An Old Howard program for the week of November 6, 1950, reproduced on pages 61-64 of David Kruh’s book, advertises:
CONTINUOUS 9 A.M. to 11 P.M.
3 Gigantic Stage Shows Daily: 12 Noon, 2:45 P.M. and 8:30 P.M. Four Shows Saturday: 12 Noon, 2:45 — 7:15 — 10:00 P.M.
MIDNIGHT SHOW EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at 12 O'Clock
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 6, 1950
EXTRA, ADDED ATTRACTION
The New, Undisputed Queen of Burlesque
ROSE LA ROSE
THE ORIGINAL T.N.T. GIRL
THE GIRL WHO HAS EVERYTHING
BETTE HOWARD
Our Feature Attraction
INIMITABLE FUN-MAKER
EDDIE INNIS
A Lesson in Levity
LADD & LYON
Nifty Little Tantalizer
JANICE BROWN
Drawling Comic
FRED FRAMPTON
Robust Straight
HARRY RYAN
Dainty and Demure
NONA CARVER
Songs You Love
FRANK PETAN
ON OUR SCREEN
“YOU’RE MY EVERYTHING” …. Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter
“THE UNSUSPCTED” ….. Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains
Latest Warner News
Part of another Old Howard program, from February 1952, is shown here.
After the city shut down the Old Howard, the same owners continued operating the nearby Casino Theatre, changing its name to “Old Howard Casino”. That theatre stayed open until May 5, 1962.
For much more information on the Old Howard and Scollay Square, read David Kruh’s book Always Something Doing: A History of Boston’s Infamous Scollay Square.
The Scollay Square Olympia was immediately to the right of the Rialto Theatre (originally the Star Theatre) as you faced them from the street. The two buildings shared a party wall.
The Star/Rialto Theatre was immediately to the left of the Scollay Square Olympia as you faced them from the street. The two buildings shared a party wall.
From the Boston Globe “Ask the Globe” column, November 26, 1989:
Q. When did the old vaudeville theater in Scollay Square close?
A. Once a Boston landmark, the Scollay Square Olympia closed its doors on December 12, 1950, and was sold at public auction the following year. Built in 1914, the Olympia and its sister show palace, the Pilgrim, were meccas for local vaudeville fans. In 1927 the Scollay Square house announced it had created the “finest of health zones” with the introduction of then-novel air conditioning. “You could pay many thousands of dollars to spend a vacation at a camp or resort that has the good effect and curing powers that you can get at the Scollay Square,” the theater advertised. In 1935, in the aftermath of owner Nathan Gordon’s death and the purchase of the house by Martin Mullins and Sam Pinanski, vaudeville gave way to motion pictures, beginning with a double feature — Charlie Chan in Paris and Claudette Colbert in The Gilded Lily.
A photo on page 91 of David’s book, which the caption says was taken “just after the war”, shows the Scollay Square Olympia marquee advertising the movie “Blaze of Noon” with Anne Baxter. This movie was released in 1947.
the sign actually read “ADMISSION 10 [cents symbol] ALL SEATS FREE”. Somehow the cents symbol disappeared after I posted this theatre description. I still don’t understand what the sign meant.
David’s book, Always Something Doing: A History of Boston’s Infamous Scollay Square, says that the Casino originally presented movies, plays, talent shows, and operas, all in Italian to serve the population of the neighboring North End. Operas shared the stage with burlesque after the owners of the Old Howard bought the Casino in the 1930s. Movies ran from 9 am until noon, followed by the stage shows.
The Casino was apparently one of the later buildings demolished to make way for Government Center. A 1962 photo shows it and its Hanover Street neighbors still standing after Brattle Street and Cornhill had been removed. The John F. Kennedy Federal Building now stands on the site.
In this photo, the right side of the street has, from front to back: a Nunn-Bush store, a jewelry store, the Palace theatre, the Forum(?) Cafeteria, Desmonds, something else that looks like a large department store but has no identifable sign, then the Broadway Arcade building (with a large radio antenna on top labelled KRKU or maybe KRRU), and then a hotel.
The left side has Leroys, some store beginning with Ch, Kress, the Los Angeles theatre, and Swelldom (and then lots of other buildings that don’t have identifying signs.)
The latest from Lee Eiseman of Gaiety Theatre Friends:
The Zoning Board of Appeal of The City of Boston has scheduled a hearing as to whether the demolition permit issued by Boston Inspectional Services for The Gaiety Theatre is legal. The hearing is being held upon the appeals of City Councilors, Felix Arroyo and Chuck Turner as well as the Asian American Resource Workshop.
