Embassy Theatre

Does anyone have info on the Central Square theatre?

It probably was losing money to the Shopping Center theatres that were dominating the market by the late ‘60s. Most downtown theatres had closed by the early 1970’s and if you compare with the surrounding communities, you’ll find that many other were closed, or gone. Being inside the 21 mile perimeter to Boston meant those theatres had to compete with Sack for product, or play subrun. The film distributors wanted to play the Shopping Mall multiplexes, which gave them longer runs. Thus, a one screen downtown theatre playing subrun to Boston couldn’t gross, nor play as many films as the multiplexes. Add to the mix, the buck houses like the Winter St. Waltham twin, and many others, that played after Shoppers World, Burlington Mall, South Shore Plaza, and others, and the writing was on the wall.
As to memorabilia, up until a couple of years ago, if you looked around the vacant lot where the theatre used to stand, you could find an occasional brick. When Landmark built the parking garage in the lot behind the old Embassy site, they may have cleaned up that spot, I don’t know. I wish I knew where there were some interior shots.

Can anyone tell me if any memorabilia of the Embassy is for sale? I undersatnd that some of the bricks from the theatre are installed on the front of a house on Maple Street in Waltham! Any information would be appreciated!

The “Embassy” was such a beautiful movie theatre in downtown Waltham! It had a large screen and CURTAINS! Children’s matinees were every weekend! Does anyone remember the Central Square Theatre a few blocks away?

Interesting note on the link to the Waltham Museum web site, was the statement from an Embassy “expert” that the original design for the lobby was Oriental. According to opening day ads in the newspapers, the design was Spanish.