Boyd Theatre

Opened on Christmas Day, 1928, the Boyd Theatre, recently known as the Sameric Theatre, was the last operating movie palace in downtown Philadelphia until it closed in 2002.

The Boyd Theatre was built for Alexander R. Boyd and designed by Philadelphia theatre architects Hoffman-Henon. Since acclaimed as an ‘Art Deco masterpiece’, the Boyd Theatre had a towering vertical sign that advertised the theatre a mile away, an outdoor retail promenade, an ornate ticket booth, and a huge colorful window with Art Deco style motifs. The grand lobby is lined with huge etched glass mirrors and had a floor area carpeted, which was imported from Czechoslovakia. The three level foyer has dazzling colorful mirrors two stories high. Equipped with an orchestra pit, a pipe organ, and a stage house, the auditorium had 2,450 seats (including one balcony) and perfect sightlines. The Opening Day program dedicated the Boyd Theatre to the theme of ‘The Triumph of the modern woman’ which was depicted in the proscenium mural by famed artist Alfred Tulk of the Rambusch Company.

Shortly after opening, Boyd sold the theatre to Warner Bros., which also purchased the Stanley Co. Most of downtown Philadelphia’s movie theatres were then operated under the Stanley Warner banner.

Although the theatre has clearly seen better days, the Art Deco style movie palace stands as a reminder of what once was. Warner Brothers musicals shown included in 1929, “On With the Show” and “Show of Shows” and in 1931, “Hold Everything”. Many classic films had their exclusive first runs here, including in 1937, “The Life of Emile Zola” and “The Good Earth”, in 1939 “The Wizard of Oz” and in 1940 “Gone with the Wind”. The world premiere of “Kitty Foyle” was hosted on December 27, 1940. “The Philadelphia Story” was shown in 1941 at the same time that the stage play, also starring Katherine Hepburn, was at the Forrest Theatre, less than a mile away. “Mildred Pierce” was presented in 1945. With his co-star Kathryn Grayson, Philadelphia opera singer Mario Lanza appeared on stage at the world premiere of his first movie, “That Midnight Kiss” on August 29, 1949. “The Great Caruso”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “A Place in the Sun” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” were among the movies shown in 1951. “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “High Noon” (with Grace Kelly appearing in person on opening night) were featured in 1952. “Walt Disney’s "Peter Pan” was on the big screen in early-1953.

In 1953, due to antitrust laws, Stanley Warner Theatres were relinquished by the Hollywood studio and became RKO Stanley Warner Theatres, and that year local architect William Howard Lee oversaw renovations at the Boyd Theatre that included a new curved marquee, new ticket booth, and a huge movie screen. The Boyd Theatre had hugely successful sold out in advance runs as Philadelphia’s only venue for all the 3-strip Cinerama movies, starting October 6, 1953 with “This is Cinerama” (which was shown for more than one year, to an estimated three quarters of a million people) and concluding with a 39 week run of “How the West Was Won” in 1963. The Boyd Theatre hosted many of Philadelphia’s first run 70mm Roadshows including “Ben Hur” (with Charlton Heston appearing in person to promote the film, 1959), “Judgment at Nuremburg”(1961), “Becket”(1964) and “Doctor Zhivago”(1965). With stars Fred MacMurray, John Davidson, Hermione Baddeley, and Joyce Bulifant appearing in person, the Philadelphia premiere of “The Happiest Millionaire” was held on October 20, 1967 at the Boyd Theatre.

In 1971, the Boyd Theatre was sold to the Sameric Corporation, which renamed the theatre the Sam Eric Theatre, refurbished and reopened with “Fiddler on the Roof”. ‘Sam Eric’ became combined as SamEric. At midnight on May 23, 1973, the SamEric Theatre hosted the world premiere of “Battle For the Planet of the Apes”, the fifth movie of the franchise. In the 1980’s, the Sameric Corporation added three smaller auditoriums to land west of the theatre (as of 2007, those auditoriums were converted to retail space) and the theatre became known as the Sameric 4. The world premiere of “Rocky III” was held at the Sameric on May 24, 1982. In 1988, the Sameric Corporation sold the Boyd Theatre along with their other theaters to the United Artists Circuit. In 1998, local developers, the Goldenberg Group, purchased the Boyd Theatre from United Artists.

The world premiere of the Academy Award winning movie “Philadelphia” was hosted at the movie palace in 1993 with Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and director Jonathan Demme appearing in person.

First run films continued until United Artists' departed from the theater on May 2, 2002, which was followed by the owner Goldenberg obtaining a demolition permit. In June, 2002, concerned citizens organised the Committee to Save the Sameric, and later that year, incorporated the nonprofit organization, Friends of the Boyd, Inc.

In 2005, Clear Channel, Inc. purchased the Boyd Theatre and began preliminary work towards restoration for use as a legit theatre with a film program. Clear Channel’s theatre’s became an independent company called Live Nation, and in 2006, work ceased. In 2008, Philadelphia developer Hall Wheeler announced plans to acquire, restore and reopen the Boyd, but before he could do so, he died in 2010. The Friends of the Boyd is currently trying to raise money and public awareness to save the last remaining movie palace in downtown Philadelphia.

