Circle Cinemas
399 Chestnut Hill Avenue,
Brookline,
MA
02146
399 Chestnut Hill Avenue,
Brookline,
MA
02146
9 people
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Sorry, I didn’t take notes on that. Maybe later this month, I’ll try to make copies of the Globe movie ad page for January of each year, so I can see when various theatres opened and closed.
The Circle’s ad was a small listing, just like those of many other local neighborhood theatres at the time. It was listed under the heading “Cleveland Circle” (not “Brighton” or “Brookline”).
I thought the Circle opened in 1965. What film was listed as playing the theatre in 1960?
The Circle probably did predate the Showcase chain but I believe it was always a Sumner Redstone property. As an aside, Redstone’s legal residence for decades was in Newton, within several miles of the Circle.
Does anyone know when the Circle opened? I assume no earlier than the mid-1950s.
The Circle apparently predates the National Amusements (Showcase) chain. I saw it advertised on a Boston Globe movie page from January 1960.
For a city full of culture and college kids, Boston had some lame places to see movies. The only movie I ever saw here was Groundhog Day. This was certainly a better place to see a movie than the Loew’s theaters in the area.
If they’re worse than Copley Place, that’s pretty bad! I’ve probably never been in any of them. The last film I saw here was The Prince of Egypt, and that was in a big auditorium.
Ron, the Green Line Chestnut Hill stop is about a 5 minute walk from Chestnut Hill Cinema. (past the Post Office, and to the right through the parking lot past Star Market. Lots of people use public transportation in the Newton Brookline area, and many who used to travel the green line from Fenway to Cleveland Circle and one stop up, Chestnut Hill, now can walk to the AMC Fenway Theatre. Of course the suburban Newton folks will continue to patronize Chestnut Hill, but the competition added by the Fenway Theatre, offered one more alternative for those who hated the lack of parking at Cleveland Circle, as well as the 4 tiny screens in the back. Those are the worst auditoriums anyone can imagine for watching a film.
After the AMC Fenway opened in June of 2000, the Circle Cinemas were still doing strong business, especially with the Boston College crowd and the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods to draw upon. My sense – and it’s nothing more than that; I have no inside connections to draw upon – is that National Amusements will either hold onto the Circle Cinemas or, should they decide to sell the property, will build a new venue somewhere in the general vicinity.
While the loss of the Circle would leave the Brookline/Newton area badly underscreened, the Circle lost much of its luster nearly 30 years ago when it became a twin and then a multiplex. The only advantage offered by the Circle is its proxmity to public transportation—-and taking the T to the Circle is almost essential at peak show times, as there are far too few parking spaces for a 7 screen complex (a source of complaints for years).
Chestnut Hill is a fairly long walk from the Green Line, and the AMC Fenway is a long way from Newton. It seems like even chain multiplexes are now starting to disappear from local neighborhoods.
Chestnut Hill and the Fenway AMC are right on the same green line as the Circle. I think the Fenway hurt the Circle’s business.
Today’s Boston Herald carries a report that developers are interested in buying the Circle Cinemas property and demolishing it to build condominiums.
That would leave a big void in the Brookline-Newton market, with only the four-screen Chestnut Hill Cinemas remaining to show mainstream films. (The Coolidge Corner and West Newton concentrate mainly on art films.) It would also remove one of the few movie theaters easily accessible by public transportation. I hope it doesn’t happen.
The Circle is sometimes listed as Brookline and sometimes as Brighton (a section of Boston). I believe the town line runs through the property.
The Circle Cinemas continues to book most, if not all, major Paramount releases (nice little bit of corporate synergy, that), focusing largely also on Universal and Warner Bros. product (the AMC Chestnut Hill being mostly a venue for Fox and Disney flicks), and is one of the most popular moviehouses in the Boston area.