Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard Street,
Brookline,
MA
02446
290 Harvard Street,
Brookline,
MA
02446
26 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 64 comments
As of Wed March 27 you can mark it as 6 screens
OK so w1hen do cinemas 5 and 6 open?
For years, the home of the Boston Scifi Marathon - till they were thrown out!
Oh, and last time I looked, The Somerville Theater’s main house was STILL art-deco, and had it’s balcony still part of the main house - 900+ seats!
Brookline Historical Society link with a photo of the Coolidge Corner Universalist Church circa 1906.
http://www.brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/archives/slideShowStreets.asp?move=next&ID=HarvardSt-063&fbclid=IwAR3M2dNcto_fpMTVcrt45HP_QBDJvXXpDTX-cpeBVl7OKYUwiG3R5fl9mXs
1936 photo added courtesy Anne Continelli, via the Dirty Old Boston facebook page.
Link to obit of film professor who saved this theater! https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/04/23/david-kleiler-independent-film-impresario-who-saved-coolidge-corner-theatre-dies/zYx9xUw7GcO7NfQn0TsfVN/story.html
So very sorry to hear of David Kleiler’s passing. Boston’s reputation as a haven for movie fans owes much to his efforts with the Coolidge.
Along with the Capitol Theatre in Arlington, the Somerville Theatre, the Lexington Venue, and the IMAX screens at the Aquarium and Jordan’s Furniture, this is one of the very few theatres that continue to advertise in the Boston Globe Movie Directory.
I grew up going to see double features at the Coolidge and then landed my first job there in high school under the ownership of Justin Freed. He had hated to twin the place, but did a great job preserving the original screen and converting the balcony into a nice 290 seat theater. After the Foundation took over, they sold the original street front lobby space to retail and moved the theatre entrance to the side. I have many good stories about the Coolidge.
I recently renewed my membership. Seeing The Hateful Eight in its brief Ultra Panavision 70MM RSE New Year’s Day was a wonderfully old fashioned, I mean that as a compliment, experience, especially with a packed house. At the risk of sounding corny, it felt special. From what I heard, the “experiment” wasn’t a success so it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing more of them in the future. Joyously telling the audience what to expect prior to show time with infectious enthusiasm, the projectionist did a fantastic job framing and masking the picture on the screen. He also stated we were in for a treat and I don’t think anyone was disappointed.
Watching Sicario, which was a terrific, tense, and gripping thriller, yesterday in the main theater downstairs, I was pleasantly reminded of how much I love this landmark independent art house gem. I’ve seen many films, most of them good, the past fifteen or sixteen years I’ve been coming here and will without a doubt keep coming back. For fun, the first movie I saw was either “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” or “Taxi Driver” in 1999.
A membership for me would not be practical due to the fact I would have to travel 2 hours each way to get to the cinema. I was able to go there for the American Hustle preview screening last month. I was sort of disappointed that not only the director appearance was in the screen as opposed to in person, the performance was recorded the preceding evening a far cry from my dream of the event the prior evening which featured an in person appearance by Jennifer Lawrence. The evening was still enjoyable and worth the trip. I was quite impressed in how the curtain opened just at the start.
I was also disappointed that the Sundance screening would be of a documentary as opposed to a Comedy or drama film. Had it not been the Bulger film I would have gotten tickets.
I went there as a really little kid in the late 60s-early 70s. Who Remembers:The Weechi-Wachi springs ad(“Get your souvenir orange today”), those weird Eastern European and Mexican children’s films, “The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters”, “Eyes of Hell”(“The Mask”)with scenes in 3-D, that Herb Alpert style music they always played before the movie…………
An article about the theater’s reluctant and expensive conversion to digital can be read here.
Can’t wait to see “The Master” here in 70mm.
Exclusive 70mm engagement of “The Master” confirmed: Link
Came here right when they were doing extensive renovations around 2001. Repair-work and scaffoldings were everywhere, but the theater was still gorgeous.
I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and during the follow-the-boucing-ball scene, EVERYONE in the audience sang along to the lyrics at full pitch. Coolest cinematic/theatrical experience to date.
I absolutely love this theatre. It’s one of those main auditoriums that gives you shivers.
I love the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and I always will. Holding an annual membership there really helps.
Saw Midnight in Paris there recently which was showing in the lovely Art Deco main theatre. Went to school in Boston in the 60’s, but don’t remember going here then.
Yankee Magazine has named the Coolidge Corner as one of the five top movie theaters in New England. The other four are in Dennis MA, Newport RI, Concord NH and Waterville ME. The judge was veteran local movie man Garen Daly. The listing in Yankee was reported in a small item in today’s Boston Sunday Herald. It says that these five cinemas “have found a unique voice, one that represents the communities in which they dwell.”
Their website now has panoramic views of the auditorium and lobby; they also completed a renovation in 2006.
My recollection is that the original front entrance was converted to fast-order restaurant use when the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation took control, around 1989. Originally there was still a door leading from the restaurant into the theatre lobby, but I think that’s gone (or permanently locked) now.
Item in Boxoffice magazine, January 18, 1960 about the Coolidge Corner adopting a first-run policy with French film The Lovers.
View link
The original entrance was in front; it was converted a long time ago into retail space. The exit doors off of the inner foyer were then converted into an entrance. So, you go down the alley along the right side of the building to enter.