Gary Theatre

My strongest memory of the Gary is when I came up from Providence in 1961 to see Federico Fellini's "scandalous" LA DOLCE VITA, which was premiering there at that time.

This theatre was torn down in order to build the State Transportation Building in the early 1980s.

If anyone has the know-how for scanning I have an old black and white instamatic photograph of the Gary in Boston. I must have been about thirteen or fourteen years ago travelling with my parents somewhere. We must have been strolling within the area when I stopped and took a photograph of the Gary with its marquee for "The Sound Of Music." If anyone's interested in scanning it for this site I'll be more than glad to send to you.

Michael, I'd be glad to scan it and email the scan to you and slow-mail the photo back. E-mail me using the member list e-mail feature.

I'd love to receive a scan as an email attachment, but don't see a memberlist email feature here. I can be reached at dwodeyla@comcast.net

Sorry, Gerald. I can't find the e-mail feature you mentioned. Could you tell me where to exactly find it?

Michael, I can be reached at ItalianGerry@cox.net

I'd just look over my original comment. For clarification, I was probably 14 or 15 years old. The date on the photo is July 1966.
It's also B&W but I hope that only enhances the interest of the snapshot. Incidently, I was born in 1951 - you do the arithmetic.

If the Gary was showing SOM in July of '66 it would have been one of Boston's most important road show houses and presenting it in Todd AO. Was this indeed the case?
I would have loved seeing the film on its original release in Todd AO on hard ticket but had to wait until '67 when it finally made it to the suburbs on general release.
The idea of spending that kind of money on a movie would have been ludicrous to my parents. 75 cents for a child was more than enough.
What would $4.50( a mezzanine seat at NY's Rivoli for the film) be today?

According to the photograph(Don't worry, Gerald - it's coming!) the marquee mentions the name of the film and that it was the 1965 Oscar film of the year. There was nothing saying that it was presented in TODD-AO. By 1966 sometimes theatres didn't always display the film process on marquees possibly because the novelty of widescreen was gone. The theatre was located between a pub and a resturant. From the outside it seemed small so whether it was 35 mm or Todd-A0 7omm film I have no idea. I'm from Baltimore and was a visitor.

As an addendum, I have personal memories of movie-watching in Boston.
In 1958 we visited Boston for a few days during a postal union convention my father attended. Rigid in his views he felt that going to a movie was something we could do back home in Baltimore. So, we rarely saw a movie outside of Baltimore's screens. However, we attended a night performance of "Windjammer", which was the first(and last film) presented in Cinemiracle which was developed as a smoother rival to the orginal Cinerama. Part of the reason we saw "Windjammer" is that the film never came to Baltmore. Unfortunately, I have little memories of its presentation. However, my brother possessed the orginal hardbound souveneir book. Unfortunately, that book is now lost. I wonder how much that book is now.

In conclusion, I did see "Sound of Music". Having nothing to do on a Thanksgiving day I took the bus downtown to the New in downtown Baltimore in its original roadshow presentation. Anyone having see "SOM" in its TODD-AO presentation can only remember the sudden participatory feeling of flying through the Swiss mountains, almost landing on Julie Andrews opening the film with its theme song "Sound of Music."

So much for my personal life.

I saw Sound Of Music, as well as Mary Poppins, at The Gary as a kid in the mid-60's. We sat in the cheaper balconey seats; I believe all seats were reserved. I recall The Gary being one of the big Sack road show houses. Still have a vague recollection of the vertical sign outside. I believe it closed before falling into horror/blaxploitation fare like the nearby Saxon and Astor theatres, and was vacant for awhile before being torn down to make way for the Transporation building. The Hillbilly Ranch and Herbie's RamRod Room were on the same block (actually Herbies was in the alley to its left)

This theater is listed as being closed/demolished in 1978. You can see some photos of it here:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=23419

The Sound of Music was indeed in 70MM Todd-AO at the Gary. I have a copy of "Playbill for Boston, The Gary, July 1965." It, of course, features TSOM and lots of ads. This was in addition to the $1 souvenier book for the film! Very cool. "Mary Poppins" played here as well! My sisters were forever commenting on how vast the space was. My father was an army officer then stationed at Ft. Devens and movie going at the Gary was uncommon and quite the event. It was expensive!