While this action may not be successful in preventing the demolition of the the Gaiety, it will lay critical groundwork for future lawsuits on the question of whether significant reparations will be required. Article 38-21.2 of Boston Zoning code provides for the replacement of any theater demolished within the Midtown Cultural District. IT’S CRITICAL TO ESTABLISH TO ADDRESS THE ZBA THAT 38-21.2 CRITERIA FINDS THAT IT IS STILL A THEATRE AND ITS LOSS WOULD HURT THE CULTURAL DISTRICT.Â
We have to line up testifiers to address each element in Article 38-21.2 about what theatres are worth saving, and we have to cite Article 80C.9, “Nothing in this Article shall limit the power of the ZBA to grant exceptions….”
Please plan to come prepared to testify on March 29 at 12:30 in room 801 at Boston City Hall.
On David’s site are these two pages from an Old Howard Athenaeum program (not Old Howard Casino) from February, 1952. Along with the stage shows, it also lists two movies: “It’s a Great Feeling” with Doris Day, and “Montana” with Errol Flynn.
The Loew’s Jersey and its vertical sign are visible in a photograph of Journal Square that appears on page 28 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. The photo is too small to be able to read the marquee.
In this photo, Journal Square looks like a frightening place for a pedestrian, with a wide sea of traffic going everywhere.
On page 38 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City is a photograph of Broadway in Los Angeles. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. The street is lined with tall vertical signs for both theatres and retail stores: in this photo you can see such signs for LEROYS, KRESS, the LOS ANGELES theatre, SWELUDOM (??), HOTEL, DESMONDS, and the PALACE theatre.
The Palace marquee advertises the movie BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, which came out in 1958. A second feature is also listed on the marquee. It looks like ANNA LUCASTA, which was released in 1959.
On page 77 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City you will see a photo of Washington and Summer Streets in Boston. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. In the foreground is Gilchrist’s department store (now The Corner Mall). Behind it is E.B. Horn Jewelers, and behind that is a five-story-high vertical sign reading “LOEW’S”. Below the vertical sign is the Loew’s Orpheum marquee, but the photo is too small for me to make out what is advertised there.
I am now looking at a copy of Walter Muir Whitehill’s book Boston: A Topographical History, second edition, published 1968.
On page 196 is a photograph of the S.S. Pierce building in Copley Square, at the southwest corner of Huntington Avenue and Dartmouth Street, where today’s Westin Copley Place hotel stands. Two buildings further down Huntington, on the same side as the S.S. Pierce building, is a marquee labelled “COPLEY”. The marquee appers to be blank; perhaps the theatre is not being used. The photo is dated 1958.
On the next page is another photograph of the same scene, also dated 1958. The S.S. Pierce building has been torn down and replaced by a parking lot. The marquee now says “CAPRI” and features the movie Stage Struck. The names of the actors on the marquee are too small to read in this photo, but I presume they are Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg.
Several stories above the marquee, a banner announces “WORLD PREMIERE STAGE STRUCK”. Since the movie is set in NYC, and some movie databases say it came out in 1957, the “WORLD PREMIERE” banner seems quite odd.
The entrance shown is quite clearly on Huntington Avenue, not Stuart Street. Perhaps there was another entrance on Stuart, but you can’t see it from these photos.
And in case you haven’t heard, we now own and operate the only movie theatre in Belmont. It is a 425 seat, single screen gem called the Belmont Studio Cinema. Located at 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont, MA. The Studio plays a lot of the same films as West Newton but also shows some of the better commercial films as well.
And in case you haven’t heard, we now own and operate the only movie theatre in Belmont. It is a 425 seat, single screen gem called the Belmont Studio Cinema. Located at 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont, MA. The Studio plays a lot of the same films as West Newton but also shows some of the better commercial films as well.
Conran’s Habitat store opened here in November, 1985. While it was open, it had a large lighted “CONRAN’S AT EXETER” sign outside, in the same style as the old lighted “EXETER STREET THEATRE” sign.
Waterstone’s replaced Conran’s in October 1991. At the time, it was called “New England’s first book superstore”, second in size only to the Boston University Bookstore (which, incidentally, had replaced the Kenmore Square Cinema). Sadly, Waterstone’s closed in June 1999. It is still missed.
idealab! moved into the building in 2000, but closed its office there in July 2003.
You’ll be pleased to know that the Alewife bridge was reconstructed a few years ago and now has sidewalks on both sides. Also, the #83 bus now runs every day of the week. Much larger and stronger fences now line the railroad tracks, so I don’t think people cut across them anymore.
I’ve added a separate listing for the real Old Howard, after determining that movies were indeed shown there.
An Old Howard program for the week of November 6, 1950, reproduced on pages 61-64 of David Kruh’s book, advertises:
CONTINUOUS 9 A.M. to 11 P.M.
3 Gigantic Stage Shows Daily: 12 Noon, 2:45 P.M. and 8:30 P.M.
Four Shows Saturday: 12 Noon, 2:45 — 7:15 — 10:00 P.M.
