Regarding Ron’s post from June 2005 — “The book also says that "on November 10, 1948, a refurbished Beacon became the Beacon Hill Theatre” — I came across an article on the refurb of this & two other NE theatres in the Motion Picture Herald’s Better Theatre’s section (12/18/1948). Included are various before & after images of the exterior and interior, as well as a floorplan and some interesting prose.
I couldn’t Photoshop the interior images into anything worthwhile, so they’re not in that album. You can see those images & read the article, if you’d like. I’ve made the PDF available here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxpvjt
It appears that Sonny & Eddy (chain owned by Edward “Eddy” Lider’s Fall River Theatres) acquired the Harvard Square Theatre in fall of 1974 and sold it in April 1976 to the owners of Cinema 733, H-B Enterprises (the above-mentioned Mauriello & Taylor). S&E found the Harvard Sq. redundant after purchasing the Galeria in October 1975. That’s from a Harvard Crimson aricle you can see here.
Another S&E property, the Central Sq., was purchased by the Brattle Theatre Company in early June 1977. The successor operators of the Brattle (the Pollacks) ended up acquiring the Galeria from Lider in 1984 (he also gave up his lease at the Exeter around this time). In 1986, the Pollack’s Brattle entered Chapter 11, and the Harvard Sq. Theatre folks purchased the Galeria to run their double bills. This didn’t last long, as that fall both theatres were acquired by USA/Sack.
Thanks for the catches Ron. Those out-lying theatres (I’m a child of the northern suburbs) in Hyde Park, Dorchester, W. Roxbury haven’t really been filled in yet. There are ads in the Globe & the Phoenix for them, so they’re coming. Great help on the locations of the Pussycat and the South Station — I’m thinking of adding their newspaper ads as images (South Station Theatre has a particularly nice one), if only the microfilm would print something a bit nicer. Would be lovely if the Globe digitized its pages a la the NY Times (I’ve used ads from that in presentations before).
Ian — I’ve been meaning to move the Harvard Sq. around the corner — wish I could find an image of its entrance (have been meaning to check with the CHS).
This, for now, seems like as good a place as any for these…
As part of an essay I’m writing, I’ve made googlemaps showing all of the theatres operating in Boston-Camb-Somerville in May 1977 and May 2008, including screen counts, what was playing on those screens, who distributed those films, what became of the cinemas, etc. CT has been very helpful in creating these, so it is only fair that I provide links. Here they are:1977 & 2008
These maps are still works in progress, especially around the edges of Boston, but I figured I might as well post them now, for anyone who is interested, might want to let me know if anything’s missing, or has suggestions of layout/methodology… if you’ve any feedback, please email me (addy linked to my profile). I’d like to keep the comments feature unused until I’ve got the things completed.
This, for now, seems like as good a place as any for these…
As part of an essay I’m writing, I’ve made googlemaps showing all of the theatres operating in Boston-Camb-Somerville in May 1977 and May 2008, including screen counts, what was playing on those screens, who distributed those films, what became of the cinemas, etc. CT has been very helpful in creating these, so it is only fair that I provide links. Here they are:1977 & 2008
These maps are still works in progress, especially around the edges of Boston, but I figured I might as well post them now, for anyone who is interested, might want to let me know if anything’s missing, or has suggestions of layout/methodology… if you’ve any feedback, please email me (addy linked to my profile). I’d like to keep the comments feature unused until I’ve got the things completed.
I have seen those other two (three, actually — as there’s reference to another North Station II on Portland), so I guess I knew the answer to my question. I can’t imagine it’s very easy to get an accurate record of those storefront porn theatres, but they’re interesting to those interested in theatre histories (return of the nickelodeon..? sorta…). I found ads in either the Phoenix, Globe, or Real Paper for the Art Cinema, the Pussycats, and the South Station, but not the ones referenced in the article (or, as far as I recall, the North Station — though I’ll have to check on that one).
In any case, I’ve consulted the Boston Business Directory Theatre & Cinema section for 62, 67, 72, and 77 for a googlemap experiment which is a sort of sidebar (for my own use) to an essay I’m writing (settled on theatres in Boston/Camb/Somerville & what they were playing Mem Day 1977 vs. Mem Day 2008 — if anyone’s interested, I’ll post links), and I don’t believe I saw any indication of those Combat Zone theatres, though some of the previously legit theatres make the list.
Thanks for the reply. Awesome site. It’s been really helpful in filling in Boston theatre history.
Is there another Capri still? From a 1973 Phoenix article:
“Although their names do not appear on any available public records, the Venius Brothers are reported to control the Two O’Clock Lounge 642 Washington St.; the Picc-A-Dilly 657 Washington St.; the Twin-X Cinema 669-675 Washington St.; the Capri Theatre 701 Washington St.; Jerome’s Lounge 666 Washington St.; and a “live model†studio over the Twin-X.”
I think the site’s also missing the Twin-X Cinema (although it’s visible next to the Publix/Gaiety in some photos posted there)… though maybe theaters that never showed anything but porn are missing for a reason.
Curious to know if anyone knows anything about Cate Enterprises. O came across a Film Comment article from 1979 (“Alls not Welles that Ends Welles,” by Sam Lasoff) that says this “Massachusetts realty trust” bought the Welles sometime after 1976, as well as a bunch of other theatres in New England (including Boston’s Esquire chain) totaling 33 & showing “everything from gay, skin, and blaxploitation to first-run American and foreign movies.” Anyone know how long these guys were in the Boston film scene? Which theatres they owned?
I’m trying to googlemap every theatre & film-exhibition venue in Boston/ Camb./ Somerville during May 1977, showing the films that were playing, chains that owned the theatres, etc.
