I lived in Riverside during Hurricane Carol in 1954. There wasn’t that much damage in Riverside Square where the theater was located. Most of the homes lost were coastal homes in the southern “Terrace” section of the town, including the last of the Victorian-era vacation homes that had survived the 1939 hurricane.
I don’t remember any Gilbert Stuart newspaper ads other than the typical small daily ones. I must have missed the more extensive ones with narrative as described in your reference. Riverside was such a compact community that one could easily drive by the theater to check out the coming attraction posters outside and the news spread by word of mouth.
Thanks for the link. I guess I probably spent about seven years going to the Lyric, mostly to 20¢ Saturday double-feature matinees. Shortly after it evolved into the Gilbert Stuart I became involved with other things on weekends and lost interest in those matinees.
Ack! Must be these darn bifocals. I should have known there were no more eccentric millionaires in Riverside. I still think I liked the wide-open pre-GS Lyric theater better, from a kid’s viewpoint anyway, before Joe Jarvis came to into power with his iron hand. During Saturday matinees, Joe would often scold the young audience if they booed too loud at a kissing scene. He must have lost most of his hair by the time the Gilbert Stuart closed down.
I assume this means the former Gilbert Stuart is being restored as a movie theater??? I thought it had essentially been gutted. Someone with deep pockets maybe?
Makes me wonder if there are any theaters left at all in East Providence, not counting any new mall multiplexes. The nice thing about the old Lyric was that it was within walking or bike distance of most all kids in Riverside. There would always be dozens of bikes lined up by the side exit door during the Saturday matinees. I was close enough to walk.
I recall the Seekonk as one of the first drive-ins in the area to feature “dollar a carload” admission. It also was considered one of the more “teenager-friendly” drive-ins in the East Providence/Seekonk area. I don’t really know why. Living across the line in Riverside, RI, we used to triple-date (station wagon) at the Seekonk abt 1959-60 for the price break, regardless of the films being featured.
My grandmother took me “up city” to Fays in 1948-49 to see one of her two favorite movies— Tarzan and/or Roy Rogers. I remember there was an animal act, seals maybe, onstage after the movie. My one brush with the end of vaudeville.
I remember Joe Jarvis when he took over the Gilbert Stuart. As kids, we thought he ran the place like a mean schoolmaster and used to patrol the audience during Saturday kid matinees scolding any kids who “acted up”. I seem to recall that he often worked the candy counter, too. During the earlier Lyric era, I remember standing in long lines along the dirt sidewalk outside waiting for the doors to open for the Saturday double feature. The line often stretched back past the Bucci Tailor Shop on Bullocks Point Ave, and whenever their steam press was in operation, a big exhaust of steam would blast out toward the line of kids.
I believe it was the Riverside Recreation Center or something similar. As a kid, I used to bowl there on Saturdays when a “string” was ten cents.
I lived in Riverside during Hurricane Carol in 1954. There wasn’t that much damage in Riverside Square where the theater was located. Most of the homes lost were coastal homes in the southern “Terrace” section of the town, including the last of the Victorian-era vacation homes that had survived the 1939 hurricane.
I don’t remember any Gilbert Stuart newspaper ads other than the typical small daily ones. I must have missed the more extensive ones with narrative as described in your reference. Riverside was such a compact community that one could easily drive by the theater to check out the coming attraction posters outside and the news spread by word of mouth.
Thanks for the link. I guess I probably spent about seven years going to the Lyric, mostly to 20¢ Saturday double-feature matinees. Shortly after it evolved into the Gilbert Stuart I became involved with other things on weekends and lost interest in those matinees.
Ack! Must be these darn bifocals. I should have known there were no more eccentric millionaires in Riverside. I still think I liked the wide-open pre-GS Lyric theater better, from a kid’s viewpoint anyway, before Joe Jarvis came to into power with his iron hand. During Saturday matinees, Joe would often scold the young audience if they booed too loud at a kissing scene. He must have lost most of his hair by the time the Gilbert Stuart closed down.
I assume this means the former Gilbert Stuart is being restored as a movie theater??? I thought it had essentially been gutted. Someone with deep pockets maybe?
Makes me wonder if there are any theaters left at all in East Providence, not counting any new mall multiplexes. The nice thing about the old Lyric was that it was within walking or bike distance of most all kids in Riverside. There would always be dozens of bikes lined up by the side exit door during the Saturday matinees. I was close enough to walk.
I recall the Seekonk as one of the first drive-ins in the area to feature “dollar a carload” admission. It also was considered one of the more “teenager-friendly” drive-ins in the East Providence/Seekonk area. I don’t really know why. Living across the line in Riverside, RI, we used to triple-date (station wagon) at the Seekonk abt 1959-60 for the price break, regardless of the films being featured.
My grandmother took me “up city” to Fays in 1948-49 to see one of her two favorite movies— Tarzan and/or Roy Rogers. I remember there was an animal act, seals maybe, onstage after the movie. My one brush with the end of vaudeville.
I remember Joe Jarvis when he took over the Gilbert Stuart. As kids, we thought he ran the place like a mean schoolmaster and used to patrol the audience during Saturday kid matinees scolding any kids who “acted up”. I seem to recall that he often worked the candy counter, too. During the earlier Lyric era, I remember standing in long lines along the dirt sidewalk outside waiting for the doors to open for the Saturday double feature. The line often stretched back past the Bucci Tailor Shop on Bullocks Point Ave, and whenever their steam press was in operation, a big exhaust of steam would blast out toward the line of kids.