Circle Cinemas

The Circle Cinemas is located at 399 Chestnut Hill Avenue, Brookline MA 02146

The Circle Cinemas continues to book most, if not all, major Paramount releases (nice little bit of corporate synergy, that), focusing largely also on Universal and Warner Bros. product (the AMC Chestnut Hill being mostly a venue for Fox and Disney flicks), and is one of the most popular moviehouses in the Boston area.

The Circle is sometimes listed as Brookline and sometimes as Brighton (a section of Boston). I believe the town line runs through the property.

Today's Boston Herald carries a report that developers are interested in buying the Circle Cinemas property and demolishing it to build condominiums.

That would leave a big void in the Brookline-Newton market, with only the four-screen Chestnut Hill Cinemas remaining to show mainstream films. (The Coolidge Corner and West Newton concentrate mainly on art films.) It would also remove one of the few movie theaters easily accessible by public transportation. I hope it doesn't happen.

Chestnut Hill and the Fenway AMC are right on the same green line as the Circle. I think the Fenway hurt the Circle's business.

Chestnut Hill is a fairly long walk from the Green Line, and the AMC Fenway is a long way from Newton. It seems like even chain multiplexes are now starting to disappear from local neighborhoods.

While the loss of the Circle would leave the Brookline/Newton area badly underscreened, the Circle lost much of its luster nearly 30 years ago when it became a twin and then a multiplex. The only advantage offered by the Circle is its proxmity to public transportation---and taking the T to the Circle is almost essential at peak show times, as there are far too few parking spaces for a 7 screen complex (a source of complaints for years).

After the AMC Fenway opened in June of 2000, the Circle Cinemas were still doing strong business, especially with the Boston College crowd and the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods to draw upon. My sense - and it's nothing more than that; I have no inside connections to draw upon - is that National Amusements will either hold onto the Circle Cinemas or, should they decide to sell the property, will build a new venue somewhere in the general vicinity.

Ron, the Green Line Chestnut Hill stop is about a 5 minute walk from Chestnut Hill Cinema. (past the Post Office, and to the right through the parking lot past Star Market. Lots of people use public transportation in the Newton Brookline area, and many who used to travel the green line from Fenway to Cleveland Circle and one stop up, Chestnut Hill, now can walk to the AMC Fenway Theatre. Of course the suburban Newton folks will continue to patronize Chestnut Hill, but the competition added by the Fenway Theatre, offered one more alternative for those who hated the lack of parking at Cleveland Circle, as well as the 4 tiny screens in the back. Those are the worst auditoriums anyone can imagine for watching a film.

If they're worse than Copley Place, that's pretty bad! I've probably never been in any of them. The last film I saw here was The Prince of Egypt, and that was in a big auditorium.

For a city full of culture and college kids, Boston had some lame places to see movies. The only movie I ever saw here was Groundhog Day. This was certainly a better place to see a movie than the Loew's theaters in the area.

The Circle apparently predates the National Amusements (Showcase) chain. I saw it advertised on a Boston Globe movie page from January 1960.

The Circle probably did predate the Showcase chain but I believe it was always a Sumner Redstone property. As an aside, Redstone's legal residence for decades was in Newton, within several miles of the Circle.

Does anyone know when the Circle opened? I assume no earlier than the mid-1950s.

I thought the Circle opened in 1965. What film was listed as playing the theatre in 1960?

Sorry, I didn't take notes on that. Maybe later this month, I'll try to make copies of the Globe movie ad page for January of each year, so I can see when various theatres opened and closed.

The Circle's ad was a small listing, just like those of many other local neighborhood theatres at the time. It was listed under the heading "Cleveland Circle" (not "Brighton" or "Brookline").

This is someone's memory of going to elementary and junior high school in Newton in the 1950s. She mentions "Saturdays at the Circle Theatre watching previews of coming attractions, The World in Review, 3 cartoons and 2 feature films".

Is it possible that the current theatre replaced an earlier one with the same name?

From the Brookline TAB newspaper, February 17, 2005:

Mice run circles around cinema

Call it the House of Mouse, or more appropriately, mice, because it's a nickname that fits, according to patrons of the Cleveland Circle Cinema.

Attracted by more than just cheesy movies, the pocket-sized rodents have overrun the theater on at least two occasions in a three-month span.

The theater was "infested with mice ... they were everywhere," according to a complaint fielded by the Brookline Health Department last summer.

A trio of customers brought the issue to the attention of cinema employees in August and "were told the company knew about the problem, but there was nothing they could do about it," according to Health Department reports.

Three months later, a similar complaint was filed charging that "mice [were] running throughout the theater." Most customers who had gathered for a screening left, but those who stayed "had to put their feet up on the back[s] of chairs," according to the complaint.

Pat Maloney, Brookline's chief of environmental health, said movie theaters face some special set of circumstances when it comes to keeping mice at bay.

