A Facebook comment about the Olympia: “My dad loved the movies there and the serials. I was able to get several of the serials on VHS tape. I stay over his house and he was like a kid. He told me Jacob Cohn wanted to fill every seat so he’d let you in with less than full admission price. I don’t know if the Royal Theater showed kids movies on weekend days. My dad would have been 13 in 1933.”
Someone’s Facebook comment: “We grew up across the street from this theater. My mom said in the 40’s they used to give you 1 piece of a dish set every time you purchased a ticket to the movie.”
A Facebook user wrote: “I have fond memories of spending Saturday afternoon at the Community theater, hula hoop contests and an older man with a bald head walking up and down the isle making sure kids stayed in there seats. I don’t remember there being any parents, just a maze of kids having fun.”
A Facebook friend of mine wrote: “I grew up on Redfern St. off Woonasquatucket Ave. and spent many days hiking through Centredale on the way to the railroad tracks. One of the ushers at the theater was a short, grizzly man we called Fourgee. We climbed the “cliffs” behind the theater many a time.” –RP
There were a number of partially-talking films before this, like Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer” in which, of course, he sang. And there were a volume of other hybrid films as well.
On rare occasions movies were shown here as well.
You can see the radio towers on the Olympia!
A Facebook comment about the Olympia: “My dad loved the movies there and the serials. I was able to get several of the serials on VHS tape. I stay over his house and he was like a kid. He told me Jacob Cohn wanted to fill every seat so he’d let you in with less than full admission price. I don’t know if the Royal Theater showed kids movies on weekend days. My dad would have been 13 in 1933.”
More likely around 1958.
Early 1900s.
June 27, 1956.
The feature at the Capitol was “The Keys of the Kingdom.”
Someone’s Facebook comment: “We grew up across the street from this theater. My mom said in the 40’s they used to give you 1 piece of a dish set every time you purchased a ticket to the movie.”
A Facebook user wrote: “I have fond memories of spending Saturday afternoon at the Community theater, hula hoop contests and an older man with a bald head walking up and down the isle making sure kids stayed in there seats. I don’t remember there being any parents, just a maze of kids having fun.”
“Robin and the 7 Hoods” & “Walk a Tightrope”
Ads for movies being shown at the Imperial exist between 1916 and 1931 in the Pawtucket Times.
In 1948 or so.
1950s perhaps.
Circa 1918.
A Facebook friend of mine wrote: “I grew up on Redfern St. off Woonasquatucket Ave. and spent many days hiking through Centredale on the way to the railroad tracks. One of the ushers at the theater was a short, grizzly man we called Fourgee. We climbed the “cliffs” behind the theater many a time.” –RP
June 11, 1928.
Saw something here on August 5, 1978 called “The Joy of Fooling Around,” according to my notes, an adult film from Greece. It was probably damn awful.
Lectures and movies.
Probably the 1920s. The theatre would close for good in 1931 and be demolished soon thereafter.
“The Blue Eagle” was a John Ford film.
There were a number of partially-talking films before this, like Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer” in which, of course, he sang. And there were a volume of other hybrid films as well.
The theatre has been long-demolished. The shopping plaza where it was located now has a MacDonald’s, a Walmart, and a Citizens Bank.
This film can be seen on YouTube in German or in French (L'Atlantide.)
Between 1915 and 1923.
“A Song of Kentucky” is believed to be a lost film.