 Brow Street; in 1919 the address given is 12 Brow Street. Brow Street is a few miles away from Maple, nearer to Taunton Avenue and not in Riverside. That would give us another theatre in East Providence by the name of Lyric at one time. But I doubt I’ll be able to verify that. The Globe/Lyric on Maple Avenue became the Gilbert Stuart in the 1950s, I believe.
The 1908 Providence City Directory lists the Edisonia, 1911 Westminster Street, with John B. Nash as proprietor. The 1909 directory lists the Pastime, same address, with John B. Nash still proprietor. This had to have been the same theatre with a name change. In 1910 Everett Brophy was the Pastime manager.
I saw it yesterday and agree with the above comments. But then the 1953 version wasn’t involving on any human level either, nor, for that matter, the H. G. Wells novel (and infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast) on which all were based. The whole story is a fear-fest, in any rendition of it you care to choose.
Here is a nice painting (from a photo?) of the Majestic Building with Majestic Theatre vertical sign. The theatre entrance seems to have been actually on the Main Street side, the hotel on the Washington Street side. The church visible just beyond is now called Saints John & James at 20 Washington Street. The Gem Theatre, I believe now, was a separate theatre a few doors down Main Street. I have not seen photos of it. The Palace was up Washington Street, just beyound the church and on the right.
In his 1964 My Autobiography Charles Chaplin wrote of having performed at the Empress circa 1910:
“We played at the Empress, owned by Sid Grauman and his father, friendly, gregarious people. It was the first time I was featured alone on a poster with no mention of Karno. And the audience—-what a delight! In spite pf The Wow-wows being a dull show, there were packed houses every performance and screams of laughter. Grauman said enthusiastically, ‘Any time you’re through with the Karno outfit, come back here and we’ll put on shows together.’ This enthusiasm was new to me. In San Francisco one felt the spirit of optimism and enterprise.”
Westerly, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut (part of Stonington) border on each other, separated by the Pawcatuck River. I’m coming to the conclusion that the Lyric, at West Broad Street (“on the bridge,” as directories indicate) places it…and the Central as well, geographically on the Connecticut side. Westerly has Broad Street, no West Broad Street. When you cross to Pawcatuck, it becomes West Broad. “Westerly” is generic rather than true geographical reality. The Westerly city directories of the time add the symbol “PA,” which means Pawcatuck, in referring to these theatres. This might have implications for the listing information.
Westerly, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut (part of Stonington) border on each other, separated by the Pawcatuck River. I’m coming to the conclusion that the Central, at 41 West Broad Street, places it…and the Lyric as well, geographically on the Connecticut side. Westerly has Broad Street, no West Broad Street. When you cross to Pawcatuck, it becomes West Broad. “Westerly” is generic rather than true geographical reality. The Westerly city directories of the time add the symbol “PA,” which means Pawcatuck, in referring to these theatres. This might have implications for the listing information.
This nice 1940s photo of the theatre when it was known as the Empire was just brought to my attention.
The Strand Theatre in Providence was completed a year after this New York Strand, was named after it, and imitated its architecture and decor.
Excerpts on the background on the Strand Theatre from Roger Brett’s 1976 Temples of Illusion:
“The Strand Theater…was built by businessmen rather than showmen…The National Realty Corporation headed by Isaac Rose and Archibald and Charles Silverman, had a complex structure designed to cover the block bounded by Washington, Union, Worcester and Clemence Streets. The Strand itself occupies the northwest two-thirds of the National Building, while street level stores front on Washington and Union Streets and two floors of office space rise above them.. Their rent has saved the theater from the wrecking ball….
“The theater is of ‘shoe-box’ shape, as opposed to wide, shallow, and almost square size favored by designers of the era’s legitimate and vaudeville houses. It was fashoned primarily for motion pictures…. An original capacity of 2500 was later reduced to 2200 by the installation of newer wider seats.
“Through the World War I years, the Strand presented Sunday afternoon and evening concerts of classical and ‘middlebrow’ music… They performed in front of the curtain, the footlights and concert border lights being the only installed stage lighting, and were accompaned by the Strand Theater Orchestra playing in the pit. With the exception of these concerts, live performance has never taken place on the stage of the Strand.
“The new Strand’s major features were its then unparalleled size and comfort of its lobbies and lounges, and the music of its Wurlitzer theater organ, the first organ to be heard in a Providence theater…. The Strand’s architecture followed that of the New York City Strand, one of the very earliest movie palaces, after which it was named.
(…)
"The opening [June 12, 1915] was not a big social event…. The feature film that opened this house was The Shooting of Dan McGrew (in five acts). A two-reeler, The House of a Thousand Relations, was the second feature; there were two shorts…and a…cartoon. In all, ten reels. Admission was ten cents in the balcony at all times, fifteen cents in the main part of the orchestra during afternoon hours, and up to a quarter for the best orchestra seats after six o'clock.”
In July of 1931, not only was there a film on the bill, Annabelle’s Affairs with Jeanette MacDonald and Victor McLaglen, but also five acts of Keith-Albee vaudeville.
In December of 1935 one of the Gem’s programs was the Astaire-Rogers musical Top Hat with a John Wayne oater Desert Trail and a Tom Mix serial. They were showing films in 1945, according to what I found on microfilm in the Pawtuxet Valley Times. By 1952 the ads had disappeared, but I have no proof about the last year of operation.