"Cinemas in general have a more challenging environment because ... it's common that persons will discard food items on the floor in a movie theater," said Maloney. Food on any floor, especially if it isn't cleaned promptly and completely, will attract mice.

"That creates a greater challenge than you might find in a restaurant, for example, because in restaurants, people don't discard their food on the floor," Maloney added.

Maloney is involved in the cinema's health inspections, because the facility falls inside the Brookline border. Its parking lot, however, is in Brighton.
...
 Maloney noted that his department had not fielded any complaints about mice in the theater since the new year, and a follow-up inspection on Jan. 10 had "satisfied" Maloney and his department that the theater has continued to take appropriate preventative action.

At the end of July, 1961, the Cleveland Circle was advertised in the Boston Traveler as being an ATC or American Theatres Corp. Theatre which also owned the Waltham Embassy, and in downtown Boston, the Pilgrim and Mayflower Theatres, as well as several other suburban theatres.

I saw many films here when I was in college at Boston University in the 1970s. The main auditorium was great, but the smaller ones were awfully narrow. I'll never forget seeing a midnight show of "Can't Stop the Music" in 1979 and watching half the audience walk out and the other half laugh themselves silly (I was part of the latter group). Fun memories.

This was the "newest" of the ATC Theatres. ATC President was Sam Pinanski, who came from M&P and previously NETOCO (Jacob Lourie's). He was determined to have his own chain of theatres patched together from the old M&P, New England Theatres, NETOCO, Paramount Publix, etc. My understanding is he sold the theatre to Redstone. To the ATC staff the inside joke was ATC meant "Another Theatre Closed".

Was the Circle the first Showcase theatre? If not, do you know what was? I'm enjoying your anecdotes regarding the various Boston area theatres and hope you'll keep us informed with more.

Regarding the date of the opening of the Circle.

From today's Boston Globe (excerpt from an article on the Loews/AMC merger):

The seven-screen Circle Theater at Cleveland Circle, owned by National Amusements' Showcase Cinemas of Dedham, was built in 1965 and has relatively few modern amenities.

I guess the next question is what building was called the Cleveland Circle Cinema in 1962? Unless 1965 marked the year Redstone purchased it from ATC and renovated it. It certainly has a late 1950's look about it, and as for modern amenities, I'd question the writer's priorities. It was a gorgeous modern building, rivaling anything else built in the early sixties. Certainly not the shoebox-like buildings that GCC was putting up at the time.
The only problem was the addition of four tiny screens in the back of the main building, which I think may have been done in the 1970s.

My hunch is that the Globe writer was referring to developments such as stadium seating and digital projection as "modern amenities" and not to the architecture.

The original single screen auditorium was twinned in 1976 (the first attraction at one of the twinned screens was "Marathon Man") and the screens in the back followed a few years later. The first time I saw a film in one of those auditoriums in the back was the reissue of "Fiddler on the Roof" which I think was in 1978 or 1979.

To answer a couple of previous questions - The Circle was not originally owned by Redstone/National Amusements/Showcase nor was it the first Showcase theatre, but when he purchased the Circle it became his first INDOOR theatre. (Redstone/Showcase owned LOTS of drive-ins at the time.) After the main theatre was twinned, cinema #3 (upstairs) was added. A big misconception is that cinemas 4-7 (the ones in the back, and yes, they are the 4 WORST places to see a movie) were all added at the same time. They were not. Originally (Late 70's/Early 80's) there were only two theatres back there, and they were quite nice - both with over 200 seats and wide (30+) feet screens. Each one was split in two (THE HORROR!) in 1990.

My first memories of the Cleveland Circle, as it was called when I lived nearby (it was officially in Brighton, by the way) were as a 7-year old. That would be 1948.

It was a ten minute walk from where I lived, so I saw plenty of movies there. I think a ticket cost 11 cents for children, 15 or 20 for adults. Imagine – pricing in pennies!

I don’t know when it was built, but I would guess shortly after WWII, but certainly not as late as the 50’s as some have suggested here.

It had a spacious outer lobby where the ticket seller was. And a great big candy stand in a big, carpeted inner lobby. There was also a not-so-large balcony which was always available (I think).

They did indeed show a couple of cartoons, a newsreel and sometimes another short, often a travelogue. But previews? Only two, for whatever was coming next! Yes, in addition to the above, it was always a double feature.

The Circle was a first-run second-run theatre back then. In other words, very soon after a picture closed its run downtown it would play the Circle, one of less than a handful throughout the city. The others – like the Egyptian, on the other side of Brighton (near Allston) would be third run houses.

The auditorium had modern comfortable push-back seats and there was a curtain in front of the screen, which was dramatically opened and closed between portions of the program.

