AMC Chestnut Hill 5

When this theatre opened in 1975, it was the first GCC with stadium seating. White walls, and a mirrored ceiling above the circular concession stand, along with a lot of red and white formica, and red velvet seats in the lobby made for a gaudy lobby. It was one of the first to be remodeled in the late eighties, with a gray and dark blue paint job, and backlit concession graphics.

Is this theater owned by AMC now? And a question i need to know that no one will tell me- does GCC even exist anymore?

The late '80s remodel was done by Cambridge Seven Associates, who believed in darker lobbies, and even darker auditoriums, a complete opposite to the original GCC red white and blue everywhere, where every speck of dirt would be obvious. Coincidentally, it was around this time that ushers began cleaning auditoriums between shows, which was unheard of in the Boston area through the '60s and '70's. (fill and spill, with emphasis on turning over larger crowds, which wasn't the case in most of the country.)
To mrpibbles, yes, AMC runs it now. GCC went bankrupt. (so much for the volume business.....)

We started having the ushers cleaning the auditoriums in cleveland around 1978, when they put out that ridiculous 'Timmy the Trashcan' trailer.

You prompted some memories with that one! I had almost forgotten Timmy. Chestnut Hill had 3 screens, stadium style, which made pickups between shows a little harder. We couldn't sweep the stuff forward under the seats. We were allowed more time between shows at Chestnut Hill, sometimes 4 shows a day instead of 5, in order to maximize concession time, and this gave us more time to clean, although the lobby would sometimes back up when it was busy. It also took longer to exit the crowds, as they took longer to come down the stairs.

This is fascinating to me as a current theater manager under the age of 30. I love hearing stuff like this! If theaters weren't cleaned between shows - did the theaters pile up with garbage towards the end of the night? Or were people less messy then? (Certainly theaters didn't sell all the crap they do now - tacos, pizza, nachos, etc... but popcorn is still messy). I guess people were used to it. They are certainly not today!

In the 1960's and into the 70's, the variety of concession items was limited to Popcorn, drinks, and candy. (sometimes a dixie cup or ice cream sandwich was sold) Sizes were smaller, too. A small buttered popcorn was 24 oz, large 46. Drinks were 12 oz and 20 oz. Volume of business for concession was less, as I remember Cinemas used to buy butter at the local supermarket to melt in the buttermat. I'm sure ushers in the auditoriums were sent to aisles to sweep up spills in the 1960's but the need for entire crews to pickup wasn't there.
Once they introduced buckets of 83 oz and 123 oz, and 32 oz drinks, as well as larger candy sizes, the litter became a problem. If you go back to the earlier years, in the 1930's and 40's, I think concession stands were nearly nonexistent, and I've been told food was banned from auditoriums.

I remember seeing a memo from Stan Werthman with a date of 1967 or 68, that stated, in part, "...We have seen a dramatic increase in soft drink sales in theatres where the patrons are allowed to take their drink into the auditorium. Effective immediately, ALL theatres are to allow the patrons to take their drink to their seat..." - up until that time, if you bought a soda at the concession stand or from the vending machine, you had to stand in the lobby and drink it.

Drinks from vending were 12 oz, the concession stand had 14 and 20 oz. Popcorn had plain boxes, small was 10 oz, large 25 oz. (correct me if my memory is off a little). Buttered came in 24 oz and 46 oz. cups.
People still left their stuff under the seats after a show, but there wasn't as much sold back then.
I think I remember that memo, but in by '66, the Cinema in Shoppers World Framingham was already allowing all food into the auditorium.
When I was a kid going to the show there, I remember only buying popcorn and candy, but not drinks.
I think the drink vending machine was owned by ABC Vending, as we had ABC cups with the little character on it.

Mr. Wodeyla / Dave-Bronx -

I find this all to be amazingly interesting - you both worked some great theaters and through quite a bit of industry changes. As a young theater manager today, I'd love to know more, and also, any advice you can give to improve the whole movie-going experience. I have worked my way up from an usher like many in management, and I really love movies and movie theaters (good ones anyways).

