I have a history with this theatre – I worked there from 1977-1981, when I was in college. It was a art house then, but was having trouble getting bookings. Some of the movies I remember from my days there were “Interiors”, “The Last Wave”, “The Tin Drum” and “Querelle”.
What kept the theatre going in my time was the midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Show”. The rental deal was made before the film was a cult hit, so the theatre was able to keep a good perentage of the take. (When the print wore out and 20th Century Fox provided a new one, a new deal was struck and it wasn’t as lucrative).
It was a beautiful theatre, with stained glass windows in the lobby.
We found a room behind the screen with boxes and boxes of stills, pressbooks, posters and programs – mostly from the 1950’s. Most of them were British films – Olivier, Michal Powell, “Carry On” comedies and Michael Powell films
Patsy: There were indeed 2 great theatres in Lawrence in my time. The Palace was in what was left of Theatre row. I believe that some of the other theatre buildings may have been still standing around it and may have been empty or converted to storefronts.
The Warner was about 5 or six blocks away on a street that ran perpendicular to where the Palace stood.
This may have been the first movie theatre that I was ever in. It closed in the late 60’s I think. It was one of 2 theatres in Lawrence when I was a child. I’m pretty sure that I saw “Mary Poppins” there. It was the classier of the 2 theaters and was where my parents would go to see movies like “Cleopatra” and “Ben Hur”.
The Lawrence Showcase Cinemas opened around the time of “The Sound of Music” and then the Palace’s days were numbered. The last movies I saw there were “Yellow Submarine” and “Planet of the Apes”. This would have been aroung 1968. I think that it closed soon after.
I remember it as being BIG – large screen, big main floor and balcony. The only other thing I remember is that there was a sort of waiting area at the back of the main floor resembling the standing room areas of Broadway theatres.
One of the reasons that the Warner was demolished, I believe is that in the mid 70’s the trend was to go to the more modern “Showcase Cinema” type theatres and this theatre was owned by a small chain that did not have the money or the pull to get 1st run films anymore.
Downtown Lawrence was going through depressing times. Once a vital shopping district it was abandoned by shoppers who went to the malls. Instead of paying upkeep on the property the owners chose to make a quick buck by selling it off. In the 70’s in that part of the world there was less interest in preserving the old than there might be now.
I have a little bit of a history with the Warner Theatre in Lawrence MA. When I was a child it was one of the 2 theatres in that area before they opened the Showcase Cinemas. I saw all the Disney films there and I also remember a horrible Santa Claus movie that my dad took us to get out of the house the weekend that John Kennedy was killed.
When I was 16 I got my first job as a ticket taker there. Some of the movies that I remember are “Lady Sings the Blues”, “Across 110th Street”, “Cabaret”, “Deliverance” and “Diamonds Are Forever”.
As I remember it the place was in pretty good shape in those days. I have memories of lugging the cans of film, which seemed to weigh more than I did up to the projection booth.
I used to go to this theater when I was a kid, with my grandmother who lived in New Britain. I remember seeing “Hello Dolly” there, and then “The Love Machine”,when I was a teenager.
I lived in the area around 1993-96, and I went there a few times when it was a bargain theatre. I saw “The Shadow” with Alec Baldwin and the Clint Eastwood movie where he played a secret service agent.
Nice little theatre, sorry that it is gone.
I have a history with this theatre – I worked there from 1977-1981, when I was in college. It was a art house then, but was having trouble getting bookings. Some of the movies I remember from my days there were “Interiors”, “The Last Wave”, “The Tin Drum” and “Querelle”.
What kept the theatre going in my time was the midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Show”. The rental deal was made before the film was a cult hit, so the theatre was able to keep a good perentage of the take. (When the print wore out and 20th Century Fox provided a new one, a new deal was struck and it wasn’t as lucrative).
It was a beautiful theatre, with stained glass windows in the lobby.
We found a room behind the screen with boxes and boxes of stills, pressbooks, posters and programs – mostly from the 1950’s. Most of them were British films – Olivier, Michal Powell, “Carry On” comedies and Michael Powell films
Patsy: There were indeed 2 great theatres in Lawrence in my time. The Palace was in what was left of Theatre row. I believe that some of the other theatre buildings may have been still standing around it and may have been empty or converted to storefronts.
The Warner was about 5 or six blocks away on a street that ran perpendicular to where the Palace stood.
This may have been the first movie theatre that I was ever in. It closed in the late 60’s I think. It was one of 2 theatres in Lawrence when I was a child. I’m pretty sure that I saw “Mary Poppins” there. It was the classier of the 2 theaters and was where my parents would go to see movies like “Cleopatra” and “Ben Hur”.
The Lawrence Showcase Cinemas opened around the time of “The Sound of Music” and then the Palace’s days were numbered. The last movies I saw there were “Yellow Submarine” and “Planet of the Apes”. This would have been aroung 1968. I think that it closed soon after.
I remember it as being BIG – large screen, big main floor and balcony. The only other thing I remember is that there was a sort of waiting area at the back of the main floor resembling the standing room areas of Broadway theatres.
You can see a picture of this theatre by copying and pasting this url-
www2.hawaii.edu/~angell/thsa/mysth102.jpg
One of the reasons that the Warner was demolished, I believe is that in the mid 70’s the trend was to go to the more modern “Showcase Cinema” type theatres and this theatre was owned by a small chain that did not have the money or the pull to get 1st run films anymore.
Downtown Lawrence was going through depressing times. Once a vital shopping district it was abandoned by shoppers who went to the malls. Instead of paying upkeep on the property the owners chose to make a quick buck by selling it off. In the 70’s in that part of the world there was less interest in preserving the old than there might be now.
I have a little bit of a history with the Warner Theatre in Lawrence MA. When I was a child it was one of the 2 theatres in that area before they opened the Showcase Cinemas. I saw all the Disney films there and I also remember a horrible Santa Claus movie that my dad took us to get out of the house the weekend that John Kennedy was killed.
When I was 16 I got my first job as a ticket taker there. Some of the movies that I remember are “Lady Sings the Blues”, “Across 110th Street”, “Cabaret”, “Deliverance” and “Diamonds Are Forever”.
As I remember it the place was in pretty good shape in those days. I have memories of lugging the cans of film, which seemed to weigh more than I did up to the projection booth.
I used to go to this theater when I was a kid, with my grandmother who lived in New Britain. I remember seeing “Hello Dolly” there, and then “The Love Machine”,when I was a teenager.
I lived in the area around 1993-96, and I went there a few times when it was a bargain theatre. I saw “The Shadow” with Alec Baldwin and the Clint Eastwood movie where he played a secret service agent.
Nice little theatre, sorry that it is gone.