Cinerama Theatre

The projection here was top-notch...whether showing a revival of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN or a 70mm DAYS OF HEAVEN. Aspect ratios were respected, masking was correct, and you could trust the theatre to get things right with sound and focus. The theatre, by the way, kept its name "Cinerama Theatre" even after it no longer showed Cinerama.

As a single screen this theater had 756 seats.

The Cinerama (Hope) ran 3 strip cinerama from 8/9/61 thru 6/27/65. The Cinerama closed in 1983 and was demolished in September of 1983.

Just how many great theatres have we lost to CVS and Rite Aid?

I wish the add a photo was working, it is amazing what they did to transform this old theatre into the Cinerama from the Hope. The tall tower that sood over the entrance was boxed in with large CINERAMA wording on three sides and all the retail shops were boxed in and remodeled along with the theatre. There was a large stucco like stip that ran the entire block over the buildings when the renovations were comeplete. The building took on a complete new look.

There are pictures and an article on this Cinerama aka Hope Theater here:
http://cinerama.topcities.com/hope.htm

The original seating capacity as the single-screen Hope was 1137, according to the Providence Journal Almanac of 1940.

Here is a 1928 photo of the Hope Theatre.

This theatre by far was one of the best for sound and projection. I saw many movies here. I will never forget Kubick's "2001". The sound quality was superb and surpassed anything we have today.

I'm curious if the layout of this building changed when it was twinned. I remember going with my folks when it was doing arthouse fare in the early 80's, but I somehow remember entering from the side of the building and not the front main entrance as you see in the pictures.

Three theatres that I know of were converted into drug stores. All are in Philadelphia, PA:

1: Stanley Warner's Aldine / Viking / Rugoff's Cinema 19 / United Artists-Eric Theatres' Sam's Place Twin: CVS Pharmacy
2: Mayfair Theatre: Eckerd
3: Parkwood Twin Theatre: Rite Aid and office building

Liam, no, the entrance was from the front as it always had been. The two auditorium entrances were to the left and right of the candy concession. I believe there were side exit doors, one to the parking lot on the right, one to a side street on the left that were opened after crowded shows. One thing about this place that sticks in the mind about this place when it ws the Cinerama, is the plush-red drapes, curtains, everything. It had the decor of a bordello. I used to go here in the late 1950s and the 1960s, when it was the nabe Hope Theatre, to see double bills of movies that I might have missed elsewhere.

I believe the Turkish movie Yol was the last picture I saw here, on March 19, 1983, before the theatre closed.

When the Cinerama Theatre was twinned, two pleasant and not too tiny auditoriums resulted, since the original theatre was fairly wide, and the screens were substantially sized too. One oddity, though, was that they did not change the positioning on the seats. The result was that in the left auditorium the arc of the rows of seats curved forward toward the left, while in the right auditorium they curved forward to the right, as though the place were still one big auditorium with a wall down the center from front to rear.

The Cinerama Theatre was twinned in 1974 and after twinning re-opened on Wednesday, June 26, 1974. The features first shown as a twin theatre were Chinatown and Claudine.

The 1949 Film Daily Yearbook lists the seating capacity as 1,011.

I remember the HOPE around 1955 or 56 when it was operated by Lockwood and Gorden, Boston, Mass. and the manager was Herman Boas.

My father, John O'Sullivan, was a Regional manager for Lockwood & Gordon for many years. His territory included Rhode Island and the Hope/Cinerama, Art and Avon theatres. He oversaw the conversion of this house to Cinerama, and I remember well the thrill this 4 year-old budding cinephile experienced when she saw "This is Cinerama!"

I only wish I had found this site before my father's death. I would have loved to trace his career, which began at the beautifully respored Warner in Torrington, CT, with him.

Still have my untorn opening night tickets to "This is Cinerama"

The Cinerama is the birthplace of the audience participation movie the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Rhode Island. It ran there from 1978 -1983.

I actually performed the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Cinerama on the last night of the show in March of 1983. It may well have been the last movie played there ever. It was PACKED! The manager there was Gerry Corbett, whom went at least as far back as 1980 (when I first saw the movie there). The projectionist was named Elliot. I remember the name John O'Sullivan being what we thought of as the 'District Manager'.

Once the movie ended there, we moved on to the Avon Cinema a few months later and many theatres later the show continues on to this day in Rhode Island.