I can’t fathom how it is that one of the first pictures I remember seeing there was “Joan of Arc”, starring Ingrid Bergman, in 1948. When I was 7? And without my mother? I cried my eyes out when she was burned at the stake. (Maybe I saw it later in re-issue.) You can see it on DVD now – quite a spectacle. By 1953 there were no more double features and one of my great all-time memories is going with my pals to see “Stalag 17” every day twice a day for the entire week of our Easter vacation that year. We saw it fourteen times! And we knew every line by heart.

It really is a shame that there are so few single screen theatres any more. Going to the movies at a single screen theatre always seemed to be more of an occasion.

A few single screens still operate in the Boston area, though attending a movie at one is no longer the grand experience you and others recall from the 1940s. Here are the survivors I know of:

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Studio Cinema, Belmont
Loring Hall, Hingham
Stoughton Cinema Pub
Cabot Street Cinema, Beverly
Newburyport Screening Room

Attending a movie at nearly any Boston area theatre, even in the shopping centers, was a grand experience through the 1950's and even into the '60s. In those days, the family "got dressed up" to go, whether it Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, or any number of blockbuster features, which people flocked to see in the large auditoriums with big screens. When was the last time you saw a line around the block buying tickets to anything? And the lines moved faster too, with 1000 seat auditoriums filling up in a matter of 20 minutes or so.

It's funny to me you mention that dwodeyla, because this past weekend at my theater (Somerville) we hosted the Independent Film Festival of Boston, and several of their big shows were in our 900 seat house. The lines stretched around the entirety of three sides of the building for certain screenings, including two that filled the big house to near-capacity. I remember thinking "How are we going to seat this many people in time?" and yet, once it got moving, I would say that within 10 minutes, about 700 people had taken their seats. Then I thought "Imagine doing this three or four times a day every weekend like in the old days!".

There is truly nothing like seeing a movie with over 500-1000 people in the room - it is (to me) part of what makes going to 'the show' fun. It is too bad more multiplex theaters do not have one or two 'grand/main' theaters to showcase certain films in that epic way of old. Maybe not every movie needs the huge screen and surround sound or even a screen curtain, particularly 'small' films, but to see a deserving film in such a manner would impress even the most non-interested moviegoer.

The best part of the business was running the floor when the lobby would be packed waiting for the previous show to exit, the lines waiting until the crowd moved in to continue selling, filling most of the auditorium, then packing them into the balcony before continuing to fill the downstairs, then the making of "doubles", and finally at the end of the day, cashing out and being "even". Doing it four times a day on one screen and the same on a second was even better.

Wow, this is great information all around. Very impressive, folks!

I didn't start going to the Circle until the late 70s, it's really amazing to imagine back in the day. The major thing I remember about the Circle in my many years of going there was those awful green-clad chairs.

As an aside for I.M. Judge, I used to work @ the Coolidge back in the early 90s, and when we had Aladdin (don't ask how and why we got that, I'm going to try to avoid airing the Coolidge's extensive dirty laundry) we were also showing the Lesbian love drama "Claire of the Moon." We were selling out both shows multiple times a day... those were amusing crowds.

One last point for the previous poster regarding the Chestnut Hill theater... Newton people don't walk!

I was in Circle recently, and the place looks pretty good. They painted to lobby, and it looks like they did some work to the box office and the concession stand. Still not great, but it looks better then it has for a long time.

The theaters in the back cant have screens bigger then maybe 15 feet, but its still a nice little theater. Its a throwback in many ways, but I still like going to the Circle as it still has some charecter. The theaters arent all back to back in a long row, its not a cookie cutter multiplex, it has a rather quirky deisgn that I think makes it worth visiting.

Yes, I have been to the Circle recently and it does indeed look pretty good. It's interesting to find out that this was once a single screen theater. Especially considering it's location. But, I suppose the area may have dramatically changed over the years.

Makes sense that this was(is?) a Paramount house since I belive National Amusements was (is?) owned by Viacom at one point. I can't keep up with all the corporate changes these days.

The small theaters in the back are not great, but they're better than of the old Copley Place closets.

It this the last of National Amusement theaters in Boston now that the Allston Cinema is gone?

FYI, Viacom and its subsidiaries like Paramount, plus CBS are both owned by... National Amusements, not the other way around.

I can't remember any other National Amusements theatres in Boston ever, besides the Circle and later the Allston. Maybe someone who lived here before 1975 can correct me.

National Amusements is also known as Redstone Theatres, owned by Sumner Redstone. Their home office is in Dedham, and they only had suburban theatres, like Dedham, Woburn, Revere, etc. Nothing downtown Boston that I can think of.
Back in the day, Sumner would get in a helicopter, and fly over an area, pointing out locations to buy land to build theatres. That was the difference between him and Richard Smith. Smith didn't believe in buying land, thus nearly all the GCC theatres were leased, located in Malls. The Redstone Theatres were close, but not actually in a Mall.

