In an unusual bit of programming in February 1921, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid was booked simultaneously in five downtown Providence theatres: the Strand, the Emery, the Modern, Fays, and the Rialto. Occasionally some highly anticipated movies might play in two downtown theatres, but never five! It seems to have run only one week, in an era when that was pretty much the norm, with films running a single week downtown, then moving to second run theatres and outlying houses. Each of these theatres accompanied this feature with short subjects or live Vaudeville acts.
In an unusual bit of programming in February 1921, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid was booked simultaneously in five downtown Providence theatres: the Strand, the Emery, the Modern, Fays, and the Rialto. Occasionally some highly anticipated movies might play in two downtown theatres, but never five! It seems to have run only one week, in an era when that was pretty much the norm, with films running a single week downtown, then moving to second run theatres and outlying houses. Each of these theatres accompanied this feature with short subjects or live Vaudeville acts.
The Emery Theatre closed for the sumer of 1927 for refurbishing, was renamed the Carlton Theatre, and opened under that name on Labor Day, September 5, 1927 with a film program of The Gingham Girl (“Broadway’s greatest musical show brought to the screen”), starring Geo. K. Arthur and Lois Wilson. But this was a silent film. Sound would not fully arrive for another couple of years. Also on the program was an Our Gang comedy called “The Glorious Fourth”, the news, and five live Vaudeville acts. The theatre’s grand organ and orchestra are mentioned in the ad. Programs ran from noon to 10:30 P.M., Sundays from 2:30.
D.W. Griffith’s film Dream Street opened here on May 2, 1921. A newspaper ad says there are two showings each day, 2:15 and 8:15, and concludes with the note: “Mr. Griffith will personally direct the opening and visit Providence for the first time.”
From The Evening News, Providence, December 4, 1913:
“From last spring the folks in this vicinity thought that by this time Olneyville could boast of three theatres, but the indications are at the present time they will have to struggle along with the little Pastime theatre. The one most looked for was to be erected at the corner of Broadway and Valley Street* by Messrs. Smith & Nathanson of the Empire Theatre, and it was announced that it would be opened the first of this month, but so far no move has been made to build. It was also hinted that still another would be opened on the Waterman estate at the junction of Hartford Avenue and Plainfield Street**, but so far there are no signs of building.”
*Conn’s Olympia on Westminster at Olneyville Square would not arrive until 1926.
**The Royal would be built at that intersection about a year later in 1914.
From a piece found in Tri City Herald (Washington state), August 22, 1955:
“The flood-weakened bridge over River Street collapsed yesterday, leading local authorities to close all but one bridge to all traffic except for emergency vehicles.
“The city suffered additional woe yesterday when fire destroyed the abandoned Olympia Theatre and three stores.”
The Strand was opened in 1915 as a movie theatre, not as a vaudeville house. In the first years it was against the law to show movies on Sundays in Providence theatres. So live musical events often filled the bill…such as the recital here by the great tenor John McCormack. That would have required dressing rooms for the performers. See the comments posted above on October 11 & 12, 2008.
No, I don’t have it. And Boxoffice doesn’t seem to be available online any more. That’s where I read it. Anyway, I think I quoted the whole piece! It was a small item, not an article.
The Opera House has just closed for transformation to an arts center. A short piece in the September 1st issue of “Newport This Week” stated:
“The marquee above the historic Opera House Theatre is blank this week, after the movie house closed its doors while a volunteer committee works to raise money to transform the building into a 650-seat performing arts center.
“The project to build the Newport Performing Arts Center is expected to take some $20 million to complete, and is one of the more ambitious plans to date aimed at breathing new life into the city’s Washington Square neighborhood.”
This article appeared in the Westerly Sun in 2009 and deals with a former ticket seller, Sue Quattromani Brunelle, who worked at the United from 1955-1963. It includes a view of the ticket booth. There are some interesting recollections of the theatre and its patrons.
I have no documentation about its use as a movie theatre in the immediate postwar period. But I do know that in the month of September 1968, immediately after the live theatre season, there was a film festival of classic and foreign movies here. I myself was consulted on what format that might take, because at that time I ran a film society in Providence called Prestige Film. I wound up having no hand in the program in Matunuck. The promoters settled on a collecion of selected movies distributed by Janus Films. A screen was set up and temporary 16mm projectors were put in place. I attended two of the films shown that month: the von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich The Blue Angel on Monday, September 2 and Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes on Tuesday, September 17. A printed calendar was distributed listing the offerings in the series, but I no longer have a copy of it, so I do not remember how many films were shown over how many nights. The series ran only selected nights during the month, as I recall. But I did see those two movies here in 1968.
FrankCGrace,
Excellent photos! I don’t know how many film reels were spotted inside the projection booth, but they should be examined by a knowledgeable film historian or preservation specialist to see if anything unique and rare is among them. Frequently films long-thought forever lost have turned up in old projection booths. And that place hasn’t shown movies in half a century.
Images of the Allen’s Theatre fire in 1940 as well as photos of other New Bedford theatres, can be found in this excellent set: View link
Allen’s Theatre was on Acushnet Avenue.
In an unusual bit of programming in February 1921, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid was booked simultaneously in five downtown Providence theatres: the Strand, the Emery, the Modern, Fays, and the Rialto. Occasionally some highly anticipated movies might play in two downtown theatres, but never five! It seems to have run only one week, in an era when that was pretty much the norm, with films running a single week downtown, then moving to second run theatres and outlying houses. Each of these theatres accompanied this feature with short subjects or live Vaudeville acts.
