Palace Theater

According to "Rilpey's Believe It or Not," the only place in the world where one could find a street with four movie theaters in a row was in Lawrence, MA. Known as "Theater Row" on Broadway, there were the STRAND (built in 1917), later renamed as the ASTOR, the MODERN (1921), BROADWAY (1910) and PALACE (1921). Along with several other theaters in downtown Lawrence, these venues entertained Merrimack Valley citizens for decades. With the popularity of the suburban malls in the early 60s, the inner-city theatres went into a steady decline. By the end of the 70s, all four had been demolished, with the exception of the STRAND, which was recycled into a shopping outlet. <p> At nearby Brooks School in the 1960s and 70s, where we presented a 35mm theatrical film every Saturday night, I enjoyed hearing the many stories of Lawrence's "Great White Way," from the team of Union projectionists who showed our films on two DeVry arc-lamp WWII surplus projectors. Once the photo uploading capability is up and running on this site, I have a vintage photo of the PALACE to submit. Michael B. KIng

I believe that the opening year for this theater was 1921 and the closing year was 1969. There is an old photo of the Palace Theater here:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~angell/thsa/mysth9-3.jpg

The movie on the marquee is St. Valentines Day Massacre.

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Palace on Broadway in Lawrence has an exterior photo taken in May 1941. It certainly had a long, imposing classical facade ! The movie playing is Bette Davis in "The Great Lie". The Report states that the Palace has been showing MGM product for over 10 years; that it's over 15 years old; that it's in Good condition; it had 1052 seats on the main floor and 723 seats in the balcony, total: 1775 seats. The 1940 population of Lawrence was 84,300. There are MGM Reports for 5 other movie theaters in Lawrence: Modern, Warner, Strand, Central and Broadway.

THE PALACE: In the recent issue of Reminisce Extra magazine there is an article about the once many theatres of Lawrence on "theatre row". In the Lost Memory post the b/w etching of the Palace is beautiful So sad that the ones mentioned in your post have been demolished with the exception of one, but even that one didn't remain a theatre. After reading the magazine article and the Palace posts I have come to sadly realize that Lawrence MA has lost so much theatre history.

This may have been the first movie theatre that I was ever in. It closed in the late 60's I think. It was one of 2 theatres in Lawrence when I was a child. I'm pretty sure that I saw "Mary Poppins" there. It was the classier of the 2 theaters and was where my parents would go to see movies like "Cleopatra" and "Ben Hur".
The Lawrence Showcase Cinemas opened around the time of "The Sound of Music" and then the Palace's days were numbered. The last movies I saw there were "Yellow Submarine" and "Planet of the Apes". This would have been aroung 1968. I think that it closed soon after.
I remember it as being BIG - large screen, big main floor and balcony. The only other thing I remember is that there was a sort of waiting area at the back of the main floor resembling the standing room areas of Broadway theatres.

Jack: Did Lawrence MA have two theatres with great marquees and buildings? The Palace AND the Warner? I've been comparing 2 different b/w photos from each CT link and they are certainly different facades. And the theatres listed on "theatre row" doesn't seem to mention the Warner which was located at 1 Lawrence Street according to the Warner Theatre/Lawrence CT link.

I've come to learn that there were many theatres on "theatre row" in Lawrence, but why wouldn't the Warner be listed, too?

Patsy: There were indeed 2 great theatres in Lawrence in my time. The Palace was in what was left of Theatre row. I believe that some of the other theatre buildings may have been still standing around it and may have been empty or converted to storefronts.
The Warner was about 5 or six blocks away on a street that ran perpendicular to where the Palace stood.

It must have been a wonderful sight to see so many theatres in a section of called 'theatre row' in its day. It's such a shame that at least one of those theatres couldn't have been saved and enjoyed today. I'm from a small town and we only had one theatre and today that theatre is gone so the charm that it offered the area is gone, too. I can still see, in my mind's eye, the twinkling lights of the marquee at the corner of Main and Portage in Westfield NY.

See the legendary "Four Theatres in a Row" on this Curteich postcard I recently purchased: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pulp-o-rama/829776620/in/set-72057594129975085/

Roloff: This is quite the "theatre row" postcard scene and it would be interesting to see this same city block today so perhaps Lost Memory will come through once again.

"The street is mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not as the only place in the world where one can find four movie theatres in a row." I would love to read more about these 4 "theatre row" theatres as the concept is so unique and should have been preserved for future generations. Is there not one of these 4 still in existence? If not, the citizens of Lawrence MA should be ashamed.

Why should the citizens of Lawrence be ashamed ? Lawrence is a hard-scrabble town and many of the people who live there today were not there when "Theatre Row" was in its hey-day. The theatres became uneconomic, were closed and then demolished. End of story. BTW, there was a similar Theatre Row on Washington St. in downtown Boston. The RKO Keith Memorial, Bijou, Normandie, and Paramount where all in a row; a fifth movie theatre, the Modern, was located only one store-front away from the other four. There were similar Theatre Rows on the side-streets to the west of Times Sq. in NY.

I guess you can't blame past generations, totally though it would be nice to see some of these theatre row theatres still being used and restored in Lawrence MA. I lived in Boston in the mid 60's and don't recall that Boston had a similar theatre row so perhaps it was before my time there.

