Thanks. But it says nothing about “recently announced that they are closing all of their stores”. If they did that, there would be nothing left for a new owner to buy.
Today’s Boston Sunday Globe has an article about former movie theatres of Chinatown, and an outdoor film festival that will be held there next month. It says that the Star Cinema was “where the kung fu movies of the 1970s created a generation of mini-Bruce Lees and where Jackie Chan’s ‘Spiritual Kung Fu’ drew such a crowd that people were left outside, begging to be let in.
“Jean Lukitsh , 56, threaded projectors at the Star Cinema, on Essex Street, and the China Cinema, on Beach Street, from 1978 to 1986. She had come to Boston from Pittsburgh to take tai chi classes in Chinatown. She lived there for 23 years.
“A classmate got her a job at the cinemas, and she fell in love with Chinese film.
“ ‘The thing that drew me to these movies was that, in them, anybody can be a master of martial arts,’ she said, as a 1957 Chinese musical called ‘Mambo Girl’ played in her Dorchester living room recently. ‘Old women, monks, nuns, beggars. I just really liked that fact.’
The kung fu movies were the most popular, she said, and the comedies. She recalled one series from the early 1980s called ``Aces Go Places" that had audiences falling off their seats with laughter.
“But in 1985, the glory days of the Chinatown movie houses ended abruptly.
“The VCR killed them.
“ ‘Over the course of six months, we lost our whole audience,” Lukitsh said. 'We went from standing room only to a dozen old men who didn’t have VCRs at home. It was very traumatic.’
“The Star closed in 1986. The China closed a year or two later.
“ ‘I miss seeing those movies with large groups of people,’ said Lukitsh, who trained as a nurse when the cinemas closed and now works at a Chinatown home for the elderly.”
“As a youth, [Jeffrey] Wong [now 62] would sneak in and hide in the balcony of the State Cinema on Washington Street, hoping to catch some of the skin flicks before the lights came up and the bums were pushed out and he joined his friends and relatives and neighbors, who then filled the theater , eager for that week’s offering from Shanghai or Taiwan.
Not all the films had the highest production values: The fights were obviously staged, which made them even more entertaining for some."
Off The Wall’s last show, as a venue of its own, was on Saturday night, August 30, 1986. They showed “The Patchwork Girl of Oz,” a 1914 film made by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. Albert Lamb provided piano accompaniment. [Source: Boston Globe article, August 23, 1986.]
From an invitation to a Brattle Theatre donor appreciation screening that I attended yesterday:
“The Brattle has recently acquired films from the famed Off-The-Wall
collection. Off-The-Wall Cinema screened rare footage from rock groups like
the Rolling Stones, silent films, short subjects and classic animated
shorts. From its inception in 1976 to finally closing ten years later,
Off-The-Wall Cinema primarily made its home in Central Square, Cambridge.
Many folks, including Brattle Creative Director Ned Hinkle, have fond
memories of these screenings.
The Brattle Film Foundation is thrilled to add these wonderful shorts and
rarities to our collection."
The entire collection is in 16mm, and had sat in various people’s basements for at least a decade before the Brattle acquired it.
At yesterday’s screening, the Brattle showed these films (and maybe a few others that I don’t remember):
A Datsun TV commercial starring Salvador Dali
An equally strange Levi’s commercial from the 1960s or early 70s
a Faith Hubley animated short. I think it was Windy Day, from 1967
a Louis Armstrong concert performance short subject
At the back of the theatre, the Brattle displayed a few signs, advetisements, and newspaper articles from Off the Wall. I had forgotten that Off The Wall had one last run in 1994-95, showing films on Monday nights at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square. A Boston Globe article from 1994, celebrating Off The Wall’s 20th anniversary, said that Off The Wall started on Friday, December 13, 1974.
As part of Harvard Square Oktoberfest, the Brattle will have a free screening of Off The Wall films on Sunday, October 8, from noon to 2:30 pm.
From an invitation to a Brattle Theatre donor appreciation screening that I attended yesterday:
“The Brattle has recently acquired films from the famed Off-The-Wall
collection. Off-The-Wall Cinema screened rare footage from rock groups like
the Rolling Stones, silent films, short subjects and classic animated
shorts. From its inception in 1976 to finally closing ten years later,
Off-The-Wall Cinema primarily made its home in Central Square, Cambridge.
Many folks, including Brattle Creative Director Ned Hinkle, have fond
memories of these screenings.
The Brattle Film Foundation is thrilled to add these wonderful shorts and
rarities to our collection."
The entire collection is in 16mm, and had sat in various people’s basements for at least a decade before the Brattle acquired it.
