To Park Theatre: the 1927 Film Daily yearbook lists 2 theatres in Winthrop: the Dream with 800 seats, and the Winthrop Theatre, no seat capacity given. There are 2 MGM Theatre Photograph and Report forms, both dated April 1941, one for the State Theatre in Winthrop at 415 Shirley St., 793 seats, built about 1920; and the other for the Winthrop Theatre on Putnam St., with 840 seats. The photo of the latter shows a very impressive facade.
To the question above: a few years ago, a reporter from the Boston Herald managed to get inside the theatre and take a few photos for a feature article which appeared on the Real Estate page. The impression was that the building management would rather hope that the public forgets that the theatre still exists. It apparently is being used as a gigantic “supply closet” by the building’s maintenance department.
Looking at the photo above, one thing that is interesting about this theatre is that the main entrance was located right next to the stage-house. I assume that patrons turned right after entering and walked to the rear of the auditorium ??
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Victory on Suffolk St. in Holyoke has a facade photo taken in May 1941. There was a marquee with 3 lines of black letters on a white background, plus a vertical blade sign above. Attractions are “That Night in Rio” and “Sleepers West”. There are several lines of streamer banners (like those in used car lots) running from the top of the marquee to the upper part of the facade. The Report states that the theatre has been showing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Good condition, and has 1150 seats in the orchestra and 332 in the balcony, total: 1482 seats. Competing theaters are listed as : Strand, Holyoke, Majestic and Suffolk. 1940 Population was 53,700.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Suffolk Theatre at 11 Suffolk St. in Holyoke has an exterior photo dated March 1941. The theatre’s entrance was on a corner and it had a small but elaborate marquee. Attractions are Charlie Chaplin in “The Great Dictator”, plus a “Co-Hit!”. The Report states that the Suffolk is not playing MGM product, that it is over 20 years old; that it’s in Fair condition, and has 620 seats on the main floor and 300 in the balcony, total: 920 seats. Competing theaters are listed as Strand, Victory, Globe, Bijou, Majestic and Holyoke. The theatre entrance was located at the corner of a large commercial building.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Strand on Maple St. in Holyoke has a facade photo taken in May 1941. The theatre had an impressive facade with a long rain canopy over the sidewalk above which was a flat triangle marquee with 3 lines of black letters on a white background. At the top was “Strand” in big letters. Attractions were “Roundup” and “Little Men”. The Report states that the Strand has been a MGM customer for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it is in Fair condition; and has 1129 seats, all on one floor. Competing theatres are listed as the Victory, Majestic and Suffolk. The 1940 population of Holyoke was 53,750.
Yes, its entrance gate was on Gallivan Blvd, not Morrissey Blvd; the latter intersected with Gallivan Blvd just to the east of the Drive-In’s location.
The screen could be viewed from the adjacent Southeast Expressway. Unfortunately, one disadvantage of its location was having an unfragrant dump, which was sometimes burning, next door.
I remember it as the University Theatre in the 1950s. When the entrance was relocated around to Church Street a fancy decorative new facade was created by painting on all the details.(See photo at head of page).
I never went into the Pi Alley, but from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s I walked thru Pi Alley almost every weekday morning around 815AM and the fire exit doors were sometimes open while cleaning was underway. The doors were on the south side of the alley about half way in.The auditorium (I only saw one) was the epitome of “plain”.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Metropolitan Theatre on Central St. in Leominster has a facade photo taken in April 1941. The theater entrance was in the middle of a rather imposing building. The photo is a wider angle than the photo posted above by Lost Memory. The Report states that the Met. Theatre has been a MGM customer for over 7 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Good condition; and has 844 orchestra seats and 555 balcony seats, total: 1399 seats. There is one competing theatre in town, the Plymouth Th. The 1940 population of Leominster was 22,200.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Colonial at 187 Merrimac St. in Haverhill has an exterior photo dated April 1941. It definitely is the same theatre as in the 1962 color photo posted above. The Report states that the house has been playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Fair condition; and has 734 orchestra seats, 411 seats in the balcony and 125 seats in the loges; total: 1270 seats. The competing theatres are the Paramount and the Strand. Haverhill’s 1940 population was 46,700. M&P Theatres was formed in 1933 as a Paramount partnership by Martin Mullin and Sam Pinansky.
