In the Boston Globe archives, I found an article from January 3, 1982, saying that it had closed the previous year. Carmen Zingariello then bought it in March 1981 and reopened it in October 1981 with both movies and live shows.
A March 16, 1982 article also mentions the Park Theatre. Programming included movies, vaudeville, Gilbert & Sullivan, and big band shows (which “fill the house”).
The last citation I can find in the Globe archive is from November 19, 1984. The Park had become home to the Provincetown Repertory Theatre, which was about to produce an eight-month, eight-play season there.
If someone can come up with a street address, I’ll try to visit the location and find out if it is still standing. Unfortuantely, I seem to recall hearing that it was torn down.
The theater under the elevated on Causeway Street was E.M. Loew’s West End Cinema. It was originally built as the Lancaster Theatre, and ended its life as the West End Pussycat. It was torn down in 1990.
Around the same time, Loew’s also had a large single-screen theatre called Loew’s Arlington. I think it was around Henderson and Reed roads in Upper Arlington.
They later built Loew’s Westerville and Loew’s Southland, but I think those were multi-screen from the beginning. They’re all closed now, maybe even demolished.
Loew’s is now entirely gone from the Columbus area — in fact, they have only one theatre in all of Ohio.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, the Bowdoin Square Theatre opened on February 15, 1892. C.H. Blackall was the architect, assisted by Leon H. Lempert.
In Auguest 1897, George Lothrop took control of the Bowdoin Square, presenting melodrama at popular prices. The Lothrop Stock Company occupied it for many years. It later became home to vaudeville and double-feature films. It was demolished in 1955.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, the Bijou was the first theatre in the US to use electric lighting on its stage, personally installed and supervised by Thomas Edison. It had 644 electric lights, which got as much public attention on opening day as the actual show, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.
The first Old South Theatre was built around 1908 “within the historic heavy brick walls of the eighteenth-century Province House”, on Washington Street opposite Milk Street. The Province House had contained several earlier theatres between 1852 and 1870 (Ordway Hall, Opera House, Lyceum) but had also repeatedly suffered fires, the latest completely gutting it in 1907.
The first Old South was built as a motion-picture house, then remodeled by Nathan Gordon in 1920 as a “first-run showcase”. It was demolished in May 1922. A new Province Theatre was supposed to replace it, but was never built.
The second Old South opened as the “Old South Newsreel Theatre” in September 1940, as part of a new office building. By 1945, it was one of several theatres “operating as first-run outlets for lesser quality films” from United Artists, Columbia, and foreign studios. It was converted to stores in 1950.
I’m pretty sure this building no longer stands and was replaced by the modern Boston Five (now Borders Books) building. So the status should be “Closed/Demolished”.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, this was originally built as Beethoven Hall in 1873. The book says that “early attractions were minstrel shows, variety shows, and French drama, along with an appearance by Buffalo Bill; in October the Howard’s John Stetson presented a vaudeville troupe.”
In 1879, New York theatrical managers Henry Abbey and John Schoeffel leased Beethoven Hall and, over 50 days, converted it to the Park Theatre. Their lease lasted until 1889, at which point they built the Tremont Theatre.
Answering my own question … apparently it is. I found a Boston Globe article from June 10, 2001, that says:
Darkened for three years, the Hanover Mall Cinema is expected to reopen in August, under the banner of Patriot Cinemas, headquartered in Rockland. General Cinema had been the previous operator.
This originally opened as a Sack theatre in 1982. Here’s a Boston Globe article about it at that time:
SACK TO OPEN CINEMA-VIDEO COMPLEX IN SALEM
Boston Globe – October 8, 1982
By George McKinnon, Globe Staff
Pac-Man versus the movies. Or a $3-billion-a-year ticket sale for films against a projected $7 billion for home video and arcade electronic games.
In an if-you-can’t-beat'em-join'em move, Sack Theaters is combining a new three-screen cinema complex in Salem with an adjoining game center.
Yesterday, A. Alan Friedberg, president of Sack, said: “We’re calling it the Sack Entertainment Center and it will open next Friday at East India Mall in Salem in the heart of the downtown renewal area. It’s the first such theater and game center combination in New England.
“We’ve had a few video games in our theater lobbies, but this is a new concept, a completely separate area next to the theaters.”
