Astor Theatre
176 Tremont Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
176 Tremont Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 123 comments
RogerA – regarding “first balcony” and “second balcony”. I have seen a good-quality drawing of the Astor interior when it was the Tremont Theatre, made circa-1910. Looking from the stage outwards. There were definitely two balconies. But when I first went into the Astor around 1949/1950, there was only one balcony. When you say “second balcony” do you mean the rear half of the balcony, seperated by a cross-aisle ? Or do you mean the back remnant above of the original second balcony?
The booth that was in the second balcony was replaced by the Todd-AO booth. The Todd-AO booth was installed in the first balcony. At that time all the dressing rooms and the stage were torn out to make room for the Todd-AO screen.
I well remember the reports of violence at the Union Station" that RogerA discusses. The place had a very unsavory reputation, mostly drug-related. When the Astor was the Tremont Theatre it was mostly a legit stage house with musicals and plays. Occasionally movies played there, too. The live theater ended around 1930. It was never much of a vaudeville house, though. There were vaude shows there briefly. On the front cover of the recent murder mystery book “Murder at the Tremont Theatre” by Frank Cullen & Donald McNeilly, there is a nice hand-colored postcard illustration of the front of the theater and on the marquee is posted “Klaw & Erlanger Advanced Vaudeville”. This dates from maybe around 1910. But the principle stage product at the theater was mostly plays and musicals, not Vaudeville.
I briefly worked at the Astor in the mid-fifties as an usher. They were running “Raintree County” (Elizabeth Taylor) on a reserved seat/roadshow basis and after that ended they went back to the daily grind with a film whose name I do not recall right now. The projection booth took up part of the second balcony which had pieces and parts strewn about the now bare floor. I do not know if the booth extended through the back wall of the auditorium or not. Some dressing rooms remained from the vaudeville era. It was far too large, even then, for movies. As the Tremont Street Theater, it had a beautiful proscenium arch for its large stage. A friend of the family took me there one time to see a film and I was rather impressed by the theatre even at that early stage of my life. As for “Union Station”, have never heard that name used before this.
The federal government cared that some rather shady characters were running a club where ambulances were lined up in front like taxi cabs. I testified at the hearing telling the court that I didn’t see any violence. I did go on about the projection system. The court reporter had trouble with Todd-AO and I had to spell it out for her when I was finished testifying. I was safe in the projection booth when it was the Union Station. The celebs would come up to the projection booth be safe and to do their coke (they don’t like to share). I will just say that there were a number of fights, stabbings, etc. in the club or around the club. Crime in the area went way up for a while. I am sure there were plenty of drugs for sale in men’s room. It was a sad end to a great theater. And this was the mid to end 70’s
Why did the federal government care what kind of entertainment the Astor was presenting?
The new management ran movies (picture only) because it was a licence issue. I believe they were operating with a movie theater licence and it was the late 1970’s . The Feds closed them down.
RogerA is correct above when he mentions that the last name for the Astor was the “Union Station” in the early 1970s. Why they called their after-hours “juice bar” by that name, I don’t know. I didn’t realize that movies were shown as part of the entertainment at the Union Station.
The last glory days of the Astor must have been in the late 1960’s. I discovered the theater in the early 70’s when it was running black exploitation and Bruce Lee films. I worked as a projectionist while attending college for film. The only theater management in Boston that liked me was the Astor.
There was a clause in the new contract that if we ran 70mm at the Astor it was time and a half so Joe Mooney the operator on duty let me run the 70mm. I ran one of the reels from the Dawn of Man sequence in 70mm and the dance floor stopped cold. Everyone turned and looked at the huge picture. Most theaters used the same size screen for scope and 70mm. The Astor did it right. 70mm had a larger picture so large you had to open the top and sides to the limits. The masking closed in for all other formats. The lamps were rotating carbon arc 13.6mm at over 160amps (we could take one projector to 190amps) so the picture was bright. A Cinerama print of 2001 at the Union Station (aka The Astor) That was the last time 70mm ran at the Astor.
There were very few 70mm houses in Boston with large screens. One of course was the Boston Cinerama. The others were the Astor and The Wang Center (originally the Metropolitan then later the Music Hall). Then later the New Beacon Hill. The Orpheum had 35 CinemaScope with mag sound. The Todd-AO projectors at the Gary and the Saxon were moved to the 57 when it opened and the irony being many 70mm films were run at the 57. A long bowling alley of a theater with a screen so small they had to put the left and right speakers over the exits to hear stereo beyond the tenth row. The Walter Reade had a large screen but as soon as Sack took over they reduced the size as the new Sack management, who had taken over the company from Ben Sack, wanted smaller screens.
The Walter Reade was The Charles. Sorry for any confusion. I alwasy refered to it because whenever I lived in other cities the co. name always came before the Theatre name. Such as the Walter Reade Charles Cinema.
Where was the Walter Reade? I don’t remember any place with this name.
