The Fenway in the early 50’s was mostly a moveover from the Paramount. Same could be said of the Downtyown Loews Orpheum and Lowes State. Sometimes they played day and date.
I remember going to see I Am Curious Yellow. there. I worked by Fenway Park and didn’t want to drive home at 3.30 pm so I hoped the T and went to the movies. I should have gone home because this is the afternoon the police raided the theatre and all the TV staions were out front filming for the 6pm news. The police shut the theatre down but it resumed playing the next day without problems. Never did get to see the last 15 mins or so.
Back in the 60’s when I was stationed in Bremerton I visited the 5th Ave theatre many times. What a beautiful eddifice. Reminds me a lot of the RKO Memorial(now the Opera House) here in Boston. I believe the Boston theatre had more seats. At the 5th ave I remember seeing Dr. Doolittle(I should have saved my money) and other reserved seat 70mm presentations. My favorite film was when they showed a 70mm re-issue restored version of Gone With The Wind. My favorite theatre in Seattle for viewing was the Colisseum. Its ashame they didn’t preserve instead of turning it into the Banana Republic.
The Walter Reade was The Charles. Sorry for any confusion. I alwasy refered to it because whenever I lived in other cities the co. name always came before the Theatre name. Such as the Walter Reade Charles Cinema.
While visiting relatives with my family in 1950, I remember walking yp Cherry St. To the then Newton theatre(1 screen) to go to a movie. I didn.t care what was playing because I was bored at my aunts house. Well the movie that was playing was an acclaimed Docu. called Kon Tiki. Even at 10 yrs old I enjoyed it. I now own the DVD. The Newton was a beautiful theatre.
I have been to the Randolph many times over the years and it is about 25 miles from me. The so called IMAX stinks. It is too small. Parking is brutal and getting out especially if you are headig east is impossible. My wife and I will never go there again. For IMAX we will go to Natick for the real thing not the imitation. For regular movies we will go to our closest theatres in Hingham, Scituate or Hanover. Cheaper any way especially on Tuesdays. Neither one of us likes 3D because most theatres don’t know how to show it properly. I was a projectionist for many years. .
I used to clean the sticky floor when I was 10 at the Dot. I lived at 310 Adams St next to Cosgroves Milk. I remember the night the Lucky Strike Bowling burnt down the 1st time. Always went to the Dot on Sat to win a prize on the movie races. On Sat there was always 1or more cartoona, a serial Previews and a wester or horror movie. This was al for a dime. My mother used to go on Mon nights for her dish. It was a grand old dame of a theatre. Just 4 walls rugs(Dirty),and we used to tthrow popcorn boxes at the screen and blow into JuJubes boxes like whistles. We used to walk up and down the aisles begging for money to buy something. Sundays was always The Fields Corner theatre or sometimes the Adams which were 25cents and 2nd run from downtown. Had yo go to the Adams for all Disney flicks. Left there in 1952 and we moved to Scituate. We had 1 theatre the Playhouse. Big, Clean and 25 cents. This was a privilege because it was 1st run with Boston. The 1st movie I saw there the Day The Earth Stood Still. When Cinemascope came there in 1853 they were the 2nd South Shore theatre to install. They put in a very large screen and stereo sound. What fun.
Went to the Weymouth Drive-in many times coming up th 11 miles from Scituate. Yes it was the 5th Drive-in in the U.S. It was twinned in the early 60’s after the 1st screen blew down in a hurricane. Went with my family to see Jack Webbs Dragnet and there was a huge thunderstorm and the power went out i the whole area. Were issued rainchecks. Went to Woodstock there in 1970 with my soon tobe wife. I believe it closed shortly after that when they built a SMALL mall anchored by K-Mart and a Cinema complea and Purity Supreme supermarket.
Having been to the Andrews theatre one time while doing 2 weeks of Navy reserve in 1981 I went to see Excalibur. The theatre was just 4 walls, a decent size screen and one of the best Stereo presentation for that wera that I ever heard.
The Quintree did open around 1950 and was a 2nd run drive in and had weekend marathons. Most films were right after they left downtown. It was accessible off of the main road and down a hill. The medfium size screen was down back and slightly to the left. It was little known and suffered from competition in the form of the South shore twin, The Neponset, the Weymouth, The Avon, and the Marshfield(first run day & Date with Boston) plus 2 other driveins in Brockton and 1 in Dedham. It was hidden down back and I believed at one time it may have been operated by General Cinema. I am not positive about this. Only went there once myself. It closed sometime in the 60’s and became a strip mall.
