Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard Street,
Brookline,
MA
02446
290 Harvard Street