At yesterday’s screening, the Brattle showed these films (and maybe a few others that I don’t remember):
A Datsun TV commercial starring Salvador Dali
An equally strange Levi’s commercial from the 1960s or early 70s
a Faith Hubley animated short. I think it was Windy Day, from 1967
a Louis Armstrong concert performance short subject
At the back of the theatre, the Brattle displayed a few signs, advetisements, and newspaper articles from Off the Wall. I had forgotten that Off The Wall had one last run in 1994-95, showing films on Monday nights at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square. A Boston Globe article from 1994, celebrating Off The Wall’s 20th anniversary, said that Off The Wall started on Friday, December 13, 1974.
As part of Harvard Square Oktoberfest, the Brattle will have a free screening of Off The Wall films on Sunday, October 8, from noon to 2:30 pm.
I was at the Brattle last night for a “donor appreciation” screening event, and the management were pretty upbeat about the fundraising campaign. The headline you used, “Brattle Theatre in trouble”, is not supported by the article you linked to.
The Film Threat story says that “Tower Records recently announced that they are closing all of their stores and filing for bankruptcy.” I don’t believe this is accurate. At least, I can find no news story to confirm it.
I hope the rest of the story was better researched.
OK, but when I was a student at Eastmoor High School (1972-75), I could walk to the Esquire (later Carousel East) or bicycle to Town & Country or Cinema East. The places you mention are much too far for either walking or biking.
But people haven’t moved out of Berwick, Bexley, Eastmoor, Whitehall, and the Walnut Ridge area. That’s a very large area to leave without movie theatres.
With this closed, are there any movie theatres at all remaining on the East side of Columbus, besides the Drexel in Bexley?
Cinema East, Town & Country, Carousel East, York Plaza, and a whole bunch of theatres surrounding the Eastland Mall are all gone, and I can’t think of anything that has replaced them.
The Bijou Dream building in Boston does indeed still exist. Emerson College plans to redevelop it as part of its renovation of the adjoining Paramount Theatre. The Bijou building will likely contain a new black-box live stage and a film screening room, as well as dormitory rooms.
When Entertainment Cinemas reopened the Fresh Pond Cinema in Cambridge, MA, in 1990, they had a two-story waterfall in the lobby. After Loews took over the theatre, the waterfall went dry. Now that Entertainment is running it once again, they have promised to restore the waterfall. I haven’t been there lately, so I don’t know if they’ve done so yet.
Thanks. But it says nothing about “recently announced that they are closing all of their stores”. If they did that, there would be nothing left for a new owner to buy.
When was a movie last shown here? I don’t recall any when I lived in Santa Monica from 1979 to 1984.
Today’s Boston Sunday Globe has an article about former movie theatres of Chinatown, and an outdoor film festival that will be held there next month. It says that the Star Cinema was “where the kung fu movies of the 1970s created a generation of mini-Bruce Lees and where Jackie Chan’s ‘Spiritual Kung Fu’ drew such a crowd that people were left outside, begging to be let in.
“Jean Lukitsh , 56, threaded projectors at the Star Cinema, on Essex Street, and the China Cinema, on Beach Street, from 1978 to 1986. She had come to Boston from Pittsburgh to take tai chi classes in Chinatown. She lived there for 23 years.
“A classmate got her a job at the cinemas, and she fell in love with Chinese film.
“ ‘The thing that drew me to these movies was that, in them, anybody can be a master of martial arts,’ she said, as a 1957 Chinese musical called ‘Mambo Girl’ played in her Dorchester living room recently. ‘Old women, monks, nuns, beggars. I just really liked that fact.’
The kung fu movies were the most popular, she said, and the comedies. She recalled one series from the early 1980s called ``Aces Go Places" that had audiences falling off their seats with laughter.
“But in 1985, the glory days of the Chinatown movie houses ended abruptly.
“The VCR killed them.
“ ‘Over the course of six months, we lost our whole audience,” Lukitsh said. 'We went from standing room only to a dozen old men who didn’t have VCRs at home. It was very traumatic.’
“The Star closed in 1986. The China closed a year or two later.
“ ‘I miss seeing those movies with large groups of people,’ said Lukitsh, who trained as a nurse when the cinemas closed and now works at a Chinatown home for the elderly.”
Today’s Boston Sunday Globe has an article about former movie theatres of Chinatown, and an outdoor film festival that will be held there next month. It says, of this theatre:
“As a youth, [Jeffrey] Wong [now 62] would sneak in and hide in the balcony of the State Cinema on Washington Street, hoping to catch some of the skin flicks before the lights came up and the bums were pushed out and he joined his friends and relatives and neighbors, who then filled the theater , eager for that week’s offering from Shanghai or Taiwan.
Not all the films had the highest production values: The fights were obviously staged, which made them even more entertaining for some."
Off The Wall’s last show, as a venue of its own, was on Saturday night, August 30, 1986. They showed “The Patchwork Girl of Oz,” a 1914 film made by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. Albert Lamb provided piano accompaniment. [Source: Boston Globe article, August 23, 1986.]