Like Ron said the Beacon Hill was where they showed the flat screen revival of This is Cinerama supposedly in 70mm. I and my wife were 2 of those in line to get out. Also this is the theatre where you heard the subway trains running by. We saw Little Big Man and The Towering Inferno there and the trains were very annoying.
There were several roadshow houses in Boston. The Gary, THe Astor, The Boston Cinerama, The Music Hall(only on a couple of occasions) the Saxon and one that everyone forgets the Walter Reade and finally on a couple of occasions the Beacon Hill. I don’t know if the Orpheum ever did Roadshows even though they were equipped with 70mm(Seven Brides For Seven Brothers played a 70mm return visit there.
Having been to the Cinerama in Providence only once(Ice Station Zebra) and also having been to 3strip/70mm Cinerama theatres such as Boston, Wash. D.C.(Warner and Uptown, Baltimore(Mayfair), San Diego(also a lockwood /Gordon, Seattle(Before remodel), San Francisco,and Rotterdam, Holland.I rate the Providence as my 3rd favorite. San diego #1, Boston#2, Seattle #4, Uptown #5 Rotterdam #6, Seattle #7 and the god awful Mayfair in Baltimore#99 with the Golden Gate in San Francisco as # 98. I rate these as picture & sound quality, Comfortable Seating, and Cleanliness. The only ones left as Cinemas are Seattle, Rotterdam And San Francisco(Legitimate stage). I,m sorry the Uptown in D.C. is still a cinema and the Warner in D.C. is a stage theatre. Boston is an empty parking lot.
I saw Exodus at the Mayfair in Baltimore in 70mm, Very bad projection. Everytime the projectionist would switch projectors, a large pop would come out of the speakers making it sound like you had just been shot. The picture was fuzzy most of the time and the theatre was dirty.
Would someone please put out more information on the Florida theatre downtown and which I attended many times in the late 50’s-1966. Also I remember a great theatre just up Palafox not to far from the Hotel. It had a big screen, stereo and I believe 70mm. I saw many U.A. movies including the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, Khartoum, and many other big movies, What was its name?
Saw Ben-Hur on day 2 of its D,C, Premiere. Sat in row 1 left side. Too close, got a headache and a stiff neck. Saw it later at home in Boston in a bigger theatre with a bigger screen. Sat in the middle about 15 rows deep. Much better. You say the Warner can.t show movies anymore, what a shame. In Boston our 3800 seat Metropolitan AKA The Sack Music Hall or the Wang center and now the Citi Wang Performance center was completely restored in the late 80.s- early 70,s and it has Broadway Shows, MUSIC CONCERTS AND RUNS Classic Movie Festivals in 35mm and 70mm with stereo. The Warner should also do this,
I was in D.C. from early 1960 to middle of 1966. Most of the films there were Fox, Paramount, Columbia or Universal and were either Move overs or Re-Issues except for Fox. Around the World, Spartacus and other big 70mm films. I don.t believe The town could show 70mm so everything was 35mm.
I saw HUGO in marvelous 2D and could not see why it was even in 3D. Only 2 scenes in the whole movie that I saw would have needed to be seen in 3D if at all. 3D movies are so overrated. I am glad that my local twin does not have 3d capability. I remember 3D in the 50’s and 70’s when you didn’t have to pay extra. What a ripoff.
I don,t believe Earthquake ever played the Gary. It did play the Saxon on a moveover from the general Cinema at shoppers world in Framingham. The only other Sensurround movie to play there was Battlestar Gallactica. Roller Coaster and Midway played at the South Plaza General Cinema in Braintree.
I am trying to finf out what Theatre I saw the first run 70mm res. seat showings of West Side Story and King of Kings plus the 1st run of The Music Man in SanDiego.
The keiths was home to all James Bond movies. I hated this theatre for movies. The projrction booth was so high that it projected an very bad Keystone effect.
Having attended the Translux in the early 60’s it was quite theatre. Very similiar to the Boston Translux, Boston was smaller and in the 50’s became a theatre of XXX films. It too started out as rear projection I believe. I don’t know if it ever became front projection. Played X,s till the 70’s. Was closed and demolished or converted to something else.
The Fields Corner, Strand, Franklin Park, Codman Square, Oriental, the Morton were all pretty similiar in style. The major difference wass in capacity size. No more than about 100-200 seats. They all ended up a ATC/net theatres along with theatres in Quincy and a summer only theatre in Hull and several other suburbab towns. Does anyone have any info on the old E.M. Lowes Eggleston in Eggleston Square. The DEot theatre was also E.M. Lowes theatres and they were all dumpsw. No Maintenancs and 2nd-3rd run including the Pub;ix in downtown Boston.
The Fenway in the early 50’s was mostly a moveover from the Paramount. Same could be said of the Downtyown Loews Orpheum and Lowes State. Sometimes they played day and date.
