Comments from Jimmills

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Jimmills
Jimmills commented about Framingham Cinema Shoppers' World on Oct 31, 2007 at 11:07 pm

I was an usher at the St. George around 1957-8. The major picture I can remember playing there was the French film, Diabolique.—-Jim Mills

Jimmills
Jimmills commented about Framingham Cinema Shoppers' World on Oct 26, 2007 at 12:04 am

Dwodeyla… My father,Lloyd Mills, became the manager of the Cinema in 1953. Since the Cinema was in buisness for several years before that, he wouldn’t have been the first manager. He had been a theater manager going back at least until 1937 when he managed a theater in London, Ontario. Following that he was a manager in Ottawa, Kitchener and Toronto. We moved to the US in 1947 and he ran theaters in Buffalo and Louiville, KY. In 1953 he joined Smith Management, initially running Drive in theaters in Pittsburg and Cleveland and then becoming Framingham District Manager with responsibility over the Cinema, St. George, Gorman, and the Natick Drive In. In 1958 following a theft of $3,000 by the assistant manager, my father lost his position at the Cinema. He ran the St. George for a couple of years and then started a Letter Service buisness and eventually worked as a supervisor in the Post Office. I worked for many years as an usher at the Cinema and have strong personal memories of virtually every film that we played during that period. The first pre-Cinemascope picture that I remember is Botany Bay probably in late Nov of 1953. ….Jim Mills

Jimmills
Jimmills commented about Scoop Theatre on Feb 25, 2007 at 10:01 pm

My father, Lloyd M. Mills, was the Scoop Theater manager from 1949 to 1953. During this time the theater was plagued by an ongoing strike. The Scoop was the scene of frequent vandalism during this period including the release of several stench bombings. By 1953 the cumulative effect of these attacks lead to a drop off in attendance and the Scoop closed. During this time the Scoop was an “Art” theater playing many foreign films plus a few older American movies. I have many fond memories of this period and the many films that I saw there as a grade school and high school (Flaget) student.

Jimmills
Jimmills commented about Framingham Cinema Shoppers' World on Feb 25, 2007 at 9:54 pm

My father, Lloyd M. Mills, was the Cinema theater manager and district manager (St. George, Gorman, Natick drive-in) from 1953 to 1958. During this period, I was an usher and usually changed the marquees (3).By the time we arrived in the late fall of 1953, the large Cinemascope Screen had been installed. Our first Cinemascope film was the Robe, followed by How to Marry a Millionaire and Beneath the 12 Mile reef. I remember in 1954 helping to clear out the Hollis Theater when it closed. We played some great movies during those years and I have many fond memories of that time the last few years at Framingham High and first few years at Northeastern Univ.