Many, but hardly all, of the releases that exclusively played the Circle during its heyday as a single screen house between the late 60s and the 1976 twinning were Paramount films. Among the Paramount releases: "Three Days of the Condor," "Death Wish," "Paint Your Wagon," "Rosemary's Baby," "The Great Gatsby," "Chinatown" and most notably the endless run of "Love Story."

But quite a few non-Paramount films had exclusive runs at the Circle during that period, such as "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (Universal, and a reserved seat engagement roadshow), "Nicholas and Alexandra," (Columbia; roadshow); "Patton" (Fox; roadshow); "The Way We Were" and "Emmanuelle" (both Columbia) and "At Long Last Love" (Fox). The last film I saw at the Circle prior to twinning was Universal's "The Hindenburg" (and if memory serves, that engagement was in 70MM).

The holiday season of 1975 probably represented the last exclusive first runs of major studio releases at theaters in Newton/Brookline: the Circle had "The Hindenburg" and the newly opened GC Chestnut Hill had "Lucky Lady." In later years, Sack/USA would continue to have the occasional first run exclusive (platform runs for no more than a few weeks before expanding to the suburbs) but I don't recall that the Circle or Chestnut Hill were ever used for that purpose.

Although in recent years, some independent, art, and foreign films have shown exclusively at Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre or the West Newton Cinema.

Understood re: independent/art/foreign exclusives, which I would put in a different category from major studio releases.

A clarification to my earlier post: the "Paint Your Wagon" engagement at the Circle was also a roadshow.

The twinning of the Circle in 1976 was a real shame. In my opinion, by the mid-1970s the only theater in the Boston area that compared to the Circle in terms of the "big screen experience" (i.e., large screen size, 70MM capability and quality sound system) was the main auditorium of the Charles---and the Charles didn't have those comfortable rocking chairs. Although the Sack Cinema 57 and Cheri then featured top releases (and sometimes in 70MM), the screens in those complexes couldn't compare to the Circle or Charles.

There is a fine article in the 1946 Theatre Catalogue about the erection of the original Circle Cinema then known as the Circle Theater. Sumner Redstone revamped the original Circle Theater into the Circle Cinema as part of the Showcase Cinema chain in 1965. Redstone had 40 Drive Screens at that time and only 8 Indoor Screens. I was an usher at the Circle during 1966-67while attending <Leland Powers School of Radio,Television,and Theatre Sept thru June of those two years. Remembering some of the grand regional premieres 'The Oscar', with live Hollywood Stars Elke Sommer,Eleanor Parker,Edie Adams, and what appeared to be a rather tipsy Stephen Boyd,(Messala how you've slipped !). Displayed in our Circle lobby with a full time Pinkerton guard, were Edith Head's and Walter Brennan's real Oscars. Ms. Head's was heavier than Mr. Brennan's because hers was made of metal and his was of plaster since there was a scrap metal drive in effect during WW2 when his waws awarded. I know the weight difference because one late night after we closed under the intense glare of our Pinkerton friend I held them both while the Night Cleaner dusted their display case. So once in my life I recieved two Oscars if only momentarily. We opened with a fully costumed staff of 40 employees, Ushers in blue wool gold braid Brooks Brothers ($75.00) jackets, Candy Girls and Box Office Woman Cashiers in the same blue colors. There were two Ladies Room Attendants dressed as French Maids to assist Women patrons. A very tall Doorman in greatcoat with huge golden epalets swung open the entrance doors for arriving fans. This large staff was paired back to 25 by the end of our first month. The single screen Circle Cinema seated 1'500 with orchestra and one balcony in 1966, our screen had a tan travelor curtain with gold threads imbedded as spotlights were able to color the drape many different shades,no stage was found behind the curtain , but there was an Art Gallery in the balcony area where local artists works could be purchased, and a lovely live plant Conservatory, until the Ushering staff killed the plants with windex dumped into the large and heavy watering pails which had to be transported up a long flight of stairs. Our Day Manager,Ed Harwood, was dfressed in a dark business suit and our Night Manager, Mr. Muir, was always attired in a blck tux. Nine Par king Wranglers in white duster overcoats helped to squeeze the arriving autos into the toooo small car parking lot, and they secured the overflow vehicles illegally along a side street which strangly never received tickets, so go figure! We played manylong run road shows like,"The Great Race", during that stint the management noticed at the same point in the screening each run many of the customers would head for the lobby concession stand to buy a "Coke". Somewhat puzzled the Manager requested to see that particular reel at the evenings end and surprise,surprise, he and the Union Projectionist found subliminal Coke single frames had been added to that reel; a replacement was soon at hand. The Ushering Staff all male wer3e trained by ,Ed White< from the Redstone Front Office. Part of the ushering costume was a spotless pair of white gloves which were changed periodically if soiled, a flashlight was utilized to seatour guests in the darkened house during the film show, even a flashlight code was discretely used againstour white gloved fingers to check for available seating in the balcony, singles or doubles as the necessity arose. I still remember we were taught to say to the patrons ,"Right this way ,Please," not ,"Not follow me.",when seating them. I'm still using that polite phrase while dealing with the public even today, as it denotes the idea that you are graiciously waiting to serve just that specific person. "Thank you Showcase for those mannerly fundementals!".

