I also saw “Tommy” in its first run at the Pi Alley, in deafening “Quintaphonic Sound.” An attractive single screen house that was ruined by twinning. Long, narrow auditoriums with tiny screens. I think the theater was twinned in 1978 (if memory serves, “The Boys From Brazil” was the first film shown at the twinned Pi Alley).
An extended sequence in “The Witches of Eastwick” was shot at the Wang. The palatial lobby was used for one of the interiors of the house of Jack Nicholson’s character (a.k.a. the Devil).
The Gary seemed to be Sack’s theater of choice for quite a few of the big budget family entertainments of the 60s and early 70s. I remember family trips from the ‘burbs into the city for a meal at the Athens Olympia (a wonderful Greek restaurant a few doors to the east of the Gary on Stuart Street) and then to the Gary to see films such as “Mary Poppins,” “The Sound of Music,” “Doctor Doolittle” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” Perhaps “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as well (although that might have been the Cheri). More adult oriented musicals played there exclusively, such as “Cabaret” and “Star!”
I agree that the Cheri became a quad in 1989, not in the mid-1980s as I originally wrote. The last film that I saw in the largest Cheri auditorium before it was twinned was “The Abyss” in the summer of 1989.
I knew the owners of the Community Playhouse, and the decision to sell the family-owned business in the mid-1980s was a very difficult one.
The family had taken great pride in maintaining the theater over the years. Case in point: although the Playhouse only showed second runs, the owners installed a Dolby sound system in the early 1980s—-a time when many first run theaters in the Boston area hadn’t upgraded to Dolby. The last film I saw there was “Crocodile Dundee” in 1986; the Playhouse closed soon afterwards.
Can someone please correct the name of the theater? I don’t believe that the Playhouse was ever known as “Community Theater.”
Didn’t mean to imply that General Cinema was a small chain, but that the string of G.C. “buck houses” represented a relatively small subset of theaters owned by a company that largely focused on first run exhibition.
I am not sure exactly when Sack took over the Charles from Walter Reade, but it was between 1975 and 1977. I remember seeing a number of films there in the early 1970s, such as “1776” and Bergman’s “The Magic Flute” when it was a Reade theater. And Reade still owned the Charles when “Jaws” opened there in June 1975. By the time of the debut of “Star Wars” at the Charles in May 1977, Sack had taken over.
The Charles played “Star Wars” exclusively for the first month after its release and the film remained at the Charles for, if memory serves, close to a year. “Empire” and “Jedi” were shown at the Charles (“Empire” also on an initially exclusive basis). “The Deer Hunter” was presented at the Charles not only exclusively but (highly unusual for that era) on a reserved seat basis.
A shame that USA Cinemas (and then later Sony/Loews) favored complexes such as the Cheri and Nickelodeon at the expense of the Charles. By the early 1990s, the main auditorium was in surprisingly shabby condition. I remember attending a screening of “Dances With Wolves” and being appalled at the peeling paint and wallpaper, sticky floors, broken chairs, stained curtain, etc.
The Sack Cinema 57 offered many films on an exclusive basis in the 1970s. “A Clockwork Orange” played the 57 exclusively for months. Other exclusives included “What’s Up, Doc?,” “The Exorcist,” “That’s Entertainment” and “Close Encounters.” The 57 also hosted the world premiere of the 1980 bomb “Raise the Titanic.” Speaking of premieres at the 57, I thought the premiere of “Frenzy” was the world premiere and not just the Boston premiere?
Despite the positioning of the 57 during the 1970s as one of the top theaters in the Sack chain, I never liked it much. The screen in the large auditorium (which I think had at least 800 seats) was far too small for a theater of that size. The Pi Alley, another Sack theater that I believe opened a few years before the 57, was more impressive (prior to twinning).
I also saw “Tommy” in its first run at the Pi Alley, in deafening “Quintaphonic Sound.” An attractive single screen house that was ruined by twinning. Long, narrow auditoriums with tiny screens. I think the theater was twinned in 1978 (if memory serves, “The Boys From Brazil” was the first film shown at the twinned Pi Alley).
An extended sequence in “The Witches of Eastwick” was shot at the Wang. The palatial lobby was used for one of the interiors of the house of Jack Nicholson’s character (a.k.a. the Devil).
The Gary seemed to be Sack’s theater of choice for quite a few of the big budget family entertainments of the 60s and early 70s. I remember family trips from the ‘burbs into the city for a meal at the Athens Olympia (a wonderful Greek restaurant a few doors to the east of the Gary on Stuart Street) and then to the Gary to see films such as “Mary Poppins,” “The Sound of Music,” “Doctor Doolittle” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” Perhaps “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as well (although that might have been the Cheri). More adult oriented musicals played there exclusively, such as “Cabaret” and “Star!”
I agree that the Cheri became a quad in 1989, not in the mid-1980s as I originally wrote. The last film that I saw in the largest Cheri auditorium before it was twinned was “The Abyss” in the summer of 1989.
I knew the owners of the Community Playhouse, and the decision to sell the family-owned business in the mid-1980s was a very difficult one.
The family had taken great pride in maintaining the theater over the years. Case in point: although the Playhouse only showed second runs, the owners installed a Dolby sound system in the early 1980s—-a time when many first run theaters in the Boston area hadn’t upgraded to Dolby. The last film I saw there was “Crocodile Dundee” in 1986; the Playhouse closed soon afterwards.
Can someone please correct the name of the theater? I don’t believe that the Playhouse was ever known as “Community Theater.”
Didn’t mean to imply that General Cinema was a small chain, but that the string of G.C. “buck houses” represented a relatively small subset of theaters owned by a company that largely focused on first run exhibition.
I am not sure exactly when Sack took over the Charles from Walter Reade, but it was between 1975 and 1977. I remember seeing a number of films there in the early 1970s, such as “1776” and Bergman’s “The Magic Flute” when it was a Reade theater. And Reade still owned the Charles when “Jaws” opened there in June 1975. By the time of the debut of “Star Wars” at the Charles in May 1977, Sack had taken over.
The Charles played “Star Wars” exclusively for the first month after its release and the film remained at the Charles for, if memory serves, close to a year. “Empire” and “Jedi” were shown at the Charles (“Empire” also on an initially exclusive basis). “The Deer Hunter” was presented at the Charles not only exclusively but (highly unusual for that era) on a reserved seat basis.
A shame that USA Cinemas (and then later Sony/Loews) favored complexes such as the Cheri and Nickelodeon at the expense of the Charles. By the early 1990s, the main auditorium was in surprisingly shabby condition. I remember attending a screening of “Dances With Wolves” and being appalled at the peeling paint and wallpaper, sticky floors, broken chairs, stained curtain, etc.
The Sack Cinema 57 offered many films on an exclusive basis in the 1970s. “A Clockwork Orange” played the 57 exclusively for months. Other exclusives included “What’s Up, Doc?,” “The Exorcist,” “That’s Entertainment” and “Close Encounters.” The 57 also hosted the world premiere of the 1980 bomb “Raise the Titanic.” Speaking of premieres at the 57, I thought the premiere of “Frenzy” was the world premiere and not just the Boston premiere?
Despite the positioning of the 57 during the 1970s as one of the top theaters in the Sack chain, I never liked it much. The screen in the large auditorium (which I think had at least 800 seats) was far too small for a theater of that size. The Pi Alley, another Sack theater that I believe opened a few years before the 57, was more impressive (prior to twinning).