Loews Liberty Tree Mall Cinema 1-2
96 Commonwealth Avenue,
Danvers,
MA
01923
96 Commonwealth Avenue,
Danvers,
MA
01923
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loews, Sack Theatres
Previous Names: Sack Liberty Tree Mall Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Built as a deluxe single screen by Loews on December 25, 1971 on a piece of land away from the main mall itself. It was a twin to the Natick Loews Cinema. A beautiful single screen house with mural of movie stars gracing the top of the lobby. It was sold to Sack Cinemas in the 1970’s and was twinned in 1978.
Sack later built a cement box four screen complex across the highway (later making it six by splitting two of those houses into bowling alley type auditoriums.) The Liberty Tree Theatre was often booked with lesser films even though it had more seats due to a bad contract it had with the mall.
It closed when Loews built a new complex inside the mall building in December 1998 and was demolished in 2002 for a sporting goods store.
Contributed by
Brian Yelverton
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
The riot mentioned above took place at the other Sack house in Danvers, the four theatre Cinema City that is now Hollywood Hits. I was working at the Liberty Tree Mall cinema when the midnight show incident took place.
The 1971 annual report of Loews Corporation says that “Among the openings scheduled by next spring are: A 1200-seat luxury theatre in Danvers, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.” That refers to spring of 1972, so I think the 1969 date in the description above is wrong.
The report does not say whether the new theatre would be a single-screen or a twin.
I saw a bunch of movies here in the 80s. My memory is a bit hazy, and I tend to get this theatre confused with the now also gone (it’s a Barnes and Noble) North Shore Mall theatre, and the old Burlington Mall Theatre, but I am fairly certain I saw Nightmare on Elm St 4, Elvira Mistress of the Dark and Hellraiser II at this theatre.
It might be a false memory but it seemed like this cinema showed more horror flicks in the 80s than some of the other theatres?
The last movie I saw there was Men in Black around 1997 or so, that may have been the last movie shown there, it was certainly ONE of the last movies shown there, because I believe the first movie I saw at the new Mall theatre was either Election or Rushmore which I believe came out in 98 or 99?
Interesting.
“LInda LOvelace For President” was rated R,What idiots!
This theatre closed on December 17. 1998 with “Star Trek: Insurrection” and “A Bug’s Life” being the final two movies.
This opened on Christmas day in 1971. Grand opening ad uploaded here.
The theater was split in 1978. First attractions as a twin were Goin' South and Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe. Not too bad a job on the split since the single house was wide enough that the twins escaped the dreaded double bowling alley look of so many split theaters. Really missed the cross aisle from the single house that let you really stretch out your legs.
Lastdayofrain… I remember this house also show a decent amount of horror films in the 80s - “Motel Hell” and “The Awakening” among them. I used to go to the General Cinema at NorthShore Shopping Center (as it was called back then) more often than. They seemed to get better movies. I hated the Sack Cinema City in Danvers no RTE 1 nearby this house and would often go to Showcase Cinemas in Lawrence to see films there instead of Cinema City. The Lawrence Showcase on rte 114 was really nice theater. Loved it. Sadly it too is gone now.
“The Liberty Tree Theatre was often booked with lesser films even though it had more seats due to a bad contract it had with the mall.”
What? A lot of BIG films played there, especially after it was twinned - Superman:The Movie, Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek:The Motion Picture, Flash Gordon just to name a few!