Thank you for the great description of the way things used to be.

Hello dwodeyla, Glad that you liked my ramblings I'll add a few more thoughts about The Circle Theater Cinema as soon as I remember them.

We both worked at different Cinemas as ushers around the same time. I was at the Framingham Cinema as an usher from 1966 until about 1968. We weren't as formal as the Circle, from the way it sounds. Usher's jackets were bright orange, tux pants, white shirts, and black clip-on bow ties. (I think General Cinema did it a bit cheaper than Redstone.) The Circle being closer to Boston probably played first run, while the suburbs had to wait 21 days.
I remember watching the end of the Silencers and The Group a few dozen times, standing on the back aisle with a flashlight behind my back. We were taught to ask "where would you like to be seated", rather than "where do you want to sit?" which I guess sounded less polite.

The Circle was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo dated April 1941. There was a parking lot in front and the building had 2 wrap-around marquees, one at each front corner. The entrance appears to be under the one on the right. Attractons are "Lady Eve" and "Flight from Destiny". Both movies are posted on each marquee. The Report states that the address is "339 Chestnut Hill Avenue" (probably a typo). It states that the theatre has been a MGM customer for one year; that it was built in 1940, that it's in Excellent condition, and has 1000 seats on the main floor and 207 seats in the balcony. The patronage is "Neighborhood - High Class". Competing theatres are listed as Capitol, Allston, Egyptian.

Hello again Dwodeyla; I 'm glad to hear about your Framingham adventure, you must have been at Shoppers World for a homebase? My Brother,Mom,and I went to see a show there not long after it opened since we lived in Billerica. Meanwhile,back to the Circle in its renovation in 1965 the old projectors were donated to the Donnelly Theater", in downtown Boston,which was used by the Catholic Diocese. One evening I looked up to see Cardinal Cushing enter our lobby. He asked to see our Manager Mr. Muir to personally thank The Circle for the projector gifts. Mr. Muir (who was Jewish) said he wanted to thank the Cardinal for living were he did,"What do you mean?,asked the Cardinal,Mr. Muir mentioned the number of the Cardinals house address,to which Cushing admitted that was correct, "Well said our Manager, "I played that number last night and it payed off!", they both laughed about that. Opening of ,"The Singing Nun",brought Debbie Reynolds up from NYC in her own Hertz Rent a Car, as the star of the film she was greeted by then Senator Ed Brooke, plus a local High School Marching Band all this in less that mild October weather. Ms. Reynolds was attired in a lightweight filmy short sleeved dress while the serenading Band members wore heavy woolen uniforms. Debbie listened outside to their music then patiently shook hands with each player while goosebumps multiplyed on her arms, what a trooper! The roof marquee sign at the Circle overlooked downtown Boston,with a little creative removal of the huge sign letters as the ushers putup the new feature titles sometimes creating interesting and somewhat naughty script messages for the populist to enjoy,probably tame by today standards.....I'd like it clearly understood that I did not approve of these antics,but they were amusing ,sometimes. Thanks to Ron Salters for pin pointing the actual construction date of the original Circle Theater as 1940, guess if I'd thought about it ,it would have dawned on me that materials to construct a new theater in 1946 right after the end of WW2 would not have been possible. Hope your enlightened by these ramblings.

Ron,

Would it be possible to see the pictures you have of Circle back then? Any neccesary arrangements can be made. I have worked for National Amusements for several years and have been at Circle the last year or so. I am very intersted in looking into the history of the theater. Let me know if you think there is anything you can do.

Thanks!

To Tony0356 - send me, at rsalters3@verizon.net, your US Mail address and I will send you a copy of the MGM Report. Be warned that the quality is no great shakes (my copy is a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox, etc.) If you happen to have $52 burning a hole in your pocket, you can order a high-quality copy of the MGM Report (for the Circle, or any other theatre in the series) from the THSA archive in Elmhurst IL.

I saw many films at the old Circle during the late 60s and early 70s, when the theatre was still a single screen, exclusive run house. I remember seeing "The Great Race" (still a fav), "The Gambler", and "Warhol's Dracula" there. The one thing no one's mentioned yet was the singular oddness of the "screen". It was, as I recall, not a traditional screen (perforated with the speakers behind), but an indented wall -- much like a blank picture frame. I remember walking up to it after the movie and touching it to discover it feeling like... cement! I don't recall if the picture brightness suffered (although it probably, like most theatres, was a bit dim), but the sound probably was worse off, since the speakers were above the "screen". Please correct me if I'm off on some of this -- it was a very long time ago. Thanks as well, to all of your great posts for bringing back great memories!