We never heard again of Gerry Corbett. Last I heard of Elliot he was involved in the Rustic Drive In in the 90's. Did anyone ever hear where Gerry went after the Cinerama?

Hi all,
(Like Jackie O's post...) My love for movies started when I was very young as my father, Larry Johnson, was the manager of the Cinerama Theatre in the early sixties. I watched many Cinerama movies from the front row. The one that has the most lasting memory for me is Grand Prix (starring the young James Garner). I still remember the opening credits with the screen splitting into multiple images, and the amazing racing scenes on the super wide projection.

I have some pictures of those days I can post (have to dig them out of the basement). Perhaps people may recognize their own father in the pictures. I had books from all the big Cinerama movies (including This is Cinerama) that were unfortunately damaged by water.

My Dad moved on to other theatres throughout Rhode Island over the years, but Cinerama was the grandest of them all. It pains me to drive by there now and see that CVS.

I'll post pics if when I find them.

Hello all!

I actually ran the Cinerama from 1977 thru 1979 before moving on to other SBC (Sonderling Broadcasting Corp) theatres (this was the successor to Lockwood & Gordon). SBC also owned TV and radio stations. Jack O'Sullivan was my mentor and district manager and Gerry Colbert succeded me as manager (sadly, Gerry has passed on).

I was hired by Larry Johnson around 1969 while in high school and worked on and off right through college. I also worked for Pat Carter and Vinnie Poirtier. SBC also owned the Avon, Castle and Art Cinemas.

When I took over, the house was a 99 cent twin where the crowd had gotten pretty rough. I asked Jack to take a chance on some off beat films. I researched and travelled to Boston on off days and attended art theatres there before making my first recommendation. It was quite the sight playing Marcello Mastrianni and Sophia Loren on one screen and a sub-run on the other. I also brought Rocky Horror to Cinerama after a run at Showcase Seekonk.

I knew every inch of that old theatre, even the false box seats built into the second story and covered by screen drape during the remodel. I McGivered my way through many a night with antique plumbing and heating, tube amplifiers and a tiny concession stand that didn't pop its own corn.

I believe that we innovated cleaning between screenings at this theatre; I'd never seen or heard of this before we began the process around 1978.

I would love to hear from anyone who remembers this old lady. She was a beautiful house with a ton of personality!

Nick

Nick, I have contacted you directly.

Box Office magazine from a Star Wars promotion I ran at this theatre. At the time, we were sub-run, with occasional art runs. Eventually, we converted to an all art format.

http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_082178/31

Nick, you probably saw me raising hell in the theater when I was a kid! LOL. Hope I wasn't too much of a brat. Anyway, my father always spoke highly of the people that worked for him then. He has since passed away (in 1985). Thanks for the Star Wars link. All the best.
Jeff

Jeff,

Nice to hear from you. I remember your Dad well; sorry to hear about your loss.

Do you know what year he started there? I worked for a while at the Avon before Cinerama and I've been trying to reconstruct the time lines.

Remember going to see Cinerama on a school trip.....I was 8 or 9. Who knew later in my life I would work there. Worked there as a fill in projectionist. Remember it well, the theater was one of the better twin jobs i've seen after working in so many theaters. The floating screens were a nice concept. And although twined we were still set up to run 70mm. Remember Nick booking Star Wars, 2001, Sound of Music. But that projection room..in one we had a xenon lamp and platter which was not motor driven...it was air driven, noisey and the other we had carbon arc with 70/35. In the winter it was cold and in the summer it was hot. At that time SBC leased the Cinerama and owned Castle. I bought the Castle from them. To bad they didn't own the Cinerama property, would of bought that instead.

Could that be Ralph responding? Long time no see!

Yes Nick, its me. Hope things going well for you. Very long time.

During my high school days I worked at the Hope Theatre for a couple of years. This period was 1954 and 55. Herman Boas was the manager, a nice guy who was always very sad. He also had ulcers and I would remember getting pint glass bottles of milk at Royal's Variety store a block away. I was a ticket taker and usher. Remember working the Saturday and Sunday matinees with kiddeie shows. After the matinees we had to clean the theatre for the evening showings. The caashier was Miss Dowling with firey red hair who would terrorize young kids. The theatre showed double features and did a lot of business on weekends. Also changed the marquee twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday nights. Sometimes I worked the parking lot as well. It was a fun place to work and the kids that worked there including myself allwent to Hope High School.

