AMC Braintree 10

The original Braintree was the South Shore Cinema, built in 1966. It eventually was split a couple of times to become Cinemas I,II,III,and IV. This theatre was one of General Cinema's best grossing houses in the Boston area, especially when it played Disney films. It was managed by Izzy Strier from about 1967 until 1975 when he moved up the Home Office theatre in Chestnut Hill. I followed in his footsteps, running it from 1975 until 1977, and again from 1983 until 1986. Some great engagements included Herbie the Love Bug, the World Premier of With Six You Get Eggroll, Jaws, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Freaky Friday, Grease, and many others. One of the most interesting things about running this theatre, was the opportunity to do some fantastic paste ups for the ads in the Patriot Ledger. I used to try all sorts of special things, like reverse type inside the oval, with a slim white seperation. Those who used to take special care in paste ups, might remember stuff like that. The South Shore Cinema had a fine reputation in the town of Braintree, working with the Town Clerk, on charity shows, and an annual Safety Patrol kiddie show. In addition, we were right across the road from the South Shore Drive In, and the ushers and candy girls enjoyed the benefit of going to both places to see free movies.

The new Braintree theatre tenplex was built on the hill across the highway, overlooking the old South Shore Drive In, and the original Braintree Cinema was renovated into a Circuit City. The new theatre on the hill was designed by Cambridge Seven / Bob Luchetti in the late 1980's.

The new Braintree Cinema on Grandview is now an AMC Cinema with the demise of the General Cinema chain. It's one of the last theaters to have been built by General Cinema with conventional seating before the advent of stadium style auditoriums. I attended a charity Star Wars Marathon they had for the opening. I paid extra to see the films in the THX auditorium. I think they have (or had) two of them. The smaller auditoriums are delightful, almost like private screening rooms. I saw the original plans for the building. They'd planned that half the auditoriums would have stereo equipment. By the time the building was finished, all the auditoriums had stereo. One auditorium has an HPS-4000 speaker system. It's superb and has better mid-range than the THX venues. General Cinema was quality company. I've not visited the theater since it was bought by AMC.

A quick follow-up to dwodeyla's comments. General Cinema really did have a good reputation in Braintree. I grew up there. Stated simply, they were one of the best, possibly THE best, theater chains of their era. The projection and sound were always first rate. They had all sorts of charity events and were community oriented. Both the old and new theaters had good architecture for their building type. The old theater is a retail store.

Projection was handled by George Follis and John Grebauski, for most of the years, that the South Shore Plaza Cinema was in operation. Mr Follis was the business agent for the local, and ran a 16mm film rental business in Quincy on the side. Both men worked seven days a week, rather than allow a relief man in their booth.
The floor staffs generally were long tenured, and younger brothers and sisters followed in their siblings footsteps in working the Cinema. It was the only theatre in the circuit which had a Matron on the payroll, from 1966 until she retired in the late 1980's. Her name was Miriam.

The new Braintree multiplex was, I believe, the first theater in the Boston area to feature Dolby Digital sound. Although I was living in the Metro West area at the time, I remember trekking over to Braintree to check out "The Fugitive" --- the only reason I would have traveled that distance was due to the Dolby Digital presentation.

Anyone know the reason why "With Six You Get Eggroll" had its world premiere in Braintree? It's rare for a major Hollywood film to have a world premiere in Boston (Hitchcock's "Frenzy," "The Paper Chase" and the megabomb "Raise the Titanic" are among the few that come to mind), so the world premiere of a major release in the Boston 'burbs strikes me as just about unheard of.

With Six You Get Eggroll premiered at 3 General Cinemas on the same day, Braintree, Peabody, and Framingham, with a helicopter taking Barbara Hershey, et al to each location. When they arrived in the parking lot at Framingham, there was a High School band playing to greet them. Probably the same kind of local things happened at each location. There was even a Boston Record American with an extra front page wrap announcing the event, handed out at each theatre.

I don't know why the Boston suburbs were chosen for the event.

Did that movie ever open in Boston, or did everyone have to get out to the suburbs to see it?

The current Braintree 10-plex is a similar design to the current Burlington 10-plex (which was built a few years afterwards). Both are now operated by AMC.

the Braintree 10 is identical to Burlington 10 except for screens 2 and 9, which are considerably bigger in Braintree than Burlington. Wonder if AMC has changed any of the layout and design since taking over GCC?

I saw Star Wars III at the Braintree AMC a few days ago. I was in Cinema 4, I think, the second largest auditorium size there. (The five auditoriums on the left side of the building are mirrored by the five screens on the right) The manager said SW didn't draw enough of a crowd to run in the biggest venue (5 or 6, I think). The big auditoriums used to be designated as having THX sound. Not any more. Cinema 3 looked as though it still had the HPS-4000 sound equipment, which for my money is as good as or better than THX. The lobby looked about the same. The rest rooms looked shop worn and in need of repair and cleaning. Some of the faucets didn't work, and they'd stuck the new soap dispensers on top of the old. :-(

Sounds like AMC isn't keeping an eye on facility maintenance. Or else (and more likely) the Manager isn't paying attention.

dwodeyla: I think AMC mainly just wants to get big. They just announced they were buying Loew's. So, Boston is now a one company movie theater town again, I think, if you don't count the Kendall in Cambridge, which is a a Landmark and or Samuel Goldwyn theater. I'm sure AMC figures obsessive attention to soap dispensers does little for the bottom line. I pay attention to such things. During the eighties and early nineties, I was a theater checker for the Braintree Cinemas. They figured out who I was, and I got moved down to the Hanover Cinema, a less glamourous assignment. They removed the Dolby equipment when I was there. That theater is open again under different ownership. I drove by about a month ago around nine in the evening. It was packed. Anyway, regarding the Braintree Ten--no more THX and no more Kodan screen certification either.