From an invitation to a Brattle Theatre donor appreciation screening that I attended yesterday:
“The Brattle has recently acquired films from the famed Off-The-Wall
collection. Off-The-Wall Cinema screened rare footage from rock groups like
the Rolling Stones, silent films, short subjects and classic animated
shorts. From its inception in 1976 to finally closing ten years later,
Off-The-Wall Cinema primarily made its home in Central Square, Cambridge.
Many folks, including Brattle Creative Director Ned Hinkle, have fond
memories of these screenings.
The Brattle Film Foundation is thrilled to add these wonderful shorts and
rarities to our collection."
The entire collection is in 16mm, and had sat in various people’s basements for at least a decade before the Brattle acquired it.
At yesterday’s screening, the Brattle showed these films (and maybe a few others that I don’t remember):
At the back of the theatre, the Brattle displayed a few signs, advetisements, and newspaper articles from Off the Wall. I had forgotten that Off The Wall had one last run in 1994-95, showing films on Monday nights at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square. A Boston Globe article from 1994, celebrating Off The Wall’s 20th anniversary, said that Off The Wall started on Friday, December 13, 1974.
As part of Harvard Square Oktoberfest, the Brattle will have a free screening of Off The Wall films on Sunday, October 8, from noon to 2:30 pm.
From an invitation to a Brattle Theatre donor appreciation screening that I attended yesterday:
“The Brattle has recently acquired films from the famed Off-The-Wall
collection. Off-The-Wall Cinema screened rare footage from rock groups like
the Rolling Stones, silent films, short subjects and classic animated
shorts. From its inception in 1976 to finally closing ten years later,
Off-The-Wall Cinema primarily made its home in Central Square, Cambridge.
Many folks, including Brattle Creative Director Ned Hinkle, have fond
memories of these screenings.
The Brattle Film Foundation is thrilled to add these wonderful shorts and
rarities to our collection."
The entire collection is in 16mm, and had sat in various people’s basements for at least a decade before the Brattle acquired it.
At yesterday’s screening, the Brattle showed these films (and maybe a few others that I don’t remember):
At the back of the theatre, the Brattle displayed a few signs, advetisements, and newspaper articles from Off the Wall. I had forgotten that Off The Wall had one last run in 1994-95, showing films on Monday nights at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square. A Boston Globe article from 1994, celebrating Off The Wall’s 20th anniversary, said that Off The Wall started on Friday, December 13, 1974.
As part of Harvard Square Oktoberfest, the Brattle will have a free screening of Off The Wall films on Sunday, October 8, from noon to 2:30 pm.
I was at the Brattle last night for a “donor appreciation” screening event, and the management were pretty upbeat about the fundraising campaign. The headline you used, “Brattle Theatre in trouble”, is not supported by the article you linked to.
The Film Threat story says that “Tower Records recently announced that they are closing all of their stores and filing for bankruptcy.” I don’t believe this is accurate. At least, I can find no news story to confirm it.
I hope the rest of the story was better researched.
Can you say more?
Is this necessary? We are supposed to be talking about a new documentary.
OK, but when I was a student at Eastmoor High School (1972-75), I could walk to the Esquire (later Carousel East) or bicycle to Town & Country or Cinema East. The places you mention are much too far for either walking or biking.
But people haven’t moved out of Berwick, Bexley, Eastmoor, Whitehall, and the Walnut Ridge area. That’s a very large area to leave without movie theatres.
With this closed, are there any movie theatres at all remaining on the East side of Columbus, besides the Drexel in Bexley?
Cinema East, Town & Country, Carousel East, York Plaza, and a whole bunch of theatres surrounding the Eastland Mall are all gone, and I can’t think of anything that has replaced them.
You have the status listed as ‘Closed’, but the official web site has showtimes. Is it open or not?
Which theatre in Boston?
The Bexley Theatre in Bexley, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus) was built as a twin in 1935. Sadly, it is no longer standing.
There is plenty of parking in the surrounding neighborhood. This is not a major problem.
The Bijou Dream building in Boston does indeed still exist. Emerson College plans to redevelop it as part of its renovation of the adjoining Paramount Theatre. The Bijou building will likely contain a new black-box live stage and a film screening room, as well as dormitory rooms.
When Entertainment Cinemas reopened the Fresh Pond Cinema in Cambridge, MA, in 1990, they had a two-story waterfall in the lobby. After Loews took over the theatre, the waterfall went dry. Now that Entertainment is running it once again, they have promised to restore the waterfall. I haven’t been there lately, so I don’t know if they’ve done so yet.
I’ve done that, too. But it’s a long walk, in a not very obvious direction, through a neighborhood that most people are unfamiliar with.
the 1949 photo.
Are you looking north from Windward Avenue? If so, the theatre is on the west (ocean) side of the Walk — where there are no longer any buildings.
It looks like the CinemaTreasures page for this theatre is gone, too. Any idea why?
It is named for the nearby Glacial Potholes on the Deerfield River.