I may be wrong but I do believe that 1 and maybe 2 of the Cheri’s were 70 mm equipped. They were a roadshow theatre at times.
I remember going to see I Am Curious Yellow. there. I worked by Fenway Park and didn’t want to drive home at 3.30 pm so I hoped the T and went to the movies. I should have gone home because this is the afternoon the police raided the theatre and all the TV staions were out front filming for the 6pm news. The police shut the theatre down but it resumed playing the next day without problems. Never did get to see the last 15 mins or so.
Back in the 60’s when I was stationed in Bremerton I visited the 5th Ave theatre many times. What a beautiful eddifice. Reminds me a lot of the RKO Memorial(now the Opera House) here in Boston. I believe the Boston theatre had more seats. At the 5th ave I remember seeing Dr. Doolittle(I should have saved my money) and other reserved seat 70mm presentations. My favorite film was when they showed a 70mm re-issue restored version of Gone With The Wind. My favorite theatre in Seattle for viewing was the Colisseum. Its ashame they didn’t preserve instead of turning it into the Banana Republic.
The Walter Reade was The Charles. Sorry for any confusion. I alwasy refered to it because whenever I lived in other cities the co. name always came before the Theatre name. Such as the Walter Reade Charles Cinema.
While visiting relatives with my family in 1950, I remember walking yp Cherry St. To the then Newton theatre(1 screen) to go to a movie. I didn.t care what was playing because I was bored at my aunts house. Well the movie that was playing was an acclaimed Docu. called Kon Tiki. Even at 10 yrs old I enjoyed it. I now own the DVD. The Newton was a beautiful theatre.
I have been to the Randolph many times over the years and it is about 25 miles from me. The so called IMAX stinks. It is too small. Parking is brutal and getting out especially if you are headig east is impossible. My wife and I will never go there again. For IMAX we will go to Natick for the real thing not the imitation. For regular movies we will go to our closest theatres in Hingham, Scituate or Hanover. Cheaper any way especially on Tuesdays. Neither one of us likes 3D because most theatres don’t know how to show it properly. I was a projectionist for many years. .
I used to clean the sticky floor when I was 10 at the Dot. I lived at 310 Adams St next to Cosgroves Milk. I remember the night the Lucky Strike Bowling burnt down the 1st time. Always went to the Dot on Sat to win a prize on the movie races. On Sat there was always 1or more cartoona, a serial Previews and a wester or horror movie. This was al for a dime. My mother used to go on Mon nights for her dish. It was a grand old dame of a theatre. Just 4 walls rugs(Dirty),and we used to tthrow popcorn boxes at the screen and blow into JuJubes boxes like whistles. We used to walk up and down the aisles begging for money to buy something. Sundays was always The Fields Corner theatre or sometimes the Adams which were 25cents and 2nd run from downtown. Had yo go to the Adams for all Disney flicks. Left there in 1952 and we moved to Scituate. We had 1 theatre the Playhouse. Big, Clean and 25 cents. This was a privilege because it was 1st run with Boston. The 1st movie I saw there the Day The Earth Stood Still. When Cinemascope came there in 1853 they were the 2nd South Shore theatre to install. They put in a very large screen and stereo sound. What fun.
Went to the Weymouth Drive-in many times coming up th 11 miles from Scituate. Yes it was the 5th Drive-in in the U.S. It was twinned in the early 60’s after the 1st screen blew down in a hurricane. Went with my family to see Jack Webbs Dragnet and there was a huge thunderstorm and the power went out i the whole area. Were issued rainchecks. Went to Woodstock there in 1970 with my soon tobe wife. I believe it closed shortly after that when they built a SMALL mall anchored by K-Mart and a Cinema complea and Purity Supreme supermarket.
The astoir never was operated by Sack/USa/Lowes.
Having been to the Andrews theatre one time while doing 2 weeks of Navy reserve in 1981 I went to see Excalibur. The theatre was just 4 walls, a decent size screen and one of the best Stereo presentation for that wera that I ever heard.
The Quintree did open around 1950 and was a 2nd run drive in and had weekend marathons. Most films were right after they left downtown. It was accessible off of the main road and down a hill. The medfium size screen was down back and slightly to the left. It was little known and suffered from competition in the form of the South shore twin, The Neponset, the Weymouth, The Avon, and the Marshfield(first run day & Date with Boston) plus 2 other driveins in Brockton and 1 in Dedham. It was hidden down back and I believed at one time it may have been operated by General Cinema. I am not positive about this. Only went there once myself. It closed sometime in the 60’s and became a strip mall.
