Hollywood Theatre

As of this date the red-brick theatre building is there and used as a storage facility. I have never seen the interior. Perhaps some are residents acquainted with the theatre could give some details. Otherwise it just remains a tantalizing presence on Taunton Avenue.
The marquee is no longer there. East Providence has a large Portuguese population. For the longest time after the theatre closed (early 60s?), the marquee announced an imminent program of Portuguese films. Ghost programs for a ghost theatre?

The theatre was built in the 1920s, closed in 1959. The address is 164 Taunton Avenue. It was originally called the Bomes Theatre,and there is a sign to that effect in the cement facade. Some real trivia: in 1935 the "Swedish film comedy success" PETTERSON SVERIGE was shown. In 1937 SWEDEN - LAND OF THE VIKINGS and SHARGARD'S FLIRT. The theatre was probably rented to show ethnic films: Swedish, Portuguese, perhaps others.

A photo is at www.preservationdirectory.com/photodatabase_theaters.html

Clarification. In an earlier entry I note that this had been called the "Bomes Theatre" at one time. I no longer believe so. The "Bomes Theatre" inscription above the theatre front refers to the original builder/owner Samuel Bomes. Like his Liberty on Broad Street in Providence, this was simply a Bomes Theatre. As far as I have been able to determine, it had always been called the Hollywood up to its 1959 closing. A January 1996 article in the Providence newspaper talks about how the empty house had been deteriorating for 15 years. It continues to remain closed, minus the marquee that had stayed attached for a time. It used to be used as a furniture warehouse by the owner, Henry Rose, owner of Rose Furniture Company in East Providence.

Here is a 1945 photo (expand for better resolution) of the Hollywood Theatre. The marquee announces Fred MacMurray in Where Do We Go From Here? and the co-feature One Body Too Many. The Hollywood Theatre was built across from the town hall on Taunton Avenue. By the late 1920s movies were so popular that Saturday movies had outgrown the Town Hall Council Chamber where they were being shown in this part of town. In the Riverside neighborhood, a few miles away, the Lyric Theatre was already operating.

In 1941-42 Mr. Samuel Bomes was listed as owner in the city directory, in 1955 it was Milton M. Bomes (his son?).

An odd bit of programming for the Hollywood occurred in 1951, when the opera film The Barber of Seville, with Ferruccio Tagliavini, played from Wednesday, June 20 through Saturday, June 23. It had played four years earlier, in 1947, at the Avon in Providence and later at the Empire. Either someone at the theatre liked opera or else they were attempting to reach niche audiences.

The theatre was still open in December, 1960 (ads shown in Providence Journal) and perhaps later.

My name is mike I live on Ivy st. which is on the side of the hollywood theatre and the theatre is for sale I would be able to
donate a cosiderable amount of time and effort to form a not for profit org. to buy, restore and run the theatre. I however do not have the nessesary skills to start a project such as this. I think the Hollywood is a beautifull theatre and should be saved not torn down. So, anyone interested? Please e-mail me at mopar6871@msn.com
Thankyou.

The 1949 Film Daily Yearbook lists the seating capacity as 950.

Bank Night was popular in the forties:
http://tinyurl.com/ytet3s

This article appeared in the Providence Journal after a meeting at the East Providence city hall where possible plans for the future of the theatre and surrounding area were discussed. The idea of actually restoring the Hollywood as a theatre did not seem to be the priority, sad to say.

A Christmas Day newspaper ad in 1960 listed the films High Time and Young Jesse James with the reminder: "Attention, kids, there will be a matinee Monday."

i think it would be sweet if we could get to gether and open this theatre again donate money to fix it up and open for a musem or as a theatre again east providence would be know for that theater and would draw in more torist i would be willin to donate my time and effort to help get this place back on it's feet!

My guess is that it would cost upwards of $15 million to restore and open that theatre. Too bad the city of East Providence couldn't purchase it, set up a foundation, and somehow get funds to slowly re-vitalize it. I'd love to see this happen. Look at the Stadium in Woonsocket...it happened there! The Park in Cranston is being re-constructed. Perhaps the United in Westerly. East Providence needs to have something like that as well with the Hollywood Theatre. It should not be destroyed. It is not a nuisance as some seem to think but a unique opportunity.

My husband and I grew up in East Prov and attended many Sat. afternoon matinees at the Hollywood theatre. They showed 2 films with cartoons and a serial. Each child received a comic book with the frount page cut in half . They had dish night when free dishes were given away.We had ushers and candy was sold in the isles. They changed movies twice a week before t v was popular. Mr.Joey Jarvis was general manager and was always there. A very nice man. We have wonderful memories of the Hollywood...the balcony was a popular spot. Joyce and Ray Kenney

Watching the HOllYWOOD THEATRE brought down brick by brick brought back so many wonderful memories of the theatre when i was a teenager..I along with friends looked forward to going to the Hollywood..Sitting there i took many visual journeys via the film we viewed and remember so well..my Mom being excited on Tuesday evenings when she would return home with a dish..;-)..I watched "The Wild One" so many times that i still remember some vital scenes and dialouge..Remember the newsreel prior to the showing of the main feature?...Its too bad that the bldg. couldn't have been restored with a small theatre so we all could once again enjoy at the Hollywood..Like the iconic Pink Elephant..The Hollywood will never be forgotten...as both hold memories that the younger generations will never have the pleasure of experiencing..Like an old friend the Hollywood for many of us will hold memories ..differnt for all of us and never forgotten...For some reason I do not recall ever being in the Balcony..;-)))

Louise Rendine McNamara

It's really a shame.
Mike (mopar6871)

August 1 story from ABC 6 when pieces fell off the building (with a comment from Milton Bomes' son Stanley)

August 5 story & video of the demolition from ABC 6.

WPRI 12 video with closeup view of structural problems at the corner of the building.

East Bay Newspapers article

My blog on the Hollywood Theatre after its demise.

I was wondering why you hadn't shared those photos yet...

I had, but mostly in my Flickr page on Rhode Island theatres.

1933 newspaper ad for the Hollywood Theatre. Torch Singer with Joan Crawford and a Zane Grey western To the Last Man. Note that later that week "3 BIG TIME VAUDEVILLE ACTS" would alternate with the film program. The Hollywood Theatre, built by Samuel Bomes in the 1920s, was a popular neigborhood theatre until not much after 1960. True to its name, it generally presented popular recent Hollywood films for the whole family as a second-run area theatre, though much of what it showed was first-run for East Providence. It was razed in August 2008.

As the ad proves, "Torch Singer" starred Claudette Colbert, not Joan Crawford. Many years later, Crawford starred in "Torch Song," which may explain the confusion.

Yes, of course. Thanks. Sometimes it pays to check what you write for factual errors.