Revere Theatre
244 Broadway,
Revere,
MA
02151
244 Broadway,
Revere,
MA
02151
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My Grandparents lived on Prospect Ave way up the hill. This theatre was at the foot of Prospect Ave. I saw Son of Flubber here as a child. I believe it was 1963.
I worked at the theater in 1965 as an usher for $1.00 an hour. Joe Bean was still the manager,Bob wolfson was assistant manager,Mary Lewis was the lady behind the candy counter. The man who took your tickets was a retired Revere policeman (Joe, can’t recall his last name) who had been there forever as had Ms. Lewis.Walking around backstage was like a trip thru time.
Norman Gautreau’s paintings are beautiful. The one of the Revere Th. shows it with a newer marquee than what it had in May 1941 when the MGM Report photo was taken. Also, the top painting shows a little of the Boulevard Theater and ballroom on the left edge of the painting.
A painting of the theatre in the 1930s or 1940s era… View link
The theaters were “close” in that they were in the same city and actually may have been off the same trolley line(the Bathhouse Station via Beach Street line) but they were a mile and a half away from each other catering separate clientele.
The Revere catered to the locals, while the Boulevard catered to the vacationers/day trippers
An item on the renovation of the Revere Theatre in 1949 can be read on this page of Boxoffice magazine, July 16, 1949:
View link
I fondly remember Mr Bean, I believe I personally attributed to his dimise!..He would throw me and my friends out of the theater every Saturday and Sunday at least 20 times a day!..I lived directly behind the theater, Off of my back yard was a doorway that led to behind the screen. There were so many exits that we knew of he could not keep up with us. We knew every hiding place in that building I could get around that place in the dark!! Even when the theater was closed we would go in and hang around. Those were innocent times Mid 60’s loved that place!
I remember the manager, Joe Bean, in the fifties when operated by Interstate theaters.
Ron,
The only thing I can think of is that back then Revere Beach was such a destination for out-of-towners and folks from other Boston neighborhoods, that the Boulevard could easily draw a completely seperate crowd, the way some mega-resorts have their own multiplex cinemas these days – merely for guests.
In the late-1940s, the Revere Theatre shared an ad with the Boulevard Theatre, also in Revere, in the theatre pages of the Boston Globe. The small ad had the 2 theatre names at the top with the same bill listed for both. Since the two theatres were fairly close together in the same city, why did management book the same films into both at the same time ?
The Revere Theatre was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941. The theatre had a massive brick facade with stores on the ground level. There was a rectangular marquee with “Revere” in glittering letters on the front. Attractions were “Philadelphia Story” with James Stewart, Cary Grant and Kath. Hepburn, and Peter Lorre in “The Face Behind the Mask”. (Note: was “Philadelphia Story” a 1941 movie, or later ???) Above the marquee are 3 large arched windows, and a big verticle blade sign. The Report states that the Revere Th. has been a MGM customer for over 10 years, that it’s over 15 years old and in Good condition, and has 1082 orchestra seats and 464 balcony seats, total: 1,546 seats. The 1940 population of Revere was 34,400. The Revere is listed in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac has being operated by the Interstate Theatre Corp.