Hello 70sfan too many years have passed for me to remember what material was used in the screen area. You might try contacting the current manager for answers on this matter. I do remember that the Circle was minus a stage in the screen area. When we had regional premieres featured performers had to stand at orchestra level with their backs to the screen addressing the audience with a handheld mike. No raised platform was ever built to help raise them above seating level, which always struck me as rather crude treatment toward stars of these flicks.

The architectural firm which designed the 1965 revamp of the Circle Theatre for Sumner Redstone's Showcase Cinemas was William Riseman Associates, of Boston. Many floor plans, sections, sight-line diagrams, and seating plans from the project are now part of the J. Evan Miller Collection of cinema plans which is held by the special collections department at Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Hey all-'m one of the projectionists at the Circle currently, and would be happy to answer questions about the technical side of The Circle, assuming I have the answers!

Thanks!

This theater is a disgrace. I don't think it should be torn down b/c the area needs a theater, but this hardly qualifies and it's highly unlikely that the abutting Brookline/Brighton residents would ever approve a larger building. The smaller theaters with the TINY TINY TINY screens and awkwardly deep spaces (a result of splitting a large theater in half) barely warrant charging one fifth of a matinee price, let alone full price. It's obviously a gold mine for the chain that runs it b/c of BC, but how sad that this is the best Brighton has to offer its students and residents.
Although I lived within a 3 minute walk of the theater for 4 years, I boycotted it shortly after moving there in favor of a longer trip to the Fenway, a far superior theater.

I have heard that the Circle will close soon so that the property can be "redeveloped". This is not unexpected news.

That was reported way back in 2005 (see above) but did not happen then. Where did you hear this latest news?

R.I.P Circle Theater you were a wonderful learning venue.

From the Boston Globe:

Curtain will close on two cinemas
Brookline, Lawrence theaters called not financially viable
By Angel Jennings, Globe Correspondent | August 26, 2008

National Amusements Inc. said yesterday that it will shutter two theaters in the Boston area in September because the locations are no longer financially viable.

The Dedham-based movie chain plans to close the Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 1-6 on Monday and the Circle Cinemas in Brookline will close for business after the last show on Sept. 7. The private company said it would try to find positions at its other locations for the 51 employees affected by the closings.

"We watch all of our theaters closely," Wanda Whitson, the company's spokeswoman, told the Globe yesterday, "and make every effort to keep them as viable operating businesses. Once they are no longer viable, we make the decision to close them."

The closings come at a time when many Massachusetts movie theaters are hurting as a result of competition from DVDs and the rise of home movie theater systems. According to the National Association of Theatre Owners, there were 112 movie theaters in Massachusetts last year, down from 117 locations in 2005.

To attract moviegoers, some theaters are adding more amenities. For its part, National Amusements is trying to turn some if its theaters into entertainment complexes where people come to do more than just watch movies.

Earlier this month, National Amusements opened the Showcase Cinema de Lux at Patriot Place, a 14-screen upscale theater in Foxborough that offers a lounge with a full bar and in-seat dining. Another theater following this same concept is being built in Dedham at Legacy Place and is slated to open next year. And a 12-screen theater is being built at the vacated Macy's building at the Westgate Mall in Brockton.

National Amusements, which operates more than 1,500 theaters worldwide, including 15 locations in Massachusetts, also plans to expand overseas.

Employees at the two theaters that are closing received a short, four-sentence memo Friday about the closings. In the memo passed out at Circle Cinemas, Jose M. Perez, the theater's managing director, wrote with a "heavy heart" about the closing of Circle Cinemas.

"Please note that this decision is in no way a reflection of the hard work and dedication you have all shown over the years," Perez wrote.

The six-screen Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 1-6 opened in June 1965, and is located a short distance from its counterpart, Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 7-14. The larger, eight-screen theater will remain open. Circle Cinemas, which has seven screens, opened in November 1965.

Circle Cinemas employs 21 workers and Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 1-6 has 30 employees.

"Our employees are very important to us, and this is not a decision we make lightly," Whitson said.

I'm e-mailing the Globe to inform them that "Circle Cinemas opened in November 1965" is incorrect. I'll point them at this page for the correct information.

Ah, well. Another one bites the dust.

It's disheartening to read/hear about a movie theatre closing. I remember when the Circle barely escaped being converted into condominiums afew years ago, but was barely saved (correct me if I'm wrong here, anybody). I still remember seeing some cool movies there, however; A Day at the Races, The Great Race, Superman I and II, Harry Potter and the Phoenix, and Munich.

It would be nice if it would be converted into another type of theatre, along the lines of the Coolidge and/or the Brattle. Wishful thinking, as that's probably not going to happen.