The Boyd Theatre is pictured in books including ‘Philadelphia Theaters, A Pictorial Architectural History’ (author Irvin R. Glazer, publisher Dover, 1994), ‘Popcorn Palaces, the Art Deco Movie Theatre Paintings of Davis Cone’ (authors Dennis D. Kinerk & Dennis W. Wilhelm, publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2001), ‘The History of Japanese Photography’ (publisher The Museum of Fine Arts 2003, with 1978 black and white photo by Sugimoto Hiroshi of the auditorium), ‘Philadelphia Architecture’ (author Tom Nickels, publisher Arcadia, 2005, with a photo of the 1952 Boyd exterior), ‘Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture’ (author Peter Kobel, publisher, The Library of Congress, 2007, with a pre-construction watercolor rendering of the Boyd auditorium), ‘Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square’ (authors Robert Morris Skaler and Thomas Keels, publisher Arcadia, 2008, with a photo of the 1928 Boyd exterior) and “Movie Roadshows, A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings 1911-1973” (author Kim R. Holston, publisher McFarland & Company, Inc. 2013, with the book’s front cover being a photograph of 1959 Boyd exterior).

In July 2002, a statewide organization, Preservation Pennsylvania designated the Boyd Theatre as one of Pennsylvania’s ten most endangered historic properties. In March, 2008, the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia listed the Boyd Theatre in its Fifth Annual Endangered Properties List.

In May, 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Boyd Theatre to its 2008 List of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. In August 2008, the Boyd Theatre was included on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

Recent comments (view all 433 comments)

RedJacket on January 3, 2011 at 1:19 am

I used to love this dumpy old theater. I last went there in 2002, around the time it closed. I saw “Hannibal” there. My girlfriend at the time wouldn’t go with me again because something ran over her foot. It was in a sad way — the carpets and walls looked like they were originals. The moulding and decorative architecture on the walls was badly aged and water damaged. I kept hoping someone would swoop in to preserve this gem, and I foolishly thought that if I continued to patronize the place I might be pumping some money into that end. I would have thought it would have survived, like some of the older theaters in the suburbs or the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.

LuisV on February 7, 2011 at 6:23 pm

I continue to have hope for our abandoned palaces:

Brooklyn’s incredible Loew’s Kings has finally commenced its $70MM restoration with a projected completion date of 2014. This will add yet another theater to New York’s collection of, arguably, the largest and best collection of restored palaces in the world. Among them, Radio City, The Hollywood, The New Amsterdam, The Beacon, The St. George, Loew’s Paradise, Loew’s Valencia, The Elmwood, Loews 175th Street, The Apollo, among others. I woud also include the two palaces in Jersey City (Loews Jersey and The RKO Stanley to the list) Still to come? The Staten Island Paramount, Loew’s Canal, The Brooklyn Paramount, RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, Loew’s Shore, The Jackson and others.

New York has criminally also lost some of the most beautiful theaters ever built. Among them the Roxy, The original Ziegfeld, The Center, The Capitol, The Rivoli, Proctors East 59th Street, Loew’s 72nd Street, The Triboro, and on and on. However, due to the sheer volume of palaces built, New York has been able to retain an embarassment of riches.

Philadelphia cannot let the opportunity to retain at least ONE restored palace slip through its fingers. Philadelphia is a City of History, a City of Culture, a City of Architecture. It should (and I believe it is) a City of PRIDE. Save the Boyd! Restore the Boyd!

Below is the story from the NY Post:

LONG LIVE KINGS OF FLATBUSH

Plans to turn Brooklyn’s biggest movie theater — the once-majestic Loews Kings in Flatbush — into “the next Apollo” should become reality by 2014, officials say. Borough President Marty Markowitz is expected to announce during his State of the Borough address tonight that architects and contractors have finally begun site-preparation work on the city’s $70 million plan to restore the 82-year-old historic jewel to its former glory. The theater, which seats 3,195, closed its doors in 1978.
Construction is set to begin next year.

Markowitz â€" who has led a community effort to restore the theater â€" says in prepared remarks that when complete, the site will be “a state-of-the-art, 21st century performance venue” and “the pride of Flatbush and all of Brooklyn.”

Part of the Loews Kings' legacy is its A-list of former employees — among them Barbra Streisand and Sylvester Stallone, who worked as ushers. It’s also where Markowitz attended high-school graduation and took his first date. After decades of failed attempts to rejuvenate the site, the city last year tapped Houston-based ACE Theatrical Group to restore the historic theater to its original French-Renaissance-style, so that ACE could present up to 250 concerts, theatrical performances and community events annually.

HowardBHaas on August 23, 2011 at 2:03 pm

Visit our new Facebook page & click “like” to show your support to ensure the Boyd is restored & reopened! We’ve added many wonderful photos in the photo galleries & at comments. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Boyd/167965703267987

HowardBHaas on September 16, 2011 at 3:03 pm

Howard Haas shares yesterday’s Hidden City Philadelphia update about the Boyd Theatre http://hiddencityphila.org/2011/09/resurrecting-the-boyd-efforts-continue-to-restore-philadelphia%E2%80%99s-only-remaining-movie-palace/

The article is also linked to the new Facebook page of Friends of the Boyd. Please click “share” at the link to spread the word about Philadelphia’s last premiere movie palace! http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Friends-of-the-Boyd/167965703267987

Matt Lambros on November 29, 2011 at 6:04 pm

I recently photographed the interior of the Boyd. Check out my post on it at After the Final Curtain

alps on April 22, 2012 at 3:55 am

Saw workmen today working on the Boyd marquee. Are they just making the exterior presentable or has work begun or restoration?

HowardBHaas on April 22, 2012 at 3:57 am

Maintenance of the existing marquee, as I will mention soon in a Weekly Update email (freely available from Friends of the Boyd)

alps on May 15, 2012 at 1:40 am

Ten years, I miss this theatre.

Tinseltoes on August 8, 2012 at 6:29 pm

Four pages of 1929 photos start here: archive

alps on May 21, 2013 at 3:50 am

May 25th is the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi at the Sameric 3. People stood on line all night. Management almost caused a riot when they announced the first showing would be on one of the smaller screens.They wised up and showed it on the main screen. Nothing compared to this theater filled to the brim. Later that year Scarface open causing another near riot.