The Keith’s in Fairhaven MA at 356 Main St. was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project, but the photo was not taken until July 1950, 9 years after most of the other project photos were taken. And the Report form was only partially filled out. The photo shows an entrance at the left end of a 2-story business block. There is a triangle marquee with only “Keith’s” on it, no room for attractions to be posted. The Report states that the theatre has been showing MGM product for 3 years, but no other info was included.
The Strand in Lowell MA was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report Project, but no one bothered to fill out the form, unfortunately. There is a facade photo taken in June 1950, 9 years after the photos were taken for all the other Reports. The Strand had a triangle marquee with 4 rows of black letters on a white background, above which was “Strand” in huge letters. Above the marquee was an arch and above that was a cornice. The entrance structure was 2-plus stories high. The films playing were “Three Came Home” and “Everybody’s Dancing”.
The Fine Arts Theatre in Maynard was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project, but unfortunately, no one got around to filling out the Report. There is an exterior photo and, judging from the cars on the street, it was taken circa-1950, 9 years later than most of the other theatre photos for the project were taken. The building was a plain, modern box with “Fine Arts” in script letters atop the canopy over the sidewalk.
There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Casino Theatre at 1878 Purchase St. in New Bedford, with a facade photo dated May 1941. It had a very fancy facade with a canopy over the sidewalk and a vertical sign above. To its right were 3 large old wood-frame houses. The Report states that the Casino was not a MGM customer, that it was over 15 years old, that it was in Poor condition, and had 700 seats, all on one floor.
Someone recently sent me a copy of a large ad placed by RKO Theatres in “Variety” newspaper of Dec. 20, 1932, listing “RKO Theatres Across America”. There are 4 in Boston: RKO Keith Memorial, RKO Boston, RKO Lyric (the original Keith’s Theatre of 1894) and the RKO Bijou. This indicates that sometime after the Keith-Albee organization closed the Bijou in the late-1920s, their successors, RKO, took it over again and reopened it for awhile.
In Variety, the show-biz newspaper, of Dec. 20, 1932, there was a large ad placed by RKO Theatres which lists “RKO Theatres Throughout America.” There are 4 listed for Boston: the RKO Keith Memorial, the RKO Boston, the RKO Bijou, and the RKO Lyric. This would indicate that after the Shuberts stopped operating the Lyric, RKO stepped in and took it over again. A few years afterward, it became the Normandie ballroom and bar.
Gerry- there is a discussion of the MGM Report project on the Page for the Warner Theater in Worcester. When the project started in 1941, MGM had 50,000 blank forms printed! They apparently intended to profile a large number of movie theatres. I have almost 300 of them, but my copies are Xeroxes of the originals, maybe even 2nd or 3rd generation Xeroxes, so the photos on them are all washed out, some worse than others. There is a good selection of the original Reports in the THSA Archive above the York Theatre in Elmhurst IL. One of the Cinema Treasures members obtained a good-quality copy of a Boston-area theater’s MGM Report from the THSA, but it cost him over $50 for it, last Fall.
What you say is certainly possible. I didn’t patronize it, so I did not keep track of what was happening there. Donald King told me several times that it was one of the very first pioneer Drive-Ins.
The MGM Theatre Photogaph and Report form for the RKO Keith’s on Bridge St. in Lowell has an exterior photo dated 1941. There is a fairly fancy 3-story facade with a large marquee having white letters on a black background. Features playing are “The Devil and Miss Jones” and “They Met in Argentina”. It appears that one went in from the street and then turned left to enter the auditorium. The large stagehouse can be seen at the left-rear of the photo. The Report states that the theater is not a MGM customer; that it is over 15 years old; that it’s in DeLuxe condition; and has 788 orchestra seats; 429 seats in the first balcony and 450 seats in the 2nd balcony, total: 1667 seats.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Plaza Theatre at 381 South Main St. has a facade photo dated May 1941. Beneath the small marquee with “Plaza” in big letters there was a sign proclaiming when the programs were changed with a large “10 cents” and “15 Cents” on either end. To the right of the theatre entrance is the narrow entrance of the Hotel Plaza. The Report states that the Plaza is not a MGM customer; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Poor condition; and that it has 850 seats, apparently all on one floor.
Is the second name spelled “Rivera” or “Riviera” ??