Asked if he thought the games would cut into movie profits, Friedberg said: “We don’t think so. We feel that people will go into the center either before or after going to the movies. I think they’ll both feed off each other.”
He pointed out that a New York Times page one story Monday said that arcade and home video games have in the past five years become enormously popular and Hollywood has gone into the games by licensing its successful movies, such as “E T,” to game manufacturers.
When the Entertainment Center opens next week, Sack Theaters will have 57 screens in Massachusetts.
I don’t think Sack ever opened another cinema/video arcade combination. I suspect the arcade part didn’t last that long; it’s not there today.
Sack changed its name to USACinemas in 1985. Loews bought USACinemas in 1988, and eventually got rid of this and other small local cinemas.
Until pretty recently, this was a second-run discount house.
This building is still standing. If you go to the listed address, 256 Meridian Street, you may not find it, because all you will see there is a row of stores, with one of the entrances bricked up.
Instead, go around the block to the back of the building, on Border Street. With its tall, blank brick exterior walls, it is instantly recognizable as a former theatre. It appears to now be used as a warehouse and distribution center for Tello’s, a local clothing store chain. One of their stores is next door to the back of the former theatre, at 231 Border Street.
The South End Historical Society sent me another reply today:
“The Puritan Theatre, to the best of our knowledge, was used as a
Spanish-language cinema called Teatro America, beginning sometime after
mid-1973 and until its burning in very early 1977. It does not appear to
have been used as a Spanish-language cinema before 1973.”
They also promise me more information on the (currently unlisted) Columbia Theatre next week.
I went to this address tonight. The Brooks Pharmacy is definitely in its own purpose-built structure and not in anything that looks like an old theatre. The status should be changed to “Closed/Demolished”.
And here’s my first reply, from the South End Historical Society:
“The Puritan Theatre, according to the photo captions, was built in 1911 and
designed by James S. Ball, and destroyed by fire in the first week of
January, 1977. We have a 1973 photograph of the building, and it’s boarded
up, but the Puritan sign was still there, and it also had an EM Loew’s sign.
“I’ll check around to see when it was showing Spanish language movies, and
under what name.
“There was also the Columbia Theatre on Washington Street, which was
demolished in 1956. It was built in the 19th century, so it wasn’t designed
for film, but it became a movie house later. I’ll see what other info I can
find on this theater.”
Like the people in Moorhead, Minn., where the picture ran for more than a year in the town’s only movie house and sparked a protest demonstration by students of the local college who, under the name POOIE (People’s Organization of Intelligent Educatees), picketedâ€"“49 Weeks of Schmaltz is Enough”; “Don’t Get Caught in the von Trapp” â€" for a change of bill.
I found this by asking Google to search for:
Julie pooie “sound of music”
Thanks for your speedy reply! Where is the theatre “listed as closed”? I can’t find it here at CinemaTreasures.
I’ve never before heard of people picketing a movie theatre to protest an excessively long run. The student “protesters” look like they were having fun. It would be cool to hear from one of them, if they happen to visit this site and see my query.
In case the photo disappears from the NYTimes site, the “protester” signs say, among other things, “Pooie with Julie” and “Down with the Sound”. One of them is standing on a box with the words “Soap Box” painted on its side.
The top photo on this page shows the historic Minot Hall (Smith Block) at right, and a newly-built six-story addition at left. That addition now stands where the Puritan Theatre used to be. The Olympia Flower Store is just out of view, to the left of the photo.
I’ve sent e-mail enquiries to various South End organizations that are online, including the Minot Hall board of directors. If I get any replies, I’ll post them here.
In the Boston Globe archives, I found an article from January 3, 1982, saying that it had closed the previous year. Carmen Zingariello then bought it in March 1981 and reopened it in October 1981 with both movies and live shows.
A March 16, 1982 article also mentions the Park Theatre. Programming included movies, vaudeville, Gilbert & Sullivan, and big band shows (which “fill the house”).
The last citation I can find in the Globe archive is from November 19, 1984. The Park had become home to the Provincetown Repertory Theatre, which was about to produce an eight-month, eight-play season there.
If someone can come up with a street address, I’ll try to visit the location and find out if it is still standing. Unfortuantely, I seem to recall hearing that it was torn down.