I have heard from many people who have been in the business for a while how good GCC used to be, and my own experiences there before the AMC takeover were always very good.

Thanks for sharing all these memories.

Ian, it was and probably still is a fun business for a lot of people. Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I left because I found I could no longer support the overall direction of the film industry (ever-increasing violence, sex, drug use, etc). I still miss it, as evidenced by my finding this site.

I remember when GCC sent out a memo to all theatres (around 1979) with a dollar bill attached, celebrating the chain's average "per person" concession average reaching that lofty plateau. What is it in theatres now, about $4?

Theatre cleaning varied from market to market and theatre to theatre, as it does now. Some managers didn't clean at all, and others picked up trash, swept and even spot mopped. In some you would lose your shoes walking down an aisle because the floors were so sticky, and in others I'd have eaten off the floor because they were so clean.

Overall operations improved when GCC's new (about 1987) President, Paul Del Rossi began the "Reel Excellence" program. It detailed 108 operating standards, including cleanliness, maintenance, customer service, picture and sound quality, popcorn and drink quality, etc. Theatres were evaluated by secret shoppers, area managers, and home office personnel, and theatre teams could reach Bronze, Silver, or Gold award levels.

You want advice? Keep the auditorium temperatures comfortable, the popcorn fresh, the auditoriums clean, the spitwads off the screen, the babies crying in the LOBBY, the concession lines moving FAST, the major showtimes separated to spread out guest arrival, etc, etc. You know it all already, I'm sure. Hire good people, spend as much time training them on what you expect as you can, show them you appreciate their efforts, and have a good time!

To answer a much earlier question: General Cinema filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2000, less than four months after opening its new Boston flagship Fenway 13.

AMC signed a letter of intent to buy General Cinema in December 2001, and completed the purchase in March 2002. At that point, the General Cinema name disappeared from theatres around the country.

Local newspapers don't agree on what town this theatre is located in. The Boston Globe movie directory lists it under Newton, but the Boston Phoenix says it's in Brookline. Perhaps both are right, and the town line passes through the property?

("Chestnut Hill" is not a town, just a zip code and neighborhood name that takes in adjoining parts of Brookline, Newton, and the Brighton neighborhood in Boston.)

dwodeyla -
What is in the office space next to the theatre where the Home Office used to be?

There a Container Store in there now.

This theater has been sold. AMC has sold it to Boston Culinary Group (formerly Boston Concessions Group and also Theater Merchandising).

Does this mean it will no longer be a theater?

Sounds more like an insider knows how lucrative the investment would be. Joe ODonnell was a close personal friend of Paul DelRossi, former President of General Cinema Theatres.

They are going to continue to operate it as a theater; they operate many theaters in New England.

It is still listed as an AMC theatre in today's Globe and on AMC's web site. Do you know when the transaction is supposed to close?

The Globe movie guide doesn't show any local theatres belonging to a 'Boston Culinary Group' or 'Boston Concessions Group' or 'Theater Merchandising' chain. Do they operate under a different public brand name?

Interesting news. I suspect that a 5-screen house (even a successful one doesn't fit into AMC's business model of 16-30-plexes. I wonder what was actually "sold"; the building is owned by SR Weiner & Associates, I believe.

I, too, would be interested in any dates and additional details.

BCG apparently owns a number of theatres in various markets. The Tri-Boro Cinema in Attleboro, MA. is one of their houses.

They do not have a chain name; some of their theaters are Entertainment Cinemas, some are Northeast Cinemas, some are seemingly independent.

I don't know when the change-over will be; I just heard from someone at BCG that they were buying Chestnut Hill (the business, I assume, not the building).

To compete against AMC, Showcase, Loews, and Landmark in this market, an independent theatre needs either strong local community ties or a strong brand identity -- preferably both. I'm curious how a newly independent Chestnut Hill Cinema will approach this problem.