To Park Theatre: the 1927 Film Daily yearbook lists 2 theatres in Winthrop: the Dream with 800 seats, and the Winthrop Theatre, no seat capacity given. There are 2 MGM Theatre Photograph and Report forms, both dated April 1941, one for the State Theatre in Winthrop at 415 Shirley St., 793 seats, built about 1920; and the other for the Winthrop Theatre on Putnam St., with 840 seats. The photo of the latter shows a very impressive facade.
To the question above: a few years ago, a reporter from the Boston Herald managed to get inside the theatre and take a few photos for a feature article which appeared on the Real Estate page. The impression was that the building management would rather hope that the public forgets that the theatre still exists. It apparently is being used as a gigantic “supply closet” by the building’s maintenance department.
Yeah, this is already listed as theatre number 16275.
Looking at the photo above, one thing that is interesting about this theatre is that the main entrance was located right next to the stage-house. I assume that patrons turned right after entering and walked to the rear of the auditorium ??
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Victory on Suffolk St. in Holyoke has a facade photo taken in May 1941. There was a marquee with 3 lines of black letters on a white background, plus a vertical blade sign above. Attractions are “That Night in Rio” and “Sleepers West”. There are several lines of streamer banners (like those in used car lots) running from the top of the marquee to the upper part of the facade. The Report states that the theatre has been showing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Good condition, and has 1150 seats in the orchestra and 332 in the balcony, total: 1482 seats. Competing theaters are listed as : Strand, Holyoke, Majestic and Suffolk. 1940 Population was 53,700.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Suffolk Theatre at 11 Suffolk St. in Holyoke has an exterior photo dated March 1941. The theatre’s entrance was on a corner and it had a small but elaborate marquee. Attractions are Charlie Chaplin in “The Great Dictator”, plus a “Co-Hit!”. The Report states that the Suffolk is not playing MGM product, that it is over 20 years old; that it’s in Fair condition, and has 620 seats on the main floor and 300 in the balcony, total: 920 seats. Competing theaters are listed as Strand, Victory, Globe, Bijou, Majestic and Holyoke. The theatre entrance was located at the corner of a large commercial building.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Strand on Maple St. in Holyoke has a facade photo taken in May 1941. The theatre had an impressive facade with a long rain canopy over the sidewalk above which was a flat triangle marquee with 3 lines of black letters on a white background. At the top was “Strand” in big letters. Attractions were “Roundup” and “Little Men”. The Report states that the Strand has been a MGM customer for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it is in Fair condition; and has 1129 seats, all on one floor. Competing theatres are listed as the Victory, Majestic and Suffolk. The 1940 population of Holyoke was 53,750.
Yes, its entrance gate was on Gallivan Blvd, not Morrissey Blvd; the latter intersected with Gallivan Blvd just to the east of the Drive-In’s location.
The screen could be viewed from the adjacent Southeast Expressway. Unfortunately, one disadvantage of its location was having an unfragrant dump, which was sometimes burning, next door.
I remember it as the University Theatre in the 1950s. When the entrance was relocated around to Church Street a fancy decorative new facade was created by painting on all the details.(See photo at head of page).
I never went into the Pi Alley, but from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s I walked thru Pi Alley almost every weekday morning around 815AM and the fire exit doors were sometimes open while cleaning was underway. The doors were on the south side of the alley about half way in.The auditorium (I only saw one) was the epitome of “plain”.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Metropolitan Theatre on Central St. in Leominster has a facade photo taken in April 1941. The theater entrance was in the middle of a rather imposing building. The photo is a wider angle than the photo posted above by Lost Memory. The Report states that the Met. Theatre has been a MGM customer for over 7 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Good condition; and has 844 orchestra seats and 555 balcony seats, total: 1399 seats. There is one competing theatre in town, the Plymouth Th. The 1940 population of Leominster was 22,200.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Colonial at 187 Merrimac St. in Haverhill has an exterior photo dated April 1941. It definitely is the same theatre as in the 1962 color photo posted above. The Report states that the house has been playing MGM product for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Fair condition; and has 734 orchestra seats, 411 seats in the balcony and 125 seats in the loges; total: 1270 seats. The competing theatres are the Paramount and the Strand. Haverhill’s 1940 population was 46,700. M&P Theatres was formed in 1933 as a Paramount partnership by Martin Mullin and Sam Pinansky.