The theater under the elevated on Causeway Street was E.M. Loew’s West End Cinema. It was originally built as the Lancaster Theatre, and ended its life as the West End Pussycat. It was torn down in 1990.
Around the same time, Loew’s also had a large single-screen theatre called Loew’s Arlington. I think it was around Henderson and Reed roads in Upper Arlington.
They later built Loew’s Westerville and Loew’s Southland, but I think those were multi-screen from the beginning. They’re all closed now, maybe even demolished.
Loew’s is now entirely gone from the Columbus area — in fact, they have only one theatre in all of Ohio.
… and let’s not forget that RKO stands for Radio-Keith-Orpheum. B.F. Keith was a real person, as were the Shuberts.
Shubert is a fine name for a live stage theatre. It evokes over a century of tradition.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, the Bowdoin Square Theatre opened on February 15, 1892. C.H. Blackall was the architect, assisted by Leon H. Lempert.
In Auguest 1897, George Lothrop took control of the Bowdoin Square, presenting melodrama at popular prices. The Lothrop Stock Company occupied it for many years. It later became home to vaudeville and double-feature films. It was demolished in 1955.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, the Bijou was the first theatre in the US to use electric lighting on its stage, personally installed and supervised by Thomas Edison. It had 644 electric lights, which got as much public attention on opening day as the actual show, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.
Is it time to rename this theatre in the CinemaTreasures database?
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, two different and unrelated theatres with this name have existed on approximately the same site.
The first Old South Theatre was built around 1908 “within the historic heavy brick walls of the eighteenth-century Province House”, on Washington Street opposite Milk Street. The Province House had contained several earlier theatres between 1852 and 1870 (Ordway Hall, Opera House, Lyceum) but had also repeatedly suffered fires, the latest completely gutting it in 1907.
The first Old South was built as a motion-picture house, then remodeled by Nathan Gordon in 1920 as a “first-run showcase”. It was demolished in May 1922. A new Province Theatre was supposed to replace it, but was never built.
The second Old South opened as the “Old South Newsreel Theatre” in September 1940, as part of a new office building. By 1945, it was one of several theatres “operating as first-run outlets for lesser quality films” from United Artists, Columbia, and foreign studios. It was converted to stores in 1950.
I’m pretty sure this building no longer stands and was replaced by the modern Boston Five (now Borders Books) building. So the status should be “Closed/Demolished”.
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, this was originally built as Beethoven Hall in 1873. The book says that “early attractions were minstrel shows, variety shows, and French drama, along with an appearance by Buffalo Bill; in October the Howard’s John Stetson presented a vaudeville troupe.”
In 1879, New York theatrical managers Henry Abbey and John Schoeffel leased Beethoven Hall and, over 50 days, converted it to the Park Theatre. Their lease lasted until 1889, at which point they built the Tremont Theatre.
Please come to Boston! We need you here.
Answering my own question … apparently it is. I found a Boston Globe article from June 10, 2001, that says:
Darkened for three years, the Hanover Mall Cinema is expected to reopen in August, under the banner of Patriot Cinemas, headquartered in Rockland. General Cinema had been the previous operator.
This originally opened as a Sack theatre in 1982. Here’s a Boston Globe article about it at that time:
SACK TO OPEN CINEMA-VIDEO COMPLEX IN SALEM
Boston Globe – October 8, 1982
By George McKinnon, Globe Staff
Pac-Man versus the movies. Or a $3-billion-a-year ticket sale for films against a projected $7 billion for home video and arcade electronic games.
In an if-you-can’t-beat'em-join'em move, Sack Theaters is combining a new three-screen cinema complex in Salem with an adjoining game center.
Yesterday, A. Alan Friedberg, president of Sack, said: “We’re calling it the Sack Entertainment Center and it will open next Friday at East India Mall in Salem in the heart of the downtown renewal area. It’s the first such theater and game center combination in New England.
“We’ve had a few video games in our theater lobbies, but this is a new concept, a completely separate area next to the theaters.”
Asked if he thought the games would cut into movie profits, Friedberg said: “We don’t think so. We feel that people will go into the center either before or after going to the movies. I think they’ll both feed off each other.”
He pointed out that a New York Times page one story Monday said that arcade and home video games have in the past five years become enormously popular and Hollywood has gone into the games by licensing its successful movies, such as “E T,” to game manufacturers.