I was manager for a year or so at the Braintree Theater in the Square around 1954. It was a typical suburban theater showing double features, one feature once and the other twice evenings and continuous on week-ends.It was a single screen before the days of General Cinema. At the time it was under the banner of Lockwood and Gordon.George Follis from Quincy, as mentioned in one of the earlier posts filled in a substitute projectionist once in a while.I haven't been back in a long time..Think it is some kind of retail store now

Richard: The Braintree Theater was purchased by the owner of the then nearby Barile Plumbing company and converted into a commercial building in the early sixties. It may still be called the Barile Building. Barile Plumbing is gone, I believe. The building has professional offices on the second floor and a mix of retail and offices on the first floor. I recall friends of my parents saying the Braintree Theater was popular, drawing people from surrounding towns. I attended a few matinees there when I was very young, just before it closed. Kids matinees then were extremely noisy and rowdy. Such behavior would NEVER be tolerated today.

Thanks tom N ..If you think the matinee was bad you should have seen Friday nights.

Richard: <<If you think the matinee was bad you should have seen Friday nights. >> Yikes! Glad I missed those. I'm trying to remember, did the theater have a balcony? My recollection is that it did not. Do you recall the "Art" theater in Quincy Square? My memory of it is fading, though positive. I think it might have had a Deco style exterior and possibly interior. The South Shore had a number of decent, single-screen venues (some of which remain) before the 'plexes took over. tom

The only remaining South Shore single screens I can think of are Loring Hall in Hingham, and the Stoughton cinema pub, neither of which I have yet visited. The Wollaston appears to be closed indefinitely. Are there others?

In fact, in the entire Boston area, the only single screens I can recall are the two I listed above, plus the Brattle in Cambridge, the Studio in Belmont, and the Cabot Street in Beverly. (I'm not including museum, college, and IMAX venues.)

I think you've listed them all. I forgot that the Cameo in South Weymouth had been twinned, as well as the theater in Scituate Harbor. The Loring is a wonderful, local theater with a loyal following. They now have Dolby. I've never visited Stoughton. I live in hope that the Wollaston will revive, but I guess it's beyond the pale. I had the same hope for the East Milton theater. I see the Norwood theater has been twinned. I haven't been there in years. Anyway, in my note to Richard I said "HAD" some single venues, which is, alas, mostly the case.

It might be a good idea to list the 3 "Braintree theatres" seperately. This listing started as the new theatre on the hill called the Braintree Cinema, before that, the General Cinema in the South Shore Plaza, called South Shore Cinemas, and finally, downtown, the Braintree Theatre.

Your right about General Cinema being about quality but to bad the same doesn't go for AMC. They are more concerned about crushing or elimiting compition rather than quality.

dwodeyla: Yes, the listings should be made. Somewhere, in my piles of architecture stuff, I have some slides I took of the GCC Braintree theater, the one that's a Circuit City now. I know some people at the Braintree Historical Society who might have a photo of the Braintree Theater in Braintree Square. bigred: I noticed when AMC took over the Braintree GCC that the quality of the place declined.

I'd love to see scans of your slides, I managed the old theatre in the South Shore Plaza from 1975-77 and again 1983-1986. I have a few black and white photos, not much.

As mentioned by dwodeyla, The original Braintree was the South Shore Cinema, built in 1966. The architect and general contractor for the project was William Riseman and Associates, Architects, Boston, MA who designed most of the General Cinema Theaters in the east. Their designs were often duplicated and site adapted throughout the country. My father was the principal assoc architect with the firm from it's formation in the early forties. My father is 92 and lives in Wrentham, MA.

dwodeyla: when I find the slides, I'll be glad to scan them and send them. DaVia: The design of the first Braintree General Cinema your Dad did was quite handsome, a rather classic modernist theater building of the day. The lobby was about two stories high and had floor to ceiling windows on the west elevation which was the front of the building. In the late afternoon, the sun streamed into the lobby. Please give your Dad my best. Perhaps he knew John Norton at GCC headquarters. That theater was a real part of my youth, myself being one of the first mall rats at So.Shore Plaza, and I saw many films there. tn

To Tom N., John Norton was Technical Services Director, in the Home Office. Are you his son?