From a business perspective, they have enough theaters to have some booking strength in the northeast. From the branding perspective, I think they might someday come up with a chain name, but they have aquired so many theaters so quickly that they are still not ready to do so.

Entertainment Cinemas is a brand name long gone from the Boston area; they used to be in Cambridge (Fresh Pond), Quincy, and Stoughton.

The Northeast Cinemas brand disappeared from Boston Globe ads a few months ago. It used to adorn the ads for Sharon and Bridgewater cinemas, and maybe others I don't remember. It seemed to be a temporary name for whatever Hoyts used to own that they didn't sell to Regal.

They could become the "new" General Cinema Corporation. I don't think identification such as "brand identity" matters, and that theatre could play art like the Waltham Embassy and be extremely competetive in the market. Don't be surprised if that's the strategy. When Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas were beginning, Paul Delrossi developed a bit of a relationship and many thought Chestnut Hill was the perfect location for that product.

Actually, they would probably hurt the Embassy, as there's only about 5 miles between them. I wonder who will book the film?

Northeast was indeed it's own entity, as is Entertainment Cinemas.

BCG is all about financing theaters and sometimes they take them over if they are not paying back their loans. What usually happens is that BCG will lend a chain or a particular location money to get started or expand, build, etc, and as part of the deal they might be the concessions supplier or operator. When the location cannot pay it's bills or has trouble operating, BCG steps in and operates the theater.

This is a fairly common way to finance theaters; there are other concessions companies that do the same thing.

The Chestnut Hill Cinema would be a perfect arthouse - when I went there it seemed to be an upscale neighborhood with the Chestnut Hill Mall nearby. Unless AMC ran it into the ground (I hope not), it was an upscale theatre compared to other General Cinemas.

Somebody ought to resurrect the General Cinema Corporation name and the old original logo. It's kind of historic, in modern history, anyway. It's almost like when Loews became Sony Theatres for a few years, what were they thinking?

I believe that AMC owns the rights to the GCC logos and trademarks, which means that there is almost no chance that anyone else will be able to use them in the forseeable future.

I don't know Paul Del Rossi became pres. but it was before 1986 when I started with General Cinema and I think he stasrted in 1985.

AMC will build a 100 plex if it keeps anyone from building around any of their theaters and the prices tend to be much higher than General Cinema. Any small theater less than 10 screens is at risk of closing by AMC.

This page has a large August 1975 photo of the Chestnut Hill Cinema's lobby.

The date of the lobby photo (August 1975) surprises me. I thought the Chestnut Hill complex opened in December of that year. If memory serves, the initial attractions were "The Man Who Would Be King" and an exclusive run of "Lucky Lady" --- both Christmas releases.

Yup, that's the Chestnut Hill's lobby - as I recall from when I was there, the carpet was solid red, not the red-patterned carpet that they had in all the other theatres, the back wall of the lobby was white brick, the front and sides were dark tinted glass. The wall design behind the concession stand was black, red and silver, I think. I don't recall what color the ottomans were. The stand was at the mid-point of the lobby, and the auditorium entrances (2) were at the far ends of the lobby and the two boxoffice counters were also at the far ends of the bobby near the windows. The restrooms were inside the auditorium doors on each theatre, built under the stadium.

The formica wall behind the stand was red white and blue. I started managing that theatre in 1986, at the point where the concession area was being demolished for the new design by Cambridge 7. The original ottomans were red velour. The new design was a medium grey for the brick lobby areas, concession running straight across with lit back bar graphics, and the dark blue carpet replacing red. (The original solid red was long gone by '86) Replacing the ottomans, were light oak benches, and the original white metal seats were replaced with gray plastic backs with blue fabric. (the auditorium floors were painted grey to match. They had been red)
As for the date in the photo on the web page, it may be an error. The two films mentioned by ErikH are the correct opening week films.