In an unusual bit of programming in February 1921, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid was booked simultaneously in five downtown Providence theatres: the Strand, the Emery, the Modern, Fays, and the Rialto. Occasionally some highly anticipated movies might play in two downtown theatres, but never five! It seems to have run only one week, in an era when that was pretty much the norm, with films running a single week downtown, then moving to second run theatres and outlying houses. Each of these theatres accompanied this feature with short subjects or live Vaudeville acts.
The Emery Theatre closed for the sumer of 1927 for refurbishing, was renamed the Carlton Theatre, and opened under that name on Labor Day, September 5, 1927 with a film program of The Gingham Girl (“Broadway’s greatest musical show brought to the screen”), starring Geo. K. Arthur and Lois Wilson. But this was a silent film. Sound would not fully arrive for another couple of years. Also on the program was an Our Gang comedy called “The Glorious Fourth”, the news, and five live Vaudeville acts. The theatre’s grand organ and orchestra are mentioned in the ad. Programs ran from noon to 10:30 P.M., Sundays from 2:30.
Updated link on this last entry.
Link
D.W. Griffith’s film Dream Street opened here on May 2, 1921. A newspaper ad says there are two showings each day, 2:15 and 8:15, and concludes with the note: “Mr. Griffith will personally direct the opening and visit Providence for the first time.”
Boxing at the Star Theatre, 1922. Providence News, October 4, 1922.
Link.
Sarah Bernhardt at the Empire Theatre (the one at Westminster and Empire streets), as reported in the Evening Tribune, June 13, 1911:
Sarah Bernhardt
Reference is made to the La Sirena Theatre on Atwells Avenue in this article from the Evening Tribune, November 6, 1910:
La Sirena
What Bullock’s Theatre was offering on January 21, 1911:
Link
Small ad in The Evening News, January 11, 1912:
[b]PASTIME THEATRE
Olneyville Square
Moving Pictures, Illustrated Songs.
Pictures changed daily.[/b]
From The Evening News, Providence, December 4, 1913:
“From last spring the folks in this vicinity thought that by this time Olneyville could boast of three theatres, but the indications are at the present time they will have to struggle along with the little Pastime theatre. The one most looked for was to be erected at the corner of Broadway and Valley Street* by Messrs. Smith & Nathanson of the Empire Theatre, and it was announced that it would be opened the first of this month, but so far no move has been made to build. It was also hinted that still another would be opened on the Waterman estate at the junction of Hartford Avenue and Plainfield Street**, but so far there are no signs of building.”
*Conn’s Olympia on Westminster at Olneyville Square would not arrive until 1926.
**The Royal would be built at that intersection about a year later in 1914.
Flood in Woonsocket, then fire.
From a piece found in Tri City Herald (Washington state), August 22, 1955:
“The flood-weakened bridge over River Street collapsed yesterday, leading local authorities to close all but one bridge to all traffic except for emergency vehicles.
“The city suffered additional woe yesterday when fire destroyed the abandoned Olympia Theatre and three stores.”
A view of the Carlton Theatre marquee and Mathewson Street can be seen in this photo which probably dates to the late 1940s or early 1950s.
View link
The Strand was opened in 1915 as a movie theatre, not as a vaudeville house. In the first years it was against the law to show movies on Sundays in Providence theatres. So live musical events often filled the bill…such as the recital here by the great tenor John McCormack. That would have required dressing rooms for the performers. See the comments posted above on October 11 & 12, 2008.
Ticket stub for the world premiere of Hitchcock’s Frenzy on June 20, 1972:
STUB.
Hitch introduced the film.
Don, if the marquee shows Easy Living with Jean Arthur, then this is more like 1937, the year that film was released.
No, I don’t have it. And Boxoffice doesn’t seem to be available online any more. That’s where I read it. Anyway, I think I quoted the whole piece! It was a small item, not an article.
The Opera House has just closed for transformation to an arts center. A short piece in the September 1st issue of “Newport This Week” stated:
“The marquee above the historic Opera House Theatre is blank this week, after the movie house closed its doors while a volunteer committee works to raise money to transform the building into a 650-seat performing arts center.
“The project to build the Newport Performing Arts Center is expected to take some $20 million to complete, and is one of the more ambitious plans to date aimed at breathing new life into the city’s Washington Square neighborhood.”
A 2009 article in The Westerly Sun about future plans for the United Theatre.
This article appeared in the Westerly Sun in 2009 and deals with a former ticket seller, Sue Quattromani Brunelle, who worked at the United from 1955-1963. It includes a view of the ticket booth. There are some interesting recollections of the theatre and its patrons.
I have no documentation about its use as a movie theatre in the immediate postwar period. But I do know that in the month of September 1968, immediately after the live theatre season, there was a film festival of classic and foreign movies here. I myself was consulted on what format that might take, because at that time I ran a film society in Providence called Prestige Film. I wound up having no hand in the program in Matunuck. The promoters settled on a collecion of selected movies distributed by Janus Films. A screen was set up and temporary 16mm projectors were put in place. I attended two of the films shown that month: the von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich The Blue Angel on Monday, September 2 and Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes on Tuesday, September 17. A printed calendar was distributed listing the offerings in the series, but I no longer have a copy of it, so I do not remember how many films were shown over how many nights. The series ran only selected nights during the month, as I recall. But I did see those two movies here in 1968.
Chuck,
The above pages come out as “private."
You don’t want us to see them????
FrankCGrace,
Excellent photos! I don’t know how many film reels were spotted inside the projection booth, but they should be examined by a knowledgeable film historian or preservation specialist to see if anything unique and rare is among them. Frequently films long-thought forever lost have turned up in old projection booths. And that place hasn’t shown movies in half a century.
Interesting article with photos on effort to salvage this theatre.
Images of the Allen’s Theatre fire in 1940 as well as photos of other New Bedford theatres, can be found in this excellent set:
View link
Allen’s Theatre was on Acushnet Avenue.