Ah, Royals Variety store. That was still there when I worked at the theatre in the late 60's and ran it in the late 70's. How about Max Silverman who ran the liquor store out front. Bought my first illegal alcohol there.

Hello again Nick, Boy, what memories. After we got through working on friday nights, (we were about 17)we would go to Max's Swan Liquors and we each got 2 quart bottle of Narragansett Beerr and got good and sloshed. What fun! Do you remember Nelson Wright? He was manager of the Hope after Herman Boas. I very nice guy who eventually fdormed hisown booking business and had his office in thePark Sq. building in Boston. Most of the film companies had their regional offices (MGM,WarnesBros et al)in that building. There was also a smallcinema in the building called the Trans Lux. It was so long ago and I am so far away from Providence now living in London. I still have contacts there and I spend two months every summer in Jamestown. Providence has sure changed but I think for the better. It looks quite nice downtown around the mall and Westin Hotel. Every thing in London which is good asmost of the theatres (not cinemas)are still around and in good condition as many of them were built in the 1800's. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

I didn't know Nelson, but knew of him. I know the Boston office you're speaking about. i worked for SBC after L&G and they had an office on Exeter, I believe. I then worked for Hoyts as well which had the old CCC office then the new one in Boston.

Was the liquor Max Swan or Max Silverman? Silverman had the liquor store while I was there and was my tenant when I ran Cinerama.

You're right, it seems like a hundred years ago!

Hello! His name was Silverman. About twenty five years ago I was visiting Providence and I didn't rent a car. Iwas staying at the Holiday Inn and was visiting someone on the east side so I took the bus (Hope St.)and got out at Thayer St. after the tunnel and Max was getting on as I got off. There was no time to talk with him. I'm sure he has left us. To me, he was old when I was 17!
The last I knew Nelson Wright's son Peter took over his father's business as Nelson died around 1975.

Good old Max. Always paid his rent; must have been from selling booze to kids! I remember a rabbi yelling from accross the street "Max Silverman, you will rot in hell'! I think it was a Jewish holiday or something. Whenever there was a big snowstorm he would buy up the bread at Royals and resell it at a 'modest' profit.

Quite the character!

Hi Nick again! Next to Max was a tailor Julius Gold. He was anoldtimer and I used to have my slacks pressed there for a number of years. I enjoyed talking with him but sometimes it waqs tough understanding me. He had imigrated from Russia and had many interesting stories of Russia in the early 1900's. I was facinated by his tales. Well, the the old times are gone now which is a bit sad. If you enjoyed old theatres, you would love the old playhouses of London which are still operating.Many of the theatres were bombed out by the Germans in the early forties. Though some were totally wrecked, many were repaired or rebuilt and still operating. The London playhouses are smaller generally than Broadway theatres but not by too much. For instance PPAC with 3400 seats is too big and the London theatres are around 900-1100 seats. The orchestra sections are called "stalls" mezzanines are called "dress circle" or "loges" though upper seats are in the "balcony". London prices are now on a par with New York. For decades London theatres were inexpensive. In the nineties theatres got more and more expensive and a good seat at HerMajesty's Theatre for "Phantom of the Opera" will set you back $100/125 buckeroos which wouldbe around 60 pounds here. So there you have it from London!!!

Abrunner,
I'm trying to remember who was in the last store. There was a woman there when I worked at Cinerama. Not sure what she sold.

As for London, I would love to visit some time. My Mom is from Weymouth and is a war bride. Her and my Dad used to go back every two years starting in the mid seventies.

Speaking of Loges, Jack used to use that term all of the time. I wish his daughter would check back in to see posts about him and to chat about the good all days.

Hello again Nick, Are you referring to the dress shop? I never went into that store and I never saw a customer in there but it must have been some business as it was there for many years.

So you are helf English and have never been to England? Shame on you!Well, if you ever come over here, you should let meknow and I could show you around theatreland. I think you wouldbe pretty impressed. The Theatre Royal (2400)seats has backstage tours there and it has a huge stage (like PPAC)and it is prettybusy there as the theatre is rarely dark.
I spoke with my brother today who lives down on the Cape and he said it was pretty warm (around 55) down there today. It was 50 inLondon today. I will spend the month of January in San Juan, Puerto Rico and will most likely stopand visit on the cape. I was there last C hristmas.
As they say here. "Tally Ho" as it is 1:30AM.Cheers!