When the Entertainment Center opens next week, Sack Theaters will have 57 screens in Massachusetts.
I don’t think Sack ever opened another cinema/video arcade combination. I suspect the arcade part didn’t last that long; it’s not there today.
Sack changed its name to USACinemas in 1985. Loews bought USACinemas in 1988, and eventually got rid of this and other small local cinemas.
Until pretty recently, this was a second-run discount house.
I happen to have kept a July 1998 Boston Globe, and it lists a 4-screen General Cinema at “Rte. 53 and Rte. 3”. Is this the same theatre?
This building is still standing. If you go to the listed address, 256 Meridian Street, you may not find it, because all you will see there is a row of stores, with one of the entrances bricked up.
Instead, go around the block to the back of the building, on Border Street. With its tall, blank brick exterior walls, it is instantly recognizable as a former theatre. It appears to now be used as a warehouse and distribution center for Tello’s, a local clothing store chain. One of their stores is next door to the back of the former theatre, at 231 Border Street.
The South End Historical Society sent me another reply today:
“The Puritan Theatre, to the best of our knowledge, was used as a
Spanish-language cinema called Teatro America, beginning sometime after
mid-1973 and until its burning in very early 1977. It does not appear to
have been used as a Spanish-language cinema before 1973.”
They also promise me more information on the (currently unlisted) Columbia Theatre next week.
Berkshire Eagle articles on the Mahaiwe’s restoration and grand reopening last weekend:
A renovated Mahaiwe Theatre opens (May 26)
Mahaiwe takes center stage (May 30)
An official press release on the restoration. After work is complete next year, the theatre manager expects to show film here once again.
Here’s a calendar of upcoming events at the Mahaiwe.
Its mission and programming sound similar to the Harvard Film Archive on the opposite coast.
I went to this address tonight. The Brooks Pharmacy is definitely in its own purpose-built structure and not in anything that looks like an old theatre. The status should be changed to “Closed/Demolished”.
Part of another Showbill, from March 1961.
Yeah but look, Redford’s about to try it again. I hope it works out better this time.
And here’s my first reply, from the South End Historical Society:
“The Puritan Theatre, according to the photo captions, was built in 1911 and
designed by James S. Ball, and destroyed by fire in the first week of
January, 1977. We have a 1973 photograph of the building, and it’s boarded
up, but the Puritan sign was still there, and it also had an EM Loew’s sign.
“I’ll check around to see when it was showing Spanish language movies, and
under what name.
“There was also the Columbia Theatre on Washington Street, which was
demolished in 1956. It was built in the 19th century, so it wasn’t designed
for film, but it became a movie house later. I’ll see what other info I can
find on this theater.”
At least towards the end, the West Newton was scheduling Gloomy Sunday for just one show a day, sometimes at odd times like 11:30 am.
Barnes & Noble has an excerpt from a book called Widescreen Dreams: Growing up Gay at the Movies. The quote below is actually from a November 1966 New York Times Magazine article by Joan Barthel:
Like the people in Moorhead, Minn., where the picture ran for more than a year in the town’s only movie house and sparked a protest demonstration by students of the local college who, under the name POOIE (People’s Organization of Intelligent Educatees), picketedâ€"“49 Weeks of Schmaltz is Enough”; “Don’t Get Caught in the von Trapp” â€" for a change of bill.
I found this by asking Google to search for:
Julie pooie “sound of music”
Thanks for your speedy reply! Where is the theatre “listed as closed”? I can’t find it here at CinemaTreasures.
I’ve never before heard of people picketing a movie theatre to protest an excessively long run. The student “protesters” look like they were having fun. It would be cool to hear from one of them, if they happen to visit this site and see my query.
In case the photo disappears from the NYTimes site, the “protester” signs say, among other things, “Pooie with Julie” and “Down with the Sound”. One of them is standing on a box with the words “Soap Box” painted on its side.
The top photo on this page shows the historic Minot Hall (Smith Block) at right, and a newly-built six-story addition at left. That addition now stands where the Puritan Theatre used to be. The Olympia Flower Store is just out of view, to the left of the photo.
I’ve sent e-mail enquiries to various South End organizations that are online, including the Minot Hall board of directors. If I get any replies, I’ll post them here.