I actually am going to have to disagree with Bigred here about AMC. In Northern NJ they actually lowered prices! At GC Clifton Commons they held the same adult price as GC did (for a year and a half after they merged) and lowered prices by 8.50 (from 9.00) at GC Essex Green. They also started to offer student rate. Their prices are cheaper than Regal, Loews, and National Amusements.

Some photos of the Chestnut Hill Cinema, mostly inside the projection booths.

Interesting photos. The caption under the first photo is incorrect, though. The Chestnut Hill cinema opened in 1975, not 1979.

Some of that equipment looks as though it was dragged out of the warehouse (GCC had an old bowling alley where they stored old booth, concession, lobby and office equipment from theatres that had been closed down) - old Century pedastal and heads, with Xetron lamphouse and stand-alone rectifier pre-dates the theatre.

I'm told that the Century JJ in cinema 1 came from the "old" Framingham cinema and was removed from there when it closed (before the current Framingham 16 was built). It's one of the first JJs made, which would date it to the early 1960s. It replaced a Norelco AA-II at some point in the 1990s (I don't know why).

In the parking lot on the lobby-side of the theatre, what is that little wooden shack sitting there in front of the lobby?

It has a pumping system which is removing underground oil which was found to have been leaking from the Harcourt Office heating oil tank. Evidently, there's a danger that the oil, which leaked into the ground, would find it's way to the Hammond Pond at the end the parking lot. So corporate was required to pay for the cleanup. This all began around 1998.

Ah, what a trip down memory lane. I was assistant manager at Chestnut Hill for around six months in the mid-eightys before moving onto Framingham and eventually becoming manager of Peabody and Burlington Mall. It seems like an entirely different pace these days when I go to the Lowes Theatre on the Boston Common or the AMC Fenway 13. When Mr. Wodeyla and I were managers we were expected to have the 1:00, 3:15, 5:20, 7:30 and 9:30 (maybe 9:45) schedule which left you about 5 minutes to clean the theatre and then get the crowd in to find seats. Now it seems like there is a bit more time to prep the house the way it should be.

They give them more time now, so that they can get upstairs to the booth to lace up the next show. Back in "the good old days", we had projectionists.

Amen!

I would like to point out what has not yet been mentioned. The long-time Manager, who I have never met, was one of the most effective Managers in the company. The plush nature of Chestnut Hill was not simply rooted in its location, or the presence of the Home Office. Much of it had to do with this Manager's various creative and effective ways of generating increasing income. One of the most famous of these was that he held numerous national VIP accounts. For those who might not remember, these were the discounted tickets sold in bulk as a benefit to employees of various corporations and universities. It was the Managers themselves that would convince Personnel Directors to buy them.

There's no way this photo is from the 1970s- the Diet Pepsi logo on the fountain drink machines is definitely from the 1980s.

It's from 1985, just prior to the new design by Cambridge 7.

dwodeyla,

Are you still affiliated with this site? Curious as we have met several times in the mid 90's. I was with Hoyts Cinemas at the time until shortly before their bankruptcy, when I went to National Amusements.

I'm still reading about the theatres, but not affiliated with the Chestnut Hill Cinema anymore. I managed it from 1986 until 1999. Refresh my memory, where did we meet?

The most prominent time was at your cinema for an interview, when I was trying to leave Hoyts and you had an open manager position (probably 96). We also met once or twice at TONE meetings.

dwodeyla: When they the auditoriums they never re-arced the seats, do you know why, aside from the fact that Joe Saunders was a tightwad? Did they think nobody would notice? Everyone from Boston to Los Angeles noticed.

The AMC Chestnut Hill Cinema doesn't really stand a chance of becoming an arthouse, although it would be nice.

Re: angling the seats with the split, the stadium style, with each row of seats backed up to the riser of the step behind, might have been the problem. We can agree on Joe Saunders though.

Renewing link.