The Keith’s in Fairhaven MA at 356 Main St. was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project, but the photo was not taken until July 1950, 9 years after most of the other project photos were taken. And the Report form was only partially filled out. The photo shows an entrance at the left end of a 2-story business block. There is a triangle marquee with only “Keith’s” on it, no room for attractions to be posted. The Report states that the theatre has been showing MGM product for 3 years, but no other info was included.
The Strand in Lowell MA was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report Project, but no one bothered to fill out the form, unfortunately. There is a facade photo taken in June 1950, 9 years after the photos were taken for all the other Reports. The Strand had a triangle marquee with 4 rows of black letters on a white background, above which was “Strand” in huge letters. Above the marquee was an arch and above that was a cornice. The entrance structure was 2-plus stories high. The films playing were “Three Came Home” and “Everybody’s Dancing”.
The Fine Arts Theatre in Maynard was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project, but unfortunately, no one got around to filling out the Report. There is an exterior photo and, judging from the cars on the street, it was taken circa-1950, 9 years later than most of the other theatre photos for the project were taken. The building was a plain, modern box with “Fine Arts” in script letters atop the canopy over the sidewalk.
There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Casino Theatre at 1878 Purchase St. in New Bedford, with a facade photo dated May 1941. It had a very fancy facade with a canopy over the sidewalk and a vertical sign above. To its right were 3 large old wood-frame houses. The Report states that the Casino was not a MGM customer, that it was over 15 years old, that it was in Poor condition, and had 700 seats, all on one floor.
Someone recently sent me a copy of a large ad placed by RKO Theatres in “Variety” newspaper of Dec. 20, 1932, listing “RKO Theatres Across America”. There are 4 in Boston: RKO Keith Memorial, RKO Boston, RKO Lyric (the original Keith’s Theatre of 1894) and the RKO Bijou. This indicates that sometime after the Keith-Albee organization closed the Bijou in the late-1920s, their successors, RKO, took it over again and reopened it for awhile.
In Variety, the show-biz newspaper, of Dec. 20, 1932, there was a large ad placed by RKO Theatres which lists “RKO Theatres Throughout America.” There are 4 listed for Boston: the RKO Keith Memorial, the RKO Boston, the RKO Bijou, and the RKO Lyric. This would indicate that after the Shuberts stopped operating the Lyric, RKO stepped in and took it over again. A few years afterward, it became the Normandie ballroom and bar.
Gerry- there is a discussion of the MGM Report project on the Page for the Warner Theater in Worcester. When the project started in 1941, MGM had 50,000 blank forms printed! They apparently intended to profile a large number of movie theatres. I have almost 300 of them, but my copies are Xeroxes of the originals, maybe even 2nd or 3rd generation Xeroxes, so the photos on them are all washed out, some worse than others. There is a good selection of the original Reports in the THSA Archive above the York Theatre in Elmhurst IL. One of the Cinema Treasures members obtained a good-quality copy of a Boston-area theater’s MGM Report from the THSA, but it cost him over $50 for it, last Fall.
What you say is certainly possible. I didn’t patronize it, so I did not keep track of what was happening there. Donald King told me several times that it was one of the very first pioneer Drive-Ins.
The MGM Theatre Photogaph and Report form for the RKO Keith’s on Bridge St. in Lowell has an exterior photo dated 1941. There is a fairly fancy 3-story facade with a large marquee having white letters on a black background. Features playing are “The Devil and Miss Jones” and “They Met in Argentina”. It appears that one went in from the street and then turned left to enter the auditorium. The large stagehouse can be seen at the left-rear of the photo. The Report states that the theater is not a MGM customer; that it is over 15 years old; that it’s in DeLuxe condition; and has 788 orchestra seats; 429 seats in the first balcony and 450 seats in the 2nd balcony, total: 1667 seats.
I recall that the picture on at least one of the two screens was visible from the southbound side of Route 128 (now part of I-93).
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Plaza Theatre at 381 South Main St. has a facade photo dated May 1941. Beneath the small marquee with “Plaza” in big letters there was a sign proclaiming when the programs were changed with a large “10 cents” and “15 Cents” on either end. To the right of the theatre entrance is the narrow entrance of the Hotel Plaza. The Report states that the Plaza is not a MGM customer; that it’s over 15 years old; that it’s in Poor condition; and that it has 850 seats, apparently all on one floor.