There were several roadshow houses in Boston. The Gary, THe Astor, The Boston Cinerama, The Music Hall(only on a couple of occasions) the Saxon and one that everyone forgets the Walter Reade and finally on a couple of occasions the Beacon Hill. I don’t know if the Orpheum ever did Roadshows even though they were equipped with 70mm(Seven Brides For Seven Brothers played a 70mm return visit there.
In a 1918 Boston street directory, the Tremont Theatre was listed at 176 Tremont St., where the lobby entrance was located, and also at 26 Avery Street. Perhaps the latter was the office address. Also at 176 Tremont were 6 businesses.
To set the record straight the Astor had a modified Todd-AO screen it wasn’t a deep curve like the early Todd-AO screens. It was one of the biggest screens in the greater Boston area as the stage and dressing rooms to the right of the stage were removed to make room for the screen. There was movable top and side masking and it was one of the few theaters where the 70mm picture was wider and taller than any other format. The screen was never opened to its full size when running 35mm. There was a curtain but it was not used during the last few years the theater was open. So aside from the Cinerama theater and the Wang center (Music Hall) the Astor had one of the biggest screens in Boston. It was also one of the first theaters in Boston to use a an electric motor to drive the projectors.
Having been going to the Astor since about 1950 I found it to be one of the most uncomfortable seating wise next to the Exeter. When they installed Cinemascope in 1952-53 they had one of the biggest screens in town. The biggest were the Metropolitan and the Lowes Oprpheum. The biggest was actually the Coolidge Corner(inside) and the Avon Drive-In outside. They had one of if not the best early stereo sound systems in the city. I remember all the big coming attractions billboards advertising coming events. The add for the Ten Commandments and The longest Day were up for weeks before opening.The last movie I saw at the Astor was a 3D showing of The House Of Wax in 1972-73 on New Years Eve. It was fun for me and the wife because neither one of us were into clubs. I do believe that The Stewardesses in 3D never showed at the Astor. It played at the Music Hall during its downside. I remember taking my girlfriend(now my wife) and we both walked out halfway through. I also remember going to the Orpheum for a re-release in the late 60’s of a 70mm blowup of The Girl Can’t Help It and also of 7 Brides For 7 Brothers. They had a huge screen and fully curved because these were originally 35mm Cinemascope films. There were several 70mkm equipped theatres downtown before and after Sack took over. The Cinerama, Lowes Orpheum, Metropolitan.Astor RKO Keiths and maybe others. After Sack took over we had the Gary, Saxon, Capri and I believe the Paris. Also we had the Walter Reade with a huge screen. Saw many big films there like Ryans Daughter and Star Wars.
Rossellini’s Open City played the Tremont in February, 1947. An Italian-language neorealist movie was not a typical film for this house. The movie had already had a run at the Old South in 1946, and perhaps elsewhere.
Cool photos.
In the 1895 Boston city directory, in a list of theaters, there is a “Kinetoscope Parlor” located at 169 Tremont St., very near the entrance of the Tremont Theatre. Kinetoscopes were early moving picture machines.
Thanks Ron, there must have been a Jamieson Photography studio around the corner.
Thanks again-
For a minute there I thought maybe she was part of some Vaudville Show-which would have been totally out of character from what we know of her blue-blood English up-bringing!
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I believe that 173 Tremont is the address not of the Loews Boston Common (and formerly the Tremont/Astor theatre), but rather of the building on the other side of Avery Street.
I have an old postcard photo of my great grandmother Marguerite Estabrook that was taken around 1900-1915.
She is dressed in an Oriental Robe and is holding a Chinese fan.
The back of the postcard reads ‘Jamieson 173 Tremont Street Boston Mass.’
She did sing at her church in Needham Mass, but that’s all we know of her.
I originally thought Jamieson was a photography studio but cannot find anything on 173 Tremont.
I can only find 176 tremont info, which is the theatre.
Does anyone know or remember what might have been at 173 tremont?
My map search brings up the Loews Theatre, which makes me believe this photo was taken inside the ‘Tremont theatre’ and maybe my great grandmother performed there.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I have an old postcard photo of my great grandmother Marguerite Estabrook that was taken around 1900-1915.
She is dressed in an Oriental Robe and is holding a Chinese fan.
The back of the postcard reads ‘Jamieson 173 Tremont Street Boston Mass.’
She did sing at her church in Needham Mass, but that’s all we know of her.
I originally thought Jamieson was a photography studio but cannot find anything on 173 Tremont.
I can only find 176 tremont info, which is the theatre.
Does anyone know or remember what might have been at 173 tremont?
My map search brings up the Loews Theatre, which makes me believe this photo was taken inside the ‘Tremont theatre’ and maybe my great grandmother performed there.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks!
David Kornfeld trained to be a projectionist at the Astor but he never worked there as a projectionist. He did receive very extensive training and spent many a late night there. I had full run of the theater as head projectionist in charge of all maintenance. Even though we never used the six channel sound system for a regular performance I kept it operational. On many occasion I did run a 70mm 1000 foot reel borrowed from the Sack 57 that demonstrated the Todd-AO system. When the theater closed I joined the navy and gave David the lenses and gates to hold on to. After the theater was vandalized he removed the intermittent movements.