Bomes Theatre
1017 Broad Street,
Providence,
RI
02907
1017 Broad Street,
Providence,
RI
02907
3 people
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Showing 51 - 75 of 90 comments
Here’s the opening day ad for the Art Cinema, Januray 8, 1958.
Yes, it was more fun to read. Later ads for Marty, which was a big hit at the Avon, showed a cartoon of someone “stretching the walls” to accomodate all the people who wanted to get in.
I always suspected a connection with the Avon. The films that played there were often booked at the Art at a later date, sometimes immediately afterwards. When “David & Lisa” ended its run at the Avon, the theater placed a newspaper ad showing a moving truck carrying the movie logo leaving the Avon and heading in the direction of the Art. The movie page was so much more fun to read in those days.
Lockwood & Gordon Enterprises of Boston was a chain of New England theatres that bought the Art Cinema in September of 1958, according to a Providence Journal article September 17. At the time they also operated the Avon, Hope, and Castle in Providence. An art house policy with internatonal films was promised. The theatre had been remodeled and redecorated a year before and equipped with modern upholstered seats.
It should be noted that the theatre had been opened as the Art Cinema the previous January with Gervaise. Before that it had been the neighborhood Liberty Theatre since 1921. I do not know who ran the place when it first became the Art, but will find out. But apparently Lockwood & Gordon did not run in its first days under this policy, as I implied in my description.
A newspaper ad from October, 1962, the era of art-house mania. Both the Art and the Avon on the other side of town, were run at the time by the Lockwood Gordon chain of Boston.
The Liberty Theatre opened on March 7, 1921 according to a Providence Journal article published the day before. The theatre had been under construction for about a year at the cost of $300,000. It was designed by Samuel Bomes, who was also the owner. It had a brick and terra cotta exterior.
The paper described the interior as old rose and gold, with wall panels lighted to give a tone effect. Marble and limestone were used in the lobby. Seats were 21 inches wide and rows 30 inches apart. The single-floor interior was marked by an absence of columns and good sight lines. The stage was equipped for all kinds of entertainment from vaudeville to classical drama. A new Moeller organ was to be installed within two weeks of opening. Despite the stage facilities, the policy of the Liberty was to be the showing of “photoplays exclusively.” Program changes would occur on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There would be daily matinées and evening programs beginning at 6:30 and 8:45. The first manager was C.M. Eberstein.
The opening program for the liberty was The Great Redeemer, directed by Maurice Tourneur and featuring House Peters and Marjorie Daw. The second feature was Buster Keaton in The Saphead. There was also an unspecified Harold Lloyd comedy short.
It should be noted that the theatre was never known as “Bomes Theatre” even though the name appears above the façade and was included as an alternate name in the description. Bomes designed and owned the theatre as he had with other R.I. theatres (such as the Hollywood in East Providence), but while it was a Bomes Theatre, the theatre itself was never named that. It went under only two names:
1921-1958: Liberty Theatre.
1958-1975: Art Cinema.
Some documented ownership follows. A 1925 Providence Journal Almanac lists the manager of the Liberty as as one John F. Carey, the seating capacity as 827. A 1931 Almanac lists Samuel Bomes as owner. The 1939 Almanac gives Samuel Bomes as president and manager and the corporation name as Elmwood Amusement Corporation. The 1948 Almanac lists Samuel as president and Edward Bomes as manager. A 1968 listing gives the “Art Theater” owner as Playhouse, Inc; Sol Turek, manager, with a seating capacity now at 750. The 1973 edition sates the owner was Sounderling Broadcasting Corp., SBC, Providence. Charles Conway was manager.
The demise of the Art Cinema. In July, 1973, the Art Cinema announced that it was closed for the summer. Yet, it did not reopen until November, 1973, under new management, and only four days a week, Thursday through Sunday. The program changed from soft core to black themed films such as “Superfly,” “Sounder,” Cleopatra Jones,“ and "Blackula.” Matinees on Saturday and Sunday featured children’s movies like “Willy Wonka,” “Puff N Snuff” or “Pippi Longstocking.” Advertising was reduced to the minimum, small block size without illustration, stating the film titles and show times. The theater struggled through this phase for four months until March, 1974, when it abruptly closed. This time, it remained closed for more than a year. It reopened in April, 1975, again under new management, showing hard core pornographic films. A new logo and flashy ads ran daily. It stayed open for business about films months. By the end of August, 1975, the ads vanished from the movie page, the theater having closed once more. It did not reopen.
Hardbop, you are referring to the Avon, which is doing well as far as I can tell. It is owned by Ken Dulgarian who owns the entire business block, not to mention other holdings throughout Providence’s East Side and elsewhere. The Avon has a large faithful core audience for the first-run art and independent films it programs and attracts an enormous number of students from nearby Brown University. There are four movie theatres open in Providence. Three of them are single screen: Avon, Cable Car, and the part-time multi-use Columbus. The other is the Providence Place Mall 16 Cinemas. When the Dulgarian-owned College Hill Bookstore closed a few months back, there was fear that the Avon would be next. But it seems to occupy an important niche and generates enormous prestige. Mr. Dulgarian is not likely to give that up. Too bad they don’t consider adding additional screens for versatility (not by carving up the current auditorium) but by building a second level over adjacent shops.
How is this theatre doing business-wise? If I ever moved back to Rhode Island from New York City I suppose I would be living at this cinema.
With summer fast arriving, the big tent-pole films will be taking over the multi-plexes. I remember the Avon as changing its programs several times a week. A film may play for two or three days and then the program changes.