MIDNIGHT SHOW EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at 12 O'Clock
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 6, 1950
EXTRA, ADDED ATTRACTION
The New, Undisputed Queen of Burlesque
ROSE LA ROSE
THE ORIGINAL T.N.T. GIRL
THE GIRL WHO HAS EVERYTHING
BETTE HOWARD
Our Feature Attraction
INIMITABLE FUN-MAKER
EDDIE INNIS
A Lesson in Levity
LADD & LYON
Nifty Little Tantalizer
JANICE BROWN
Drawling Comic
FRED FRAMPTON
Robust Straight
HARRY RYAN
Dainty and Demure
NONA CARVER
Songs You Love
FRANK PETAN
ON OUR SCREEN
“YOU’RE MY EVERYTHING” …. Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter
“THE UNSUSPCTED” ….. Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains
Latest Warner News
Part of another Old Howard program, from February 1952, is shown here.
After the city shut down the Old Howard, the same owners continued operating the nearby Casino Theatre, changing its name to “Old Howard Casino”. That theatre stayed open until May 5, 1962.
For much more information on the Old Howard and Scollay Square, read David Kruh’s book Always Something Doing: A History of Boston’s Infamous Scollay Square.
Also see his website on the subject, http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/ and particularly http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/Howard.html .
Much of the information I have posted about Scollay Square theatres comes from his book and web pages.
The Scollay Square Olympia was immediately to the right of the Rialto Theatre (originally the Star Theatre) as you faced them from the street. The two buildings shared a party wall.
The Star/Rialto Theatre was immediately to the left of the Scollay Square Olympia as you faced them from the street. The two buildings shared a party wall.
Part of the 1-2-3 Center Plaza building now occupies the former site of the Scollay Square Olympia.
Part of the 1-2-3 Center Plaza building now occupies the former site of the Rialto.
According to articles in the boston Globe archives, this opened as Waldron’s Casino Theatre in 1910.
According to an article in the Harvard Crimson online archive, the Casino’s last show was Saturday, May 5, 1962.
From the Boston Globe “Ask the Globe” column, November 26, 1989:
Q. When did the old vaudeville theater in Scollay Square close?
A. Once a Boston landmark, the Scollay Square Olympia closed its doors on December 12, 1950, and was sold at public auction the following year. Built in 1914, the Olympia and its sister show palace, the Pilgrim, were meccas for local vaudeville fans. In 1927 the Scollay Square house announced it had created the “finest of health zones” with the introduction of then-novel air conditioning. “You could pay many thousands of dollars to spend a vacation at a camp or resort that has the good effect and curing powers that you can get at the Scollay Square,” the theater advertised. In 1935, in the aftermath of owner Nathan Gordon’s death and the purchase of the house by Martin Mullins and Sam Pinanski, vaudeville gave way to motion pictures, beginning with a double feature — Charlie Chan in Paris and Claudette Colbert in The Gilded Lily.
Here’s a photo of the Theatre Comique, from the collection of the Bostonian Society.:
A photo on page 91 of David’s book, which the caption says was taken “just after the war”, shows the Scollay Square Olympia marquee advertising the movie “Blaze of Noon” with Anne Baxter. This movie was released in 1947.
the sign actually read “ADMISSION 10 [cents symbol] ALL SEATS FREE”. Somehow the cents symbol disappeared after I posted this theatre description. I still don’t understand what the sign meant.
David’s book, Always Something Doing: A History of Boston’s Infamous Scollay Square, says that the Casino originally presented movies, plays, talent shows, and operas, all in Italian to serve the population of the neighboring North End. Operas shared the stage with burlesque after the owners of the Old Howard bought the Casino in the 1930s. Movies ran from 9 am until noon, followed by the stage shows.
The Casino was apparently one of the later buildings demolished to make way for Government Center. A 1962 photo shows it and its Hanover Street neighbors still standing after Brattle Street and Cornhill had been removed. The John F. Kennedy Federal Building now stands on the site.
In this photo, the right side of the street has, from front to back: a Nunn-Bush store, a jewelry store, the Palace theatre, the Forum(?) Cafeteria, Desmonds, something else that looks like a large department store but has no identifable sign, then the Broadway Arcade building (with a large radio antenna on top labelled KRKU or maybe KRRU), and then a hotel.
The left side has Leroys, some store beginning with Ch, Kress, the Los Angeles theatre, and Swelldom (and then lots of other buildings that don’t have identifying signs.)
The latest from Lee Eiseman of Gaiety Theatre Friends:
The Zoning Board of Appeal of The City of Boston has scheduled a hearing as to whether the demolition permit issued by Boston Inspectional Services for The Gaiety Theatre is legal. The hearing is being held upon the appeals of City Councilors, Felix Arroyo and Chuck Turner as well as the Asian American Resource Workshop.