I tried to buy a souveneir program when SOM played at the New theatre in Baltimore. The concessions woman said they had none to give - perhaps the books sold out from the high demand. From the descriptions of the Gary theatre sounds like in its heyday it was a first class theatre. Now, here's another riddle - according to the .in70mm website TSOM orginally opened at another theatre with TODD-AO(The Saxon?). The GAry theatre run may have been a move-over.

Michael:

If I recall - the Gary housed "The Sound of Music" from the start. However, I was very young (five!) at the time. I do know the Saxon housed "My Fair Lady" and was still playing when "Music" opened.

If I recall correctly, the Plymouth was renamed the Gary in honor of someone in Ben Sack's family, a son, I believe.

I also have heard that there was a tunnel connecting the Gary to the Saxon. Someone once told me that one of the staff used to use this tunnel for shooting practice!

Not only that, but I heard that the Majestic was renamed to the Saxon ("Sack's son") for the same reason.

The Gary seemed to be Sack's theater of choice for quite a few of the big budget family entertainments of the 60s and early 70s. I remember family trips from the 'burbs into the city for a meal at the Athens Olympia (a wonderful Greek restaurant a few doors to the east of the Gary on Stuart Street) and then to the Gary to see films such as "Mary Poppins," "The Sound of Music," "Doctor Doolittle" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." Perhaps "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" as well (although that might have been the Cheri). More adult oriented musicals played there exclusively, such as "Cabaret" and "Star!"

Do any of you remember the Music Hall theatre in Boston? I remember that is where I saw another hard-ticket attration: "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines."

The Music Hall, originally the Metropolitan, is now the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. It is primarily a live stage, but they occasionally show classic films.

I have a booklet called "Boston Theatre District: A Walking Tour", published by the Boston Preservation Alliance in 1993. It says:

The ill-fated Plymouth Theatre, at 131 Stuart Street, opened in 1911. Designed by C.H. Blackall, it hosted many major openings including "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and the American premier of "Playboy of the Western World." It became the Gary Cinema in 1958 and was demolished for the State Transportation Building in 1978.

The booklet also mentioned an abandoned system of pedestrian tunnels linking the Plymouth, the Majestic, the Colonial, and the Little Building to the Boylston subway station.

The last film shown at the Gary was "King Kong"...NOT the original, but that hideous remake!

I don't believe that the "King Kong" remake was the final film shown at the Gary, unless it was a reissue (and I would be surprised if Paramount would have reissued that bomb). I made the mistake of seeing "King Kong" in Boston in December 1976---the film was shown in the large auditorium of the Savoy, now the Opera House. Also, there are some photos of the Gary in the Cinematour.com website---see URL in one of the above posts---that show "Crossing Swords" on the marquee. "Crossing Swords" was a 1978 release; this may have been the final film shown at the Gary. On a semi-related note, "Crossing Swords" was one of, if not the final, film shown at Radio City Music Hall before Radio City was converted to concert use.

Sorry Eric, I stand corrected.

An odd story I have never been able to confirm is that during the run of Earthquake the Sensurround caused plaster to fall giving added realism to the disaster movie.
I can confirm the tunnel between the Gary & Saxon theatres. I worked at the Saxon and it was still there even after the Gary was torn down. It was supposed to go to a now closed subway stop.

There aren't any now-closed subway stops around there. The tunnel system once connected to Boylston station on the Green Line, by way of the Little Building.
(See my previous post.)

From the Boston Globe's "Ask the Globe" column, December 25, 1984:

Q. There used to be a small theater, similar to the Wilbur, on Stuart street in Boston. What was its name? - B.H., Lexington.