Patsy- the Theatre Row in Boston mentioned above was in place from 1932 when the Paramount opened until the end of 1943 when the Bijou was closed due to fire regulations. Then the Normandie closed in Feb. 1951. As for Lawrence, touring roadshows and concerts today play at the nearby Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, which seems adequate for today's area needs. It has over 2800 seats, a balcony, and a large stage, was designed by the noted Boston theatre architect Clarence Blackall, and opened in 1922.

Thanks for the info. So none of the theatres in theatre row in Boston still exist? When I was there in the mid 60's I wasn't into historical theatres so don't recall seeing one.

Boston's Theatre Row:

Modern - vacant, empty, city-owned, awaiting redevelopment
RKO Keith Memorial - now Opera House, a live stage
Bijou - mostly demolished but front building still stands
Normandie (originally BF Keith's) - demolished
Paramount - now being redeveloped into a live stage by Emerson College

Emerson's project will also encompass the property formerly occupied by the Bijou and Normandie.

It should be pointed out that in Roloff's beautiful colored postcard which he posted on July 16 that there was a gap between the 3rd and 4th theatres in the row because there was a narrow side street there.

I've also found another postcard (virtually, not physically unfortunately), a daytime 'photo' of the row taken from the other side here: http://www.nmrls.org/enha/exhibit/lawrence/theatr_m.shtml

I was a child in Lawrence in the early sixties. At the time, the Palace and Broadway were the only theaters still in operation. The Strand and the Modern were closed and boarded up as was the rarely-mentioned Capitol across the street. I remember waiting outside of the Palace with my friends (I lived in the Hancock St. projects at the time) and we were always amazed to see the light reflections on the ceiling of the theater portico from the rain water that had collected in the Capitol's marquee. We always wondered if the whole thing would collapse some day.

The sad story of Lawrence's theater row, like the story of Lawrence, was a result of bad timing combined with economics. Lawrence had been a severely depressed town ever since the textile companies closed up shop after WWII and moved en masse to the cheaper, warmer southern US. The decline worsened during the 50's and by the 60's, desperate to attract new business, Lawrence began to demolish, willy nilly, it's older buildings to make room for "the future." I remember when the hundreds of blocks to the north of Essex st. and east of Lawrence st were all razed. There was big sign posted on Lawrence st declaring "Urban Renewal." What a cruel and ironic joke!)

This was all before American's developed a passion for preserving historic urban architecture (it started in NYC with Jackie Kennedy's fight to save Grand Central Station in the late sixties.) Sadly, we lost so much history before then, including much of Lawrence.

Jack: I saw Mary Poppins in its first run at the Warner.

What I really wish I had a photo of was the old Louis Pearl's candy and joke shop which was around the corner from the Strand (I think). We would always stop of at Louis Pearl's for candy and cheap joke stuff.

to Jim Griffith: in the MGM Theater Report for the Strand in Lawrence, which has an exterior photo taken in 1941, there is a sign reading "Louis Pearl" above the ground floor of the building next to the Strand, on its left. That building appears to be about 5 stories high. Because the photo is a "xerox of a xerox", all detail is lost and it's just a black blob. The ground floor of that building is partially obscured by a parked car and by the rear of a passing bus. The actual entrance of the Louis Pearl store cannot be seen and may be around the corner to the left, as per your memory.

Was the State movie theater across from the Palce and Broadway?

As a fourth-generation Lawrencian and filmmaker, I am moved and inspired by your comments and recollections about Theater Row. My grandmother told me many stories about spending a Saturday afternoon in these theaters, paying a quarter and watching the show over and over again all day. Certainly her love of films, and my grandfather's projector duties at Sacred Heart Church, fueled my filmmaking passion. Now they're gone, along with the theaters and I miss all of them, for sure.

It is my hope to honor them with the film I'm now in pre-production on, entitled "Millies" - the story of a troubled group of mill girls who return from 1912 to the present day to guide a bankrupt mill-owner as they discover *her* future affects *their* past. We have a tentative shoot date to film in Lawrence in Spring 2009, and certainly the recollections and comments from people like you are wonderful to have.

The film touches on the 1912 textile strike, and parallels between the ethnic clashes of yesteryear and the clashes of today, while showcasing what I think are still unbelievable aesthetics here in the immigrant city. Hopefully we capture these images for posterity in the way these postcards did back then. Meanwhile, to read more on the Millies production, visit http://www.MilliesMovie.com and please drop me a line! In any case, I am very excited to see the pictures and links you've posted here to Lawrence's film history, and I look forward to future posts.

Cheers,
Lorre Fritchy
Writer/Director
"Millies"

hi cgk,

Yes, my bad. It was the State (my memory is almost flawless... almost).

Griff

Does anyone know where I can obtain a photo for the interior of the Palace Theater that was located in Lawrence Ma and a copy of the floor plan. Thanks Louie

palermo: I can't be of help, but I'm sure someone on CT will be able to contribute these items.

palermo- you can try the Theatre Historical Society; they have a huge archive in IL. Their website is historictheatres.org; their e-mail address is there. It's fairly easy to find exterior photos, but interior photos and floor plans are much more difficult. They charge a fee for copies of their stuff.

I agree.....it's fairly easy to find exterior photos, but interior/floor plans are much more difficult...don't know why that is!?!

Ron:

Thanks for your help. I did send an e-mail to Historictheatres. I guess I'll just wait and see what they can do for me. Thanks again.

L Palermo