While this action may not be successful in preventing the demolition of the the Gaiety, it will lay critical groundwork for future lawsuits on the question of whether significant reparations will be required. Article 38-21.2 of Boston Zoning code provides for the replacement of any theater demolished within the Midtown Cultural District. IT’S CRITICAL TO ESTABLISH TO ADDRESS THE ZBA THAT 38-21.2 CRITERIA FINDS THAT IT IS STILL A THEATRE AND ITS LOSS WOULD HURT THE CULTURAL DISTRICT.Â
We have to line up testifiers to address each element in Article 38-21.2 about what theatres are worth saving, and we have to cite Article 80C.9, “Nothing in this Article shall limit the power of the ZBA to grant exceptions….”
Please plan to come prepared to testify on March 29 at 12:30 in room 801 at Boston City Hall.
On David’s site are these two pages from an Old Howard Athenaeum program (not Old Howard Casino) from February, 1952. Along with the stage shows, it also lists two movies: “It’s a Great Feeling” with Doris Day, and “Montana” with Errol Flynn.
The Loew’s Jersey and its vertical sign are visible in a photograph of Journal Square that appears on page 28 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. The photo is too small to be able to read the marquee.
In this photo, Journal Square looks like a frightening place for a pedestrian, with a wide sea of traffic going everywhere.
On page 38 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City is a photograph of Broadway in Los Angeles. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. The street is lined with tall vertical signs for both theatres and retail stores: in this photo you can see such signs for LEROYS, KRESS, the LOS ANGELES theatre, SWELUDOM (??), HOTEL, DESMONDS, and the PALACE theatre.
The Palace marquee advertises the movie BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, which came out in 1958. A second feature is also listed on the marquee. It looks like ANNA LUCASTA, which was released in 1959.
On page 77 of Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City you will see a photo of Washington and Summer Streets in Boston. The photo is undated, but the book has a 1960 copyright. In the foreground is Gilchrist’s department store (now The Corner Mall). Behind it is E.B. Horn Jewelers, and behind that is a five-story-high vertical sign reading “LOEW’S”. Below the vertical sign is the Loew’s Orpheum marquee, but the photo is too small for me to make out what is advertised there.
I am now looking at a copy of Walter Muir Whitehill’s book Boston: A Topographical History, second edition, published 1968.
On page 196 is a photograph of the S.S. Pierce building in Copley Square, at the southwest corner of Huntington Avenue and Dartmouth Street, where today’s Westin Copley Place hotel stands. Two buildings further down Huntington, on the same side as the S.S. Pierce building, is a marquee labelled “COPLEY”. The marquee appers to be blank; perhaps the theatre is not being used. The photo is dated 1958.
On the next page is another photograph of the same scene, also dated 1958. The S.S. Pierce building has been torn down and replaced by a parking lot. The marquee now says “CAPRI” and features the movie Stage Struck. The names of the actors on the marquee are too small to read in this photo, but I presume they are Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg.
Several stories above the marquee, a banner announces “WORLD PREMIERE STAGE STRUCK”. Since the movie is set in NYC, and some movie databases say it came out in 1957, the “WORLD PREMIERE” banner seems quite odd.
The entrance shown is quite clearly on Huntington Avenue, not Stuart Street. Perhaps there was another entrance on Stuart, but you can’t see it from these photos.
From the current edition of the West Newton Cinema weekly newsletter:
OUR OTHER THEATRE
And in case you haven’t heard, we now own and operate the only movie theatre in Belmont. It is a 425 seat, single screen gem called the Belmont Studio Cinema. Located at 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont, MA. The Studio plays a lot of the same films as West Newton but also shows some of the better commercial films as well.
From the current edition of the West Newton Cinema weekly newsletter:
OUR OTHER THEATRE
And in case you haven’t heard, we now own and operate the only movie theatre in Belmont. It is a 425 seat, single screen gem called the Belmont Studio Cinema. Located at 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont, MA. The Studio plays a lot of the same films as West Newton but also shows some of the better commercial films as well.
Conran’s Habitat store opened here in November, 1985. While it was open, it had a large lighted “CONRAN’S AT EXETER” sign outside, in the same style as the old lighted “EXETER STREET THEATRE” sign.
Waterstone’s replaced Conran’s in October 1991. At the time, it was called “New England’s first book superstore”, second in size only to the Boston University Bookstore (which, incidentally, had replaced the Kenmore Square Cinema). Sadly, Waterstone’s closed in June 1999. It is still missed.
idealab! moved into the building in 2000, but closed its office there in July 2003.
You’ll be pleased to know that the Alewife bridge was reconstructed a few years ago and now has sidewalks on both sides. Also, the #83 bus now runs every day of the week. Much larger and stronger fences now line the railroad tracks, so I don’t think people cut across them anymore.