A. That was the storied Plymouth, which opened Sept. 23, 1911, with the Abbey Theater Company of Dublin performing John Millington Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World." Designed by Clarence H. Blackall, a noted theater architect of the time, the Plymouth was built for Liebler & Co, and was considered one of the most modern playhouses in the country. The Shubert Organization of New York bought the Plymouth in 1927 and used it largely for tryouts of plays headed for New York or going on tour, and for some long run performances. The Shuberts sold the theater to the Sack movie chain in 1957, and it was renamed the Gary. That fell to the wrecking ball in 1978.

Emerson College's new Tufte Performance Production Center appears to occupy at least a small amount of the space where the Gary (Plymouth) Theatre once stood.

The Tufte Center includes two small stage theatres, the Semel and the Greene.

From the Bostonian Society Library, here's a 1958 photo of the Gary Theatre, along with the accompanying description.

The marquee reads "AND GOD CREATED WOMAN / THE DEVIL IS IN / BRIGITTE BARDOT". The "1-2-3" sign next door refers not to multiple screens, but rather to the address of a neighboring barroom.

Remember seeing "Suddenly Last Summer" starring the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor during July 1960 at the Gary. I remember being impressed by its modern decor in an obviously old building.

I can attest to the plaster falling durin Earthquake!!! I was there with a so called girlfriend and also lived in the apartments next door during 75 We had cards that let us in any of the sack theaters as they were known then for 50 cents for certain shows!!!Man I would love to relive those days!!! Marty bearsyes@hotmail.com

In the second part of this 1969 Harvard Crimson article, Tim Hunter provided an interesting description of the Gary and the film Inga, which he reviewed. Student Hunter later became a Hollywood director, with films like Tex, Sylvester, River's Edge, The Maker and many TV productions.

This theatre was such a showplace! I remember seeing "Sound Of Music" , STAR!, and "Goodbye Mr. Chips" as roadshows here in the 60's! The sound and projection was great!

Did the roadshow engagement of "HAWAII", play at the Gary?

During the 1940s and to mid-1950s, the Plymouth was a very busy Shubert legit house , booked up almost every week from Sept to May of each year. Hard to believe today. It had 2 balconies and close to 1500 seats. The entrance faced the side of the Shubert. The auditorium and stage were directly behind the Majestic. The rear orchestra foyer was directly behind the rear stage wall of the Majestic/ Saxon. It presented mostly straight plays, no musicals. In February 1953, I saw a young Paul Newman in the pre-Bway tryout of the play "Picnic" by William Inge. Sat in the first balcony. Full house. After Sack took it over and renamed it Gary, a new marquee was mounted. I think that Sack closed off the 2nd balcony, but am not sure of that. At first, and for a long while, it was used mostly for "roadshow" film engagements. Demolition in 1978 sounds about right to me. The new State Transportation Building occupies the Gary's entrance and lobby, but the auditorium and stage area were covered with gravel and not built upon until Emerson College constructed its new Tufte Building on the site circa 2002. In fact, for a while Emerson placed a one-story pre-fab building containing dressing rooms right up against the Majestic's rear stage wall. This pre-fab building occupied the site of the Gary's inner foyer. My memory is that "Gary" was Ben Sack's son, nephew or grandson.

I think Sack did not close off the 2nd balcony--right away, anyway. I remember seeing Mary Poppins when it opened (in 1964?) and every seat was sold, including both balconies. I remember standing in a very long line for tickets--the line wrapping around the block from Stuart onto Tremont St.

Did "Finians Rainbow" play the Gary?

A photo from 1962 or 1963, described here. The marquee advertises THE LEOPARD starring Burt Lancaster.

Since Visconti's The Leopard did not open in New York until August of 1963, this photo is probably a bit after that in 1963. It opened in Providence in October of 1963.

Here is a photo of the Gary when it was showing The Sound of Music in July 1966. It was sent a while back by Michael21046 and I scanned it, lost the scan, and have since found it.