dwodeyla: No, not related to John Norton. We became friends when I called the Home Office in Chestnut Hill with a technical question about Dolby. He must have talked to me for twenty minutes with all sorts of information. We'd chat from time to time, and had lunch at Legal Seafood nearby. Through him, I became a theater checker. I might have been the checker during your last year at the Braintree GC at the original Plaza site. Anyway, they changed the checker program, and I was dropped. Later, I got bogged down with family matters and lost touch with John. He was very knowledgable, and I truly enjoyed learning technical aspects of cinema with him. He chose HPS-4000 speaker systems for several auditoriums in the GC chain. They have superb clarity, particularly in the mid-range. I think the current AMC Braintree Cinema still has them in one auditorium (at least they looked like the same configuration--cinema 3 on the left in the SE corner). When I asked the current AMC manager, he didn't know. The THX designations for the two, big auditoriums are gone, as well as the Kodak image quality designations. John Norton had the highest professional standards. I'm sure he was the key reason why GC had such high presentation quality. I wish him all the best in his current endeavors. tn

With Six You Get Eggroll premiered at 3 General Cinemas on the same day, Braintree, Peabody, and Framingham, with a helicopter taking Barbara Hershey, et al to each location. When they arrived in the parking lot at Framingham, there was a High School band playing to greet them. Probably the same kind of local things happened at each location. There was even a Boston Record American with an extra front page wrap announcing the event, handed out at each theatre.

Correction, the Premiere festivities were also held at the Loews Orpheum in downtown Boston. (I finally found my copy of the Herald for that day)

posted by gabby on Nov 10, 2005 at 2:09pm

Braintree's finest manager passed away this week, Izzy Strier, who managed the theatre in the South Shore Plaza from 1966 until 1975 was a legend in the town. Here are my comments regarding his career:
Izzy was a legend, admired by everyone, including every theatre manager who worked for GCC. Over the years, whenever a manager came to Boston for a meeting, and whenever managers traveled to other cities, everyone wanted to meet "Izzy". He began his career working for Ben Sack at several Boston theatres, including the Music Hall during their busiest years, with films like Goldfinger selling thousands of tickets a day. He helped open the Cheri, then was lured over to GCC by Mel Wintman and Richard Smith to help them open their newest theatre, the Northshore Peabody Cinema in 1963. In 1966, General Cinema wanted their best to open the Cinema being planned for the South Shore Plaza in Braintree. Izzy went, and became a legend. When he left Braintree in 1976, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts declared the day "Izzy Strier Day" and a grand dinner was held in his honor at the Jordan Marsh Restaurant in the South Shore Plaza. Many will remember his promotions, and relationships with Town Clerk Bob Brunell, as well as many merchants and government officials. When General Cinema wanted their best manager to open the new Home Office Theatre at Chestnut Hill in 1975, they picked Izzy. He managed that one until 1986, when they wanted him to handle one of their top ten theatres in Framingham. From being their top salesman in VIP tickets, to number one Concessions Manager, to Manager of the Year, Izzy was the manager that everyone wanted to be like. But nobody ever came close.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of kids grew up working for Izzy at those theatres, and will never forget what was usually their first job. Izzy would say "please do me a BIG favor" and everyone wanted to help him do whatever it took. And he made everyone who worked for him, proud of their theatre.

...oh, man -
You're right about Izzy - when Chestnut Hill was being prepared to open, even the managers in Cleveland were betting they would give it to Izzy -
There were also the endless mentions about his promotions in the 'Brass Ring Awards' those blue sheets that came out monthly - or quarterly - I can't remember exactly.
Did he retire when AMC took over, or before? Was his last theatre the old Framingham or the new one?

In the early and mid-90's I remember driving extra lengths to go to this theatre. They were one of the few theatres in the area to have those special strobe lights installed for the Twister and Lost World trailers. When they went off I had no idea what was happening-- boy was it effective! They also sold taco bell at the concession stand which was extra awesome back then. Sad to hear that it's gotten worse...

Does anyone from GCC remember Mgr. Wendal Clemment (1960's-1970's)?
He started as a Manager/owner?? at South Shore Plaza Twin Drive-In, on Forbes Rd.Braintree, Ma and then went to GCC in Braintree (Plaza) next to the howard Johnson's resturant on Granite St., Braintree, MA which is now the big AMC on Grandview Rd. Braintree.

I never met him, because Fred Tomeo was the Manager at the Drive In when I managed the Cinema. The name is familiar though, and I believe his daughter was an Assistant Manager at the Natick Drive In.

John Allen is here re-certifying our HPS 4000 houses right now! It's awesome to see him do his work... he really knows his stuff. Houses 2,3,and 7 should sound superb once he is done. Still no THX in 5 or 6, but it's always been the HPS 4000 for sound while I've been here. It's just incredible.

Can anyone tell me the screen size of the largest auditorium? And does the said auditorium still have a 35/70 projector? I'm curious.

Screens 5 and 6 are the two largest (screens 1-5 are mirror images of 6-10 size wise); I'm guessing the screen is something like 45 feet wide. Screen 5 used to have 70mm capability I think; no idea if it's still there. Not sure it matters though, I can't imagine them ever using it again.

No THX? according to the THX website both 5 and 6 are still THX certified; last time I was there (been a year or so now though) the THX sign was still up outside both rooms.