Regarding Ron’s post from June 2005 — “The book also says that "on November 10, 1948, a refurbished Beacon became the Beacon Hill Theatre” — I came across an article on the refurb of this & two other NE theatres in the Motion Picture Herald’s Better Theatre’s section (12/18/1948). Included are various before & after images of the exterior and interior, as well as a floorplan and some interesting prose.
You can see the images here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yloxt58
I couldn’t Photoshop the interior images into anything worthwhile, so they’re not in that album. You can see those images & read the article, if you’d like. I’ve made the PDF available here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxpvjt
According to a Globe article discussing its imminent closing, this theatre had 600 seats
It appears that Sonny & Eddy (chain owned by Edward “Eddy” Lider’s Fall River Theatres) acquired the Harvard Square Theatre in fall of 1974 and sold it in April 1976 to the owners of Cinema 733, H-B Enterprises (the above-mentioned Mauriello & Taylor). S&E found the Harvard Sq. redundant after purchasing the Galeria in October 1975. That’s from a Harvard Crimson aricle you can see here.
Another S&E property, the Central Sq., was purchased by the Brattle Theatre Company in early June 1977. The successor operators of the Brattle (the Pollacks) ended up acquiring the Galeria from Lider in 1984 (he also gave up his lease at the Exeter around this time). In 1986, the Pollack’s Brattle entered Chapter 11, and the Harvard Sq. Theatre folks purchased the Galeria to run their double bills. This didn’t last long, as that fall both theatres were acquired by USA/Sack.
Thanks for the catches Ron. Those out-lying theatres (I’m a child of the northern suburbs) in Hyde Park, Dorchester, W. Roxbury haven’t really been filled in yet. There are ads in the Globe & the Phoenix for them, so they’re coming. Great help on the locations of the Pussycat and the South Station — I’m thinking of adding their newspaper ads as images (South Station Theatre has a particularly nice one), if only the microfilm would print something a bit nicer. Would be lovely if the Globe digitized its pages a la the NY Times (I’ve used ads from that in presentations before).
Ian — I’ve been meaning to move the Harvard Sq. around the corner — wish I could find an image of its entrance (have been meaning to check with the CHS).
This, for now, seems like as good a place as any for these…
As part of an essay I’m writing, I’ve made googlemaps showing all of the theatres operating in Boston-Camb-Somerville in May 1977 and May 2008, including screen counts, what was playing on those screens, who distributed those films, what became of the cinemas, etc. CT has been very helpful in creating these, so it is only fair that I provide links. Here they are:1977 & 2008
These maps are still works in progress, especially around the edges of Boston, but I figured I might as well post them now, for anyone who is interested, might want to let me know if anything’s missing, or has suggestions of layout/methodology… if you’ve any feedback, please email me (addy linked to my profile). I’d like to keep the comments feature unused until I’ve got the things completed.
This, for now, seems like as good a place as any for these…
As part of an essay I’m writing, I’ve made googlemaps showing all of the theatres operating in Boston-Camb-Somerville in May 1977 and May 2008, including screen counts, what was playing on those screens, who distributed those films, what became of the cinemas, etc. CT has been very helpful in creating these, so it is only fair that I provide links. Here they are:1977 & 2008
These maps are still works in progress, especially around the edges of Boston, but I figured I might as well post them now, for anyone who is interested, might want to let me know if anything’s missing, or has suggestions of layout/methodology… if you’ve any feedback, please email me (addy linked to my profile). I’d like to keep the comments feature unused until I’ve got the things completed.
I have seen those other two (three, actually — as there’s reference to another North Station II on Portland), so I guess I knew the answer to my question. I can’t imagine it’s very easy to get an accurate record of those storefront porn theatres, but they’re interesting to those interested in theatre histories (return of the nickelodeon..? sorta…). I found ads in either the Phoenix, Globe, or Real Paper for the Art Cinema, the Pussycats, and the South Station, but not the ones referenced in the article (or, as far as I recall, the North Station — though I’ll have to check on that one).
In any case, I’ve consulted the Boston Business Directory Theatre & Cinema section for 62, 67, 72, and 77 for a googlemap experiment which is a sort of sidebar (for my own use) to an essay I’m writing (settled on theatres in Boston/Camb/Somerville & what they were playing Mem Day 1977 vs. Mem Day 2008 — if anyone’s interested, I’ll post links), and I don’t believe I saw any indication of those Combat Zone theatres, though some of the previously legit theatres make the list.
Thanks for the reply. Awesome site. It’s been really helpful in filling in Boston theatre history.
Is there another Capri still? From a 1973 Phoenix article:
“Although their names do not appear on any available public records, the Venius Brothers are reported to control the Two O’Clock Lounge 642 Washington St.; the Picc-A-Dilly 657 Washington St.; the Twin-X Cinema 669-675 Washington St.; the Capri Theatre 701 Washington St.; Jerome’s Lounge 666 Washington St.; and a “live model†studio over the Twin-X.”
I think the site’s also missing the Twin-X Cinema (although it’s visible next to the Publix/Gaiety in some photos posted there)… though maybe theaters that never showed anything but porn are missing for a reason.
Curious to know if anyone knows anything about Cate Enterprises. O came across a Film Comment article from 1979 (“Alls not Welles that Ends Welles,” by Sam Lasoff) that says this “Massachusetts realty trust” bought the Welles sometime after 1976, as well as a bunch of other theatres in New England (including Boston’s Esquire chain) totaling 33 & showing “everything from gay, skin, and blaxploitation to first-run American and foreign movies.” Anyone know how long these guys were in the Boston film scene? Which theatres they owned?
I’m trying to googlemap every theatre & film-exhibition venue in Boston/ Camb./ Somerville during May 1977, showing the films that were playing, chains that owned the theatres, etc.