City directories from the 1970s and early 1980s also list a Cinema 1—2-3 at 1500 Diamond Hill Road and a Cinema 4 at 2000 Diamond Hill Road. Go figure. I am trying to sort it all out, as well as learn about a “Walnut Hill Cinema” that I know I went to, and whether some of these places were identical, underwent name changes, etc. C'mon, Woonsocketonians, help.
The Warwick City Times for August 17, 1932 shows an ad for the Scenic Theatre bill of Girl Crazy and Gloria Swanson in Tonight or Never…plus kiddie shows. I have been unable to determine whether the Scenic became the Midway, only that it was an Oakland Beach theatre that existed before the Midway and, like it, was located on Oakland Beach Avenue. It may well have been a seasonal theatre, open only in the summer months.
One of the films shown in July of 1917 was The Rainbow with Dorothy Bernard.
The Lyric and the Central had to have been different theatres. On New Year’s Day in 1925 the Central was showing Little Robinson Crusoe while on the screen at the Lyric one could see Flaming Hearts. The Central was a pre-World War I theatre. In July of 1917 we note a program of Freckles with Louise Huff and Jack Pickford.
Great nostalgia there! Wouldn’t it be spooky if after you printed out the form, filled it, and mailed it in with a check, the tickets arrived in a few days!? You would go and there would be a magic Rivoli showing Oklahoma in Todd-AO.
…Trouble is, you would then wake up.
I meant Odeon/Lyric, not “Globe/Lyric.”
I walked into this place a couple of times to peek around at the facilities but never watched anything here. Essentially it is a bar-lounge with video/DVD type projection onto a pull-down screen. The programs, as displayed on a poster, are often quite interesting and well-selected, with a good variety of movies and, as its name implies, some revivals of classics. It would be nice, however, to have back in Westerly a movie theatre with 35mm capability and theatre seating in a non-socializing-and-non-drinking ambiance. At the moment Westerly has none. This is not to put down this establishment. Indeed having one like it in every community everywhere would be an asset, and I wish the place well, but I would like to see what I underlined above also. To my way of thinking, that is what real movie theatres are about. I should add that I do not live in Westerly, but in Johnston, about 35 miles away.
On January 20, 1906, according to an ad in the Pawtuxet Valley Times, this place was known as Thornton’s Opera House and promoted showings of “Belmont’s Moving Pictures and Illustrated Songs.” At the end of May of 1906, a movie San Francisco After the Earthquake was advertised. No other movie theatres or theatres of any kind were listed in the local paper at that same time.
And on October 11 & 12 of 1950, they had shown Rossellini’s Open City. Those two programs, exactly one year apart, coincided with Columbus Day and were meant to be cultural presentations for the R.I. Italian-American community. Perhaps the drive-in should have been renamed “Neorealist Auto Theatre.”
In going through microfilm of the Westerly Sun I jotted down a program of the Bliven Opera House from July, 1918: William F. Hart in Wolf Lowry and one from January of 1925 as the New Opera House: North of ‘36 with 4 acts of vaudeville.
A 1936 directory lists a Luna Hall Theatre at 233 Main Avenue. Must have been the same as the Rainbo, with a typo in the address number for one of the listings.
In July of 1917 the Princess at West Broad Street “on the bridge” was showing films. In the 1920s the Lyric (West Broad Sreet, “on the bridge”) is advertised in the Westerly Sun; there is no longer a Princess being advertised. The Princess had been renamed the Lyric. The Lyric and the Central, on the other hand, were separate theatres. They were both advertising in the Sun in 1925 along with the New Opera House, formerly Bliven Opera House.
Another city directory lists this theatre, 30 Broad Street, as Keith’s New Theatre.
The first appearance of the Odeon in city directories was in the 1923-1924 edition with the address of 19 Maple. In the 1927-28 edition there is now a Lyric Theatre at that address. In 1933 it is given as 10 Maple…which I think was a typo. Going back to 1913, there was a Lyric Theatre (pictures) at 34 Brow Street; in 1919 the address given is 12 Brow Street. Brow Street is a few miles away from Maple, nearer to Taunton Avenue and not in Riverside. That would give us another theatre in East Providence by the name of Lyric at one time. But I doubt I’ll be able to verify that. The Globe/Lyric on Maple Avenue became the Gilbert Stuart in the 1950s, I believe.
The 1908 Providence City Directory lists the Edisonia, 1911 Westminster Street, with John B. Nash as proprietor. The 1909 directory lists the Pastime, same address, with John B. Nash still proprietor. This had to have been the same theatre with a name change. In 1910 Everett Brophy was the Pastime manager.
I saw it yesterday and agree with the above comments. But then the 1953 version wasn’t involving on any human level either, nor, for that matter, the H. G. Wells novel (and infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast) on which all were based. The whole story is a fear-fest, in any rendition of it you care to choose.
Here is a nice painting (from a photo?) of the Majestic Building with Majestic Theatre vertical sign. The theatre entrance seems to have been actually on the Main Street side, the hotel on the Washington Street side. The church visible just beyond is now called Saints John & James at 20 Washington Street. The Gem Theatre, I believe now, was a separate theatre a few doors down Main Street. I have not seen photos of it. The Palace was up Washington Street, just beyound the church and on the right.