Quintree Drive-In
444 Quincy Avenue,
Braintree,
MA
02184
444 Quincy Avenue,
Braintree,
MA
02184
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 13 comments
I’m usually not one for random non-pertinent comments but that is one of the weirdest shaped Drive-Ins I have ever seen.
The Quincy Patriot Ledger sometimes has a feature titled “Whatever Happened to:” The subject on Jan. 3, 2018 was Braintree’s Quintree Mall. The copy says that the site was previously occupied by the Quintree Drive-in Theatre which “opened in 1950 and closed in August 1968 after its 90-foot-high screen was damaged by fire”. The mall opened in 1970, but began to have problems by 1992. The Quirk auto dealerships purchased the site in 2001.
I was reminded of the Quintree when watching the PBS series on cancer. It showed a Jimmy fund collection still photo taken at the theater. We lived in Braintree, and my dad worked at the Quincy ship yard. Our family of 5 went there frequently from the mid 50’s until the early 60’s. Later, in the mid 60’s when I was in high school I took my girlfriend there a few times, but we rarely watched the movie.
The print edition of the Quincy Patriot Ledger of Wed., August 27 ‘14 has a nostalgic feature article by newswriter Fred Hanson “Screen Gems – Seeing Movies at a Drive-in used to be a Summer Staple” about the two drive-ins in Braintree. He says the Quintree opened on July 19, 1950 with a Randolph Scott western “The Nevadan”. He found a man who lived across Quincy Avenue from the Quintree as a child and for whom the grounds of the Quintree were one big playground. Hanson says that other drive-ins south of Boston included those in Dorchester, Dedham, Canton, Avon, Brockton, Weymouth, Abington, Marshfield and Kingston. He says that on August 27, 1968 3 juveniles lit some trash on fire which spread to the huge screen and badly damaged it. The screen was not repaired and the theater was closed. Last movies were “Bonnie and Clyde” & “Up the Down Staircase”. He says that the Plaza Twin Drive-in near the South Shore Plaza opened about 1960 and closed about 1985. He mentions that one screen is still standing, near the Logan Airport bus shuttle terminal. Hanson also states that there are 3 drive-ins in MA today: at Leicester, Mendon and Wellfleet.
This opened on July 19th, 1950. Grand opening ad uploaded.
444 Quincy Avenue was the location of the abandoned Quintree Drive-In which was opened in 1949 and-it closed I believe in the 1960"s. The property stayed abandoned for a number of years until Stop and Shop and a mall along with Zayre corporation store built on the property, which was later bought out by Ames. It is now home to Quirk Auto sales I believe it was purchased by Daniel Quirk some time in the late 1990’s and is still owned and operated by Quirk in 2012.
The Quintree did open around 1950 and was a 2nd run drive in and had weekend marathons. Most films were right after they left downtown. It was accessible off of the main road and down a hill. The medfium size screen was down back and slightly to the left. It was little known and suffered from competition in the form of the South shore twin, The Neponset, the Weymouth, The Avon, and the Marshfield(first run day & Date with Boston) plus 2 other driveins in Brockton and 1 in Dedham. It was hidden down back and I believed at one time it may have been operated by General Cinema. I am not positive about this. Only went there once myself. It closed sometime in the 60’s and became a strip mall.
The Chevrolet dealer on the site of the Quintree today still uses the same street address that was on the 1949 application for the permit to construct the drive-in: 444 Quincy Avenue.
There is a short news item in Boxoffice Mag., July 16, 1949, under “Baintree” Mass. which reports that Robert Grossman had applied for a permit to operate an open air theater on former US Navy property at 444 Quincy Avenue.
Thanks for the info Mike,getting quite a few drive-ins on C.T. I read them but left no comments as I know nothing about them.
A little bit more info for mb848 is that the Quintree Open Air Drive-in parked 800 cars which matches above,that is good, IN 1956 it was owned by Rifkin Circuit which ran a few screens in Massachusetts.
In the CT page for the Meadow Glen Drive-In in Medford MA it is stated in a posting dated May 28, 2009 that in Sept. 1953, the manager of the Quintree Drive-In in Braintree was transfered by Rifkin theaters to work as manager at the Meadow Glen which Rifkin had taken over.
I believe it dates to about 1950 or so. It was on the right side of Quincy Avenue as you drove south, going uphill after crossing the railroad track just outside the Shipyard. There was a typical drive-in sign at the edge of the street. You turned right into the property, bought a ticket and selected a place. The refreshment counter and restrooms were built into the same structure which housed the projection booth. I went there a few times in the early 1950s, but never drove there myself. I can’t remember when it closed, but am going to guess about 1960. The Quintree Mall, a strip mall, went into the space, and I have a vague memory that they may have re-used the old drive-in sign, but I’m not sure of that. Today, the site is occupied by Quirk Chevrolet, and the overall property is now larger than it was then. The screen was down in back where the Quirk buildings are— their building containing their waiting room, and a dry-cleaners is an original Mall building. I don’t believe that the DriveIn theatre had an exit out onto the street in back of the property as the Quirk operation has.