Arcade Theatre

The address was actually 1777 Acushnet Avenue, not 177.

Interesting that roadshow-type films played here, way out in a neighborhood, rather than in or near downtown. That’s pretty much like the Elmwood in Providence. A gas station now occupies the spot that was once the Baylies Square/Arcade Theatre. I drove up there a few months ago looking for the spot.

From the 1990s (?) booklet The Avenue – Memories of Acushnet Avenue, by Carmen Maiocco:

A gentleman named Arcade Marcoux, Sr. opened the Baylies Square Theatre in 1922. The premiere offering was a silent feature called “Cops” and starring Buster Keaton. By the late 1930s, the motion picture industry was boooming while its predecessor, vaudeville, was on the ropes. Arcade Marcoux decided to buck the trend. Beginning in 1938, he brought in the best vaudeville had to offer. Every Saturday and Sunday night, during the 40 week vaudeville season that ran from fall to spring, comedians and dancers and French troupes down from Montreal lit up the stage. Throughout the 1940s, over 3,000 live acts appeared at the Baylies Square, with names like the Harmonioca Rascals, the Radio Rogues, and Sid Graumann’s Musical Stairs. The orchestra, which included a Hammond Organ, was directed by Pat Healy. People remember “Bank Night” at the theater where you could win cash prizes as part of a lottery, or “Dish Night” where the proprietors passed out dinner plates and sugar bowls – everybody tried to collect a complete set. In 1960, the Baylies Square underwent a major renovation and was renamed the Arcade. The first show in the reopened theater was Mike Todd’s Around the World in 80 Days starring David Niven. Throughout the sixties, hits like Spartacus and State Fair*and * The Fugitive Kind [i]packed them in. By the seventies the theaters at the malls had pretty much drained all the customers out of the cities. The Arcade suffered the ignominy of showing X-rated films. In February 1977 the Arcade Theater burned to the ground. The former Baylies Square Theater, New Bedford’s northernmost entertainment center, kept them rolling in the aisles for 55 years, and then was no more. There’s an A1 Express Lube station on the site today.

I decided to write a few lines about Arcade Marcoux simply because the man had an interesting name. Arcade Marcoux – is that a terrific French name, or what? Mr. Marcoux was born in St. Paul, Canada, in 1880. He came to America in 1922 and promptly opened the Baylies Square Theater. Soon thereafter Arcade Sr. was joined in the business by Arcade, Jr. The father and son team also operated a bowling alley just to the west of the theater, and at one time or another they ran a laundry, a package store, and an establishment called Champ Raceway. Both men were avid fishermen. Marcoux the elder died in 1956. Marcoux the son passed away in 1969.[/i]

As the “Ballies Square”, this theater is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, with 1150 seats, open daily.