Criterion Theatre
35 Cottage Street,
Bar Harbor,
ME
04609
35 Cottage Street,
Bar Harbor,
ME
04609
7 people
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George C. McKay at one time owned both the Criterion & Star Theatres in Bar Harbor. 1934 program added courtesy Ed Dillon.
The 1932 Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, Maine is still in full swing, with movies and live shows presented year-round. We are open 7 days a week between Memorial Day and Columbus Day, and 4 days a week during the off-season (Thurs-Sun). Stop by from 9am-5pm M-F for a free tour!
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Criterion; it’s Card # 338. Address is Cottage St. There is an exterior photo dated Jan. 31, 1941. Condition is Excellent. The report says the theater opened in 1932 and was showing MGM movies. There were 813 seats on the main floor and 125 seats in the loges, total 938.The 1940 population was 4,300.
It was open the first week of September 2012 anyways! I was so disappointed it had been closed last time I was there. A little searching on Maine websites says it re-opened in July 2012 .. but still in some dispute ..link to story: http://fenceviewer.com/site/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=75458:criterion-to-reopen&Itemid=941
The theater actually closed early last summer.
Ugh! That is awful! And with the summer tourist season coming up? I always hoped to get back up there and actually catch a flick. As long as it’s still standing, I suppose there is hope.
Sad news i had friends that where in Bar Harbor two weeks ago they told me the Criterion has closed.
Very Very Nice,Thanks Ed.
From the photos above, it appears that the theatre’s marquee was nicely refurbished sometime between 2006 and 2009. I imagine it was done for the 2007 season, which marked the 75th Anniversary of the Criterion’s opening. This would explain the addition of the “1932” at the crown of the marquee’s main facing.
Hello,
Robert A. Mitchell was a noted authority on motion picture projection. He was the technical editor of International Projectionist magazine as well as the author of Mitchell’s Manual of Practical Projection. I believe he was from Bar Harbor, Maine and died in 1965.
I was wondering if you know of this man?
Thank you,
Bob Throop
The Criterion in Bar Harbor is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters.
I was just in bar harbor maine this past weekend. And i did see a movie at the criterion its a awesome movie theater.i love it i did
get to see the new indiana jones movie i set in the balcony.it brought back the times when i was young growing up in waltham mass
Last week I enjoyed a 4 day vacation up in Bar Harbor and had a chance to take a number of photographs of the beautiful Criterion Theater. I posted them all to my photobucket account here.
And if you want the abridged highlights:
Exterior at night
Box office
Ticket vestibule
Entrance doors from lobby
Lobby/foyer
Left mezzanine foyer
Right mezzanine foyer
Balcony section view
2nd balcony section view
View of “floating” balcony
Auditorium ceiling chandelier
Rear of house
Proscenium view
Stage view
Front auditorium sidewall detail
Rear orchestra detail
Seat row end cap detail
Marquee detail
Rear exterior view
I know that seems fairly exhaustive, but there are some 46 images in total in my photobucket album. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch a movie in the theater. The films run twice nightly (around 7 or 7:30 and again around 9 or 10) and the program changes every couple of days. The night I arrived and first found the theater, it was too late to catch that evening’s 10pm show of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and by the following night, the show was changed to the animated “Ant Bully” – which I really didn’t want to sit through.
The folks that run the place were exceedingly laid back and really nice and allowed me to enter the building and take as many photos as I wanted without charging me for admission (as I was doing so, patrons were entering the theater for that evening’s 1st screening). As you might be able to see from the exterior rear shot, the lot on which the theater was built slopes up to the street entrance. This creates a rather unorthodox ticket lobby floor that slopes DOWN from the entrance to the foyer. The small foyer features a candy counter against the rear auditroium wall and a twin set of stairs leading up to the mezzanine at either side. Up the right stairway, there is a small beverage counter tucked into the corner and a couple of vintage posters (see the photo above). The right stair case is kept closed until the end of the movie, when it is used as an exit for balcony patrons.
The odd looking “floating” balcony is divided into 9 sections, each with 3 or 4 rows of seating (and some with tables in the front row). The art deco characteristics are wonderfully preserved (despite the odd missing fixture here and there) right down to the stenciling on the lobby cloak-room door. I hope that next time I get up there (and I do plan on returning) I’m able to enjoy a good movie at the Criterion. A true cinema treasure if ever there was one.
Also, Bar Harbor is ON Mt. Desert Island, so it’s not really “nearby.” Just saw this lovely theater last week. It currently plays a mix of first-run movies and live music shows in its undivided auditorium.
Shouldn’t this be listed as “Criterion Theatre” rather than “The Criterion”? The definite article does not appear to be part of its name.
I remember a very enjoyable evening at this delightful theatre while passing through in August, 1997. The film was MY BEST FRIEND’S WIFE. Can any locals post recollections about the Criterion’s past?