Yes thats great The other side of the marquee had the painting of the album cover! That was a great theatre to see films in! Such a large screen and great sound! Cannot find that today even here in NYC!

"Now, here's another riddle - according to the .in70mm website [The Sound of Music] orginally opened at another theatre with TODD-AO (The Saxon?). The Gary theatre run may have been a move-over."
posted by MIchael21046 on Nov 18, 2004 at 10:49am
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Where, may I ask, on the in70mm.com site is there a reference to "The Sound of Music" playing the Saxon in its Boston roadshow engagement?

Anyway, I can confirm that the Gary Theatre indeed hosted the original Boston roadshow run of "The Sound of Music," where it ran for a very successful 83 weeks. The film then played at the Paris. (The Fitchburg, Massachusetts roadshow run, by the way, was at a Saxon Theatre.)

For more on the subject, I encourage you to check out:
http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/sound_of_music_40th_tribute.htm

I just reviewed some of my notes on the subject and came across a reference to a benefit screening of "The Sound of Music" held at the Music Hall in Boston about a week prior to the Gary engagement. Is this what was referred to on in70mm.com? Either way, that was just a single screening; the actual reserved-seat engagement was at the Gary.

When I w

Near the top right of this 1928 map you can see the Plymouth Theatre, as well as its neighbor,
the Majestic.

The Majestic is on the west side of Tremont Street, just north of Eliot Street. The Plymouth is just to the left (west) of the Majestic.

I can also confirm that "Sound of Music" played at the Gary in 70mm. I was 13 at the time when our family saw it with reserved seats during the summer of 1965. We were impressed with the big screen and the sound quality, which I remember having a deep bass, much better than your average suburban theater of that era. We also saw "Mary Poppins" there a year earlier, and we had to wait outside for about two hours. I guess it was not reserved-seat, and perhaps Hollywood did not know how popular that movie would be. Does anyone know if "Mary Poppins" had a roadshow release across the country? In 1967 or so we had reserved seats at the Gary for the 70mm release of "Gone With the Wind." We sat in the balcony for that one and loved it, although now everyone agrees that the 70mm blow-up of the original 35mm print was a big mistake (since it cropped part of the frame). I also remember that the Gary had a nice lounge area and a big men's room, despite a small opening onto the street.

Thanks to all for the great comments and especially those who provided the priceless pictures. What memories. Just checked the Boston Globe on micro and "The Sound of Music" did indeed open its Boston run at the Gary on 3/17/65. "My Fair Lady" was into its run around the corner at the Saxon on Tremont Street. I saw "TSOM" sometime during its roadshow engagement at the Gary and remember sitting in the balcony, but couldn't say which one. I do remember it was so high up and raked that it felt like being on the side of a mountain. I also saw roadshow engagements of "Hawaii" and "The Sand Pebbles" at the Gary and the last movie I saw there before it was sadly demolished was "Cabaret"

The Gary (named after Ben Sack's son) had a full painted billboard for "The Sound Of Music" covering the entire right side of its marquee. Similar billboards were made for the Gary's roadshow runs of "West Side Story" and "Lawrence Of Arabia". Both films were presented at the Gary in 70mm. "Mary Poppins" was not a roadshow release. It ran at the Gary in 35mm 4-track magnetic stereophonic sound. When it ran "Cabaret", the roadshow era was over and the Gary and Saxon were downgraded. Both theaters had been equipped with Norelco DP70 Todd AO projectors which were removed and reinstalled at the newly built Sack Cinema 57. Old Simplex 35mm projectors and mono sound were put into the Gary and Saxon booths.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjf7r/2151633983/

Great [hoto! Such memories! I think that theatre had the best presentation of films ever!

In a long article in the old Boston Post, noted Boston theater critic Elliot Norton stated that the seating capacity for the Plymouth Theatre was 1,464. The article has no date but apparently appeared in late-1951 or in 1952. Heading: "Records Prove Hub Best Show City After New York".

Opened Sept. 23, 1911 seating listed at 1,500 at opening.