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention "Chinatown".

I thought I'd drop in my 2 cents.

I looked on a map of Boston and technically the entire cinema and parking lot is inside Boston. All of Cleveland Circle is part of Boston and the Brookline border at that point is the Riverside T trolley tracks which run next to the theater.

I worked at 2001 Beacon Street (office building) for six months and I learned to park on the Brookline side down Beaacon Street where you could put in a couple of quarters for 10 hours, whereas on the Boston side, the Boston meter maids went crazy tagging people who had parked more than an hour or two.

Cleveland Circle is sort of a weird part of Boston because the zip code is Brookline's zip code, and if you dialed 911, you would get Brookline's police and fire departments. We had to have the Boston police and fire department numbers at our desks in case there was an emergency. So technically, the theater is inside the Boston city limits, but the zip code is Brookline's.

On another matter, I use to go to this theater in the late '70s to early '90s, and I find it hard to believe that this building was converted from an older theater. It's typical '50s-'60s cinderblock architecture with a modern-style glass-enclosed, split-level lobby. Could the older theater have been flush with the street, where the front parking lot currently is, and was demolished, or could it have been next to the current site, such as where the restaurant is? That seems to make more sense.

After the rear auditoriums were twinned, I tried to see pictures only in the two front theaters. I remember seeing Schindler's List there around Christmastime 1993 with a packed theater. Movies were quite often sold out on weekends. I also saw Late For Dinner in 1991 in one of the shoebox cinemas in back after the Globe gave the movie a great review. It was the only theater anywhere playing it. Luckily the movie was better than the theater.

danpetitpas -
The border between Brookline and Boston actually juts out through the main lobby of the theatre. Portions of the lobby ARE in Brookline, but the auditoriums are in Boston. I speak from experience in dealing with the police, licensing, and health departments of both governments.

danpetitpas- the original Circle was built in 1940 and was set well back from the street, with parking in front. Someone who worked near the theater in the early-1960s told me that when S. Redstone took it over in 1965 it was drastically remodelled, especially the front of the building, which was totally changed.

Are there any theaters showing porn?

At the Circle? Not that I've ever heard of. Why do you ask this?

Well, it depends upon how one defines "porn." The Circle did, on occasion, show soft core X-rated fare. In its single screen days, the Circle had the exclusive Boston run of "Emmanuelle." Another soft core booking from the 1970s was the X-rated "Alice in Wonderland."

Lots of blog comments from people who remember the theatre here:

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2008/08/the_circle_clos.html

And more comments here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/circle-cinemas-brookline

I'm a correspondent for The Boston Globe, and I'll be covering the closing day of the cinema tomorrow.

If you have been a patron or employee of the cinema and have any information about the theater that you think I ought to know, or if you have any old photos of the cinema, I would appreciate it if you could email me - sol.israel@gmail.com

Thank you!

The Circle's closing leaves only two cinemas still open within Boston city limits: AMC Loews Boston Common 19, opened in 2001, and Regal Fenway 13 (originally General Cinema, then AMC), opened in 2000.

Sol Israel's Globe article is now online.

The printed version has a photo that unfortunately is not online. It is captioned "The community moveihouse opened in 1940", and shows two marquees both reading

BOSTON'S FINEST SUBURBAN THEATRE
GRAND OPENING
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

A circular logo for the M&P chain is next to the word CIRCLE, where each letter is on its own separate circular sign.

The photo which the MGM agent took in April 1941 shows the twin marquees, but my copy is not sharp enough to figure out what the logo was. I can now see that it is indeed "M&P" (Mullin & Pinanski). The photo was taken from the street out front. I knew that the Circle opened in 1940 but I didn't know the actual date, Saturday October 12.

This is a September 2008 photo.

What do the small signs say?

The letters-in-circles signs on top of the current building look the same as the ones on the marquees in the 1941 photo.

I agree- the letters-in-circles which say "Circle" on the right side of Lost Memory's photo of Sept 15 look identical to the same letters on the 2 marquees in MGM's photo of April 1941 when the Circle was new.

The small sign on the side reads "Please Use Front Entrance". I can't read the other small sign. The sign on the roof is a goodbye message.

The other small sign has the address for the theater.

Here's a photo of the marquee on the now-closed theatre.

The 1-4 side says

CIRCLE CINEMAS

1965 to 2008


while the 5-7 side says

THANK YOU FOR
OVER 40 YEARS
OF PATRONAGE AND
MOVIE MEMORIES

This is a classy thing to do. So many local cinemas have closed unceremoniously with no 'goodbye' of any kind to their long-time customers.

(But, once again, the theatre opened in 1940, not 1965.)

1965 is the year that Sumner Redstone and his National Amusements circuit purchased the theatre.
It is widely known by local residents that the theatre has been in operation since 1940, however National Amusements chose to use their take over year of 1965 for publicity purposes regarding the theatres closing.

