Somerville Theatre

After Reading this I feel sad. The big chains don’t care pure bottom line. I am glad I live Near Somerville and Arlington,Ma. The two best Theatres any where bar none The Somerville Theatre and The Capitol Theatre run by F.E.I. They do it the right way what a joy to see movies at either theatre. Fresh Popcorn good clean theatres clean prints. A Great Movie Going Experience. AAAAA++++
Jim Callahan Winchester,Ma

Matt,

Without getting into too much detail, let me say that without the live events, I very much doubt the Somerville Theatre would still be open. The studios and large theater chains make it very difficult for small independent operators to get films. It used to be that we would get stuff 3-6 weeks out, which would enable us to draw decent audiences (and occasionally we still get movies that ‘fresh’, case in point being “Walk the Line” which we got 4 weeks out and is still doing great business due to word of mouth and Golden Globes, etc). The past few years, the studios have been giving us movies that are 5-8 (or more) weeks out and by that time they don’t have as much life in them.

That said, we have been in talks recently with the major studios about seeking some relief from the situation as it stands now. Some have been quite friendly and some have been indifferent. The MPAA has also been helpful to us in this regard. I would love for Somerville to become a first run theater and compete with Harvard Square and Kendall. While it would raise pirices slightly (due to obligations to studios for new product) it would enable a larger audience to utilize the theater, which is often filled way below capacity, as you mentioned. But we have no idea if going first run would even be possible given the way the industry works.

The Somerville is lucky also in that the building contains leasable office and commercial space, so those parts of the building serve to subsidize the theater to some degree. If we were a single-use building, it would be tough to make a go of it.

Thankfully the theater owners are dedicated to keeping the theater going and have used their own money to keep it afloat when others might not have been able to.

-Ian Judge
Somerville Theatre

Ian’s a bit too modest to announce it here, but the Somerville Theatre has a spiffy new website, complete with lots of historical photos. Check it out.

While you’re there, check out the pages for the Somerville’s sister theatre, the Capitol in neighboring Arlington.

Hi Ian,

Thanks for posting that webpage! I live about a 10 minute walk away from the Somerville Theater and am there fairly often. Has there been any talk about maybe using one of the screens to play older or more “arthouse” kinds of movies? The Somerville Theater mostly plays second runs of theatrical releases, it would be very cool if some more types of movies were programmed!

Matt

The Somerville is starting a midnight movie series later this month, on Friday and Saturday nights, sometimes with an additional show the following Monday at 7 pm:

July 22-23 and 25: Fight Club
July 29-30 only: The Princess Bride
August 5-6 and 8: Shaft (the original from 1971)
August 12-13 and 15: Dr. Strangelove
August 19-20 and 22: Office Space
August 26-29: Looney Tunes Festival (includes 11 am Sunday show)

(Now Ian, this should be put up on the official theatre web site so I can tell other folks about it!)

A couple of festivals coming up at the Somerville next month:

Boston Underground Film Festival, April 6-10. I assume this is in the main theatre, but the site doesn’t say.

Independent Film Festival of Boston, April 21-24. In theatres 2 through 5 of the Somerville, as well as at the Brattle, the Coolidge, and the Museum of Fine Arts.

I remember the tracks but no trains – I think the last scheduled freight ran through around 1981 or so, though the tracks were probably used after that for equipment moves or when the nearby Fitchburg main line went down. I think they were all removed by ‘83, at least through the center of the square, though the other ends (now the bikepath) lasted a lot longer. My uncle recalls that many times he and other kids would hop a slow moving freight to get to Davis Sq. (he actually used to have the job of changing the marquee at Somerville in the 60’s for a time). This worked out fine until one day they hopped the wrong train; it took a turn at Somerville Junction and highballed it to New Hampshire before he could get off!

I’d imagine the tracks being so close to the theater was quite a disruption back in the days of many trains!

Jack Rivers – were you a projectionist assistant at Somerville? If so, I’d enjoy talking to you about the old days.

Anyone out there who remembers when the freight trains rumbled by during the show?

Jack Rivers Projectionist Assistant !937-1951

Well, I’d love to see FEI take over and reopen the Gaiety, or the Modern, or the Paramount, or the RKO Boston, or the Broadway in Southie (if it’s still standing) ….

Since last Friday, the Boston Globe’s movie listings for the Somerville and the Capitol in Arlington sport a spiffy new F.E.I. THEATRES logo. Right now these are the only two theatres in this ‘chain’, but perhaps they’re planning to acquire or build more?

OK, by popular demand:

Main Theater: 891 fixed/14 accessible (421 in orchestra, balance in balcony)

Cinemas:
2: 128
3: 192
4: 120
5: 190

Hope that helps!

As per KenRoe’s comment of 11/13/04, the “Firm” should be listed as Funk & Wilcox.
Also, until Ian can be convinced to reveal more secrets (such as the building’s total capacity [all auditoriums]), the seat count listing should be changed to Unknown.