Like Ron said the Beacon Hill was where they showed the flat screen revival of This is Cinerama supposedly in 70mm. I and my wife were 2 of those in line to get out. Also this is the theatre where you heard the subway trains running by. We saw Little Big Man and The Towering Inferno there and the trains were very annoying.
There were several roadshow houses in Boston. The Gary, THe Astor, The Boston Cinerama, The Music Hall(only on a couple of occasions) the Saxon and one that everyone forgets the Walter Reade and finally on a couple of occasions the Beacon Hill. I don’t know if the Orpheum ever did Roadshows even though they were equipped with 70mm(Seven Brides For Seven Brothers played a 70mm return visit there.
Having been to the Cinerama in Providence only once(Ice Station Zebra) and also having been to 3strip/70mm Cinerama theatres such as Boston, Wash. D.C.(Warner and Uptown, Baltimore(Mayfair), San Diego(also a lockwood /Gordon, Seattle(Before remodel), San Francisco,and Rotterdam, Holland.I rate the Providence as my 3rd favorite. San diego #1, Boston#2, Seattle #4, Uptown #5 Rotterdam #6, Seattle #7 and the god awful Mayfair in Baltimore#99 with the Golden Gate in San Francisco as # 98. I rate these as picture & sound quality, Comfortable Seating, and Cleanliness. The only ones left as Cinemas are Seattle, Rotterdam And San Francisco(Legitimate stage). I,m sorry the Uptown in D.C. is still a cinema and the Warner in D.C. is a stage theatre. Boston is an empty parking lot.
I saw Exodus at the Mayfair in Baltimore in 70mm, Very bad projection. Everytime the projectionist would switch projectors, a large pop would come out of the speakers making it sound like you had just been shot. The picture was fuzzy most of the time and the theatre was dirty.
Would someone please put out more information on the Florida theatre downtown and which I attended many times in the late 50’s-1966. Also I remember a great theatre just up Palafox not to far from the Hotel. It had a big screen, stereo and I believe 70mm. I saw many U.A. movies including the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, Khartoum, and many other big movies, What was its name?
Saw Ben-Hur on day 2 of its D,C, Premiere. Sat in row 1 left side. Too close, got a headache and a stiff neck. Saw it later at home in Boston in a bigger theatre with a bigger screen. Sat in the middle about 15 rows deep. Much better. You say the Warner can.t show movies anymore, what a shame. In Boston our 3800 seat Metropolitan AKA The Sack Music Hall or the Wang center and now the Citi Wang Performance center was completely restored in the late 80.s- early 70,s and it has Broadway Shows, MUSIC CONCERTS AND RUNS Classic Movie Festivals in 35mm and 70mm with stereo. The Warner should also do this,
I was in D.C. from early 1960 to middle of 1966. Most of the films there were Fox, Paramount, Columbia or Universal and were either Move overs or Re-Issues except for Fox. Around the World, Spartacus and other big 70mm films. I don.t believe The town could show 70mm so everything was 35mm.
I saw HUGO in marvelous 2D and could not see why it was even in 3D. Only 2 scenes in the whole movie that I saw would have needed to be seen in 3D if at all. 3D movies are so overrated. I am glad that my local twin does not have 3d capability. I remember 3D in the 50’s and 70’s when you didn’t have to pay extra. What a ripoff.
I don,t believe Earthquake ever played the Gary. It did play the Saxon on a moveover from the general Cinema at shoppers world in Framingham. The only other Sensurround movie to play there was Battlestar Gallactica. Roller Coaster and Midway played at the South Plaza General Cinema in Braintree.
I am trying to finf out what Theatre I saw the first run 70mm res. seat showings of West Side Story and King of Kings plus the 1st run of The Music Man in SanDiego.
The keiths was home to all James Bond movies. I hated this theatre for movies. The projrction booth was so high that it projected an very bad Keystone effect.
Having attended the Translux in the early 60’s it was quite theatre. Very similiar to the Boston Translux, Boston was smaller and in the 50’s became a theatre of XXX films. It too started out as rear projection I believe. I don’t know if it ever became front projection. Played X,s till the 70’s. Was closed and demolished or converted to something else.
The Fields Corner, Strand, Franklin Park, Codman Square, Oriental, the Morton were all pretty similiar in style. The major difference wass in capacity size. No more than about 100-200 seats. They all ended up a ATC/net theatres along with theatres in Quincy and a summer only theatre in Hull and several other suburbab towns. Does anyone have any info on the old E.M. Lowes Eggleston in Eggleston Square. The DEot theatre was also E.M. Lowes theatres and they were all dumpsw. No Maintenancs and 2nd-3rd run including the Pub;ix in downtown Boston.