In the final analysis, how many twinnings of single-screen theatres ever improved on the originals? Younger moviegoers on this site who are nostalgic over what they saw at "the cinemas" on hard ticket really missed out on experiencing "Boston's Finest Suburban Theatre" as Ron Newman noted above the original theatre boasted. We did have a couple of nice theatres nearby - the Coolidge Corner and Allston that were built in the old-time movie palace style (but smaller) 20's and 30's. But when the Circle was opened in 1940 it was unique, the hopeful beginning of a new era in modern movie theatre buildings. But I don't believe that one single-screen theatre was built in Boston after the Circle went up; and it stood alone in that department for too many years - it wasn't until the megaplexes were built many years later. And the first of those were mostly inadequate from the beginning (Newton, for instance). But the Circle? Imagine - in the 40's - reclining seats, air conditioning (they called it air-cooled, I think) a clean modern look without any frou-frou, a luxurious house curtain that was opened and closed between every single portion of the program (which often included a travelogue, a comedy short, cartoons, newsreel, previews and .... a double feature until (when?) maybe the mid 50s. Now that's nostalgia! The first time I set foot in the Cinemas (1966) was the last time I went there. I hate to throw cold water on the young ones here, but .... good riddance.

> I don't believe that one single-screen theatre was built in Boston after the Circle went up

The Abbey, (second) Beacon Hill, Charles, Pi Alley, Paris, and Village Cinema (West Roxbury) all opened as single-screeners after 1940, though the first four eventually acquired more screens.

There was also Cinema 733, the second Kenmore Square theatre, and the Garden Cinema, but these opened in buildings originally built for other purposes.

A long letter from James Bodge in yesterday's Boston Globe City Weekly: The Circle was grand as long as it lasted

adding to the above: the letter-writer was manager of the Circle from 1971 to 1976, and assistant manager before that.

Thanks, Ron for the correction on my posting. I gues my own nostalgia for The Circle got the best of me (too)!

You're welcome. Also, if you visited it in 1966, it was still then a single screen.

A random set of photographs of the Circle Cinemas, taken in mid-October: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31393958@N02/

What are all those people doing in the closed theatre? Are they looking at it with the idea of reopening it, or demolishing it?

I couldn't figure that out, Ron. I looked at the people in the pictures, thinking that maybe they were members of some sort of theatrical company, but that didn't seem to be the case. The most oblique comments which accompany the photographs include one mentioning that an opening at the parking garage 'could be enclosed with plastic and made into cornfield' (huh?) and another that the cabinets and desk in one of the offices 'could be struck' - all kind of weird, at least on the surface...

He's a member of this Flickr group, whose description suggests that the American Repertory Theatre is scouting locations to stage a production of Faust.

I remember the Circle Cinemas (along with other now-defunct cinemas) with a somewhat sad fondness. It was a beautiful theatre before it got "twinned", and I saw some very nice films there, before and after it was "twinned'.


The Great Race
Chinatown
Superman I and Superman II
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Munich
Zodiac

to name afew. Just as often as not, as kids, my sister and I would attend movies there with or without family or friends, and then eat in the Howard Johnson's afterwards.
Harry Potter and the Phoenix

Over at Universal Hub, I speculate some more about Faust and the ART and the Circle Cinemas.

I looked at your article over at Universal Hub, Ron. Thanks.

I also saw the film "Love Story" at the Circle years ago.

Here's hoping that they build another theatre instead of luxury condos or a parking lot, and that they build a theatre that doesn't play the same schlocky stuff in the way of movies that most of the theatres these days play.

The Brookline TAB posted an article online last Friday:

One last curtain call at Circle Cinema?

I assume it will be published in this week's printed newspaper. The article confirms that the American Repertory Theatre "scouted out the empty building as the possible setting for an elaborate theatrical piece", which may or may not be Faust. The ART hasn't made any decision on whether to go ahead with such a site-specific production.

The TAB article also discusses prospects for condominium, hotel, or other development on the site.

American Repertory Theatre is definitely putting on a Punchdrunk show next season, but it will not be Faust. It will be "Sleep No More, an immersive production inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, told through the lens of a Hitchcock thriller."

Whether it will take place at the Circle, I don't know. The ART's web page says only "An extraordinary, unexpected location will be exquisitely transformed into an installation of cinematic scenes that evoke the world of Macbeth." I guess they'll announce the actual location some time in the fall.

I thought the Circle was closed.....unless it's being converted into a live theatre venue.

Yes it's closed. But the ART was scouting it out as a possible temporary location for an immersive live show. See the last few comments above yours, starting in December 2008.

'Sleep No More' will not be held at the Circle Cinemas after all. The ART website now says "A mystery location in Brookline Village".

Fun place, went to a lot of movies here while in college - the Ground Round used to be right next door, but it preceded the theater into retirement