I’ve been here only a few times. Back in the 1980s I caught a Woody Allen double-bill; one of the films was INTERIORS and I forgot what the other one was. I also caught THE PIANO here back on its original release.
I remember talking with my mother about that part of Providence. It must have gone downhill real quickly.
Do you know exactly when it closed? I know it opened as the Art in 1958 because I went to the first film under that policy, “Gervaise.” How about when the theatre first opened as the Liberty? World War I era, I would guess.
(continued)
almost weekly. The theater did suspend its policy to bring back James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” this time for three weeks at popular prices. It even booked the obscure independent film “Dutchman” with Shirley Knight. But, they were exceptions. Its era as an art house had sadly ended.
The year 1967 was transitional for the Art Cinema. During the early months, it continued to show mostly foreign films or mainstream ones, among them, “Dear John,” “Loves of a Blonde,” “The Poppy is Also a Flower,” “The Game is Over,” even the surf film “The Endless Summer” direct from its engagement at the Avon. There was only an occasional nod to sensationalism (“Damaged Goods” starring Hollywood starlett Delores Faith!). By the end of May, however, the theater had apparently changed its policy, showing exploitation films a
I recall Woolworth’s and the supermarket. The Pancake House was also a short distance from the theater. The area began its decline in the late sixties, which might explain why the Art Cinema switched its program from quality films to soft core around that time.
I think I remember this theatre. In the mid 1960s we lived on Sumpter (sic) Street between Broad Street & Elmwood Avenue in Providence and I think the cinema was near where I lived. I went to St. Michael’s in the first and second grade (1965/66) before we moved to the ‘burbs. The area in those days was bustling. I remember pastry shops and there was a Woolworth’s and a Supermarket on Broad Street. It went down hill quickly and became a slum. Too bad.
When James Joyce’s “Ulysses” played the Art in 1967, it was promoted as a special event for three days only, with reserved seating. The newspaper ad even featured a coupon to fill out and mail for advance tickets.
Although I didn’t see these two movies when they played the Art in October 1959, since I was away at school, the double bill is probably one of the oddest (and best) bits of programming that ever came there. “Strangers” by Roberto Rossellini is also known as “Viaggio in Italia” or “Voyage to Italy” and was a major influence on the French New Wave directors. Some critics, especially the French ones, rank it among the best films of all time. “Strange Deception” is really “Il Cristo Proibito” or “Forbidden Christ” and was directed by Curzio Malaparte, his only film. Both films were shown ALMOST NOWHERE. Both are available on video today, but what a unique experience, if you really like movies, to have seen them both in 35mm prints! I am sure that, sadly, the program bombed completely.
I noticed in small print, on Gerald’s second program scan this past April 6th, that the films at the Art (at least in the program Gerald scanned) had ‘continuous’ showtimes, from, for example, 6 pm on. Why did theatres list their showtimes as such, as opposed to the more traditional (at least by current standards) 6 pm, 8:30, etc.? Did ‘continuous showtimes’ ever cause confusion as to the start time of later shows? About when did the ‘continuous showtimes’ standard come to an end, and what are the origins of that policy, at least in general? Was it a decades-long carryover from the vaudeville era?
Christmas Attractions at the Art Cinema. The following films opened on Christmas Day or one or two days later, except Christmas, 1959.
1958- Bitter Rice and Anna
1959- Theater closed. Re-opened Jan 15, 1960 with Mating Urge and
Chase Me, Charlie
1960- Make Mine Mink
1961- The Truth and Girl With a Suitcase
1962- Carry on Teacher and Doctor in Love
1963- The Sword in the Stone (also at the Avon)
1964- A Hard Day’s Night and Robin and the Seven Hoods
1965- Bambole
1966- 10:30 P.M. Summer and Mondo Cane
“Scorpio Rising” and “Chafed Elbows”? Didn’t know about those, but I was away a great deal durng that period. I thought they were available only in 16mm. I wonder if the Art ever had 16mm shows. The Avon does from time to time. Todd Haynes' “Poison” was shown in 16mm because it was made available only in that format.
Totally unrelated, but yesterday I went to New Bedford and took photos of the old Orpheum. I posted them if you want to check them out. I was bowled over by the façade.
As I recall, the Art Cinema didn’t suddenly switch to exploitation films in the latter half of the sixties. It first tested the market with borderline ones, the kind with Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Their careers were in sharp decline at the time, but they were still name stars. The theater even dabbled in the avant guarde. “Scorpio Rising” and “Chafed Elbows” played there.
I didn’t think the Art Cinema ever showed children’s movies, at least beginning in 1960, except twice. “The Sword in the Stone” in 1963, and “A Hard Day’s Night” two years later. There were never matinees on Saturday, only on Sunday, and always after 2:00 P.M.
One vivid recollection I have was of attending a children’s matinee program at the Art around 1958/59 because they were showing the boy ‘n bull film “The Brave One,” which I happened to like a lot and had already seen several times during those teenage years. An infuriating thing occurred during the projection. The first reel was switched to the second reel before it had ended, like about five or more minutes. Then reel 2 began not at the start but about five minutes or more into the reel…and so on and so forth. You get the idea. The projectionist, probably some dude who was in a hurry to get it on with his girl, was shaving about 10 minutes from each reel or almost an hour from the movie! (He could never have done that in later years with a platter system.) I was furious that this movie, which I knew and liked, was being butchered by some nincompoop projectionist who didn’t give a crap, figuring that there was just a bunch of stupid kids in the audience. I think I complained and got my money back…but I’m not certain.
Yes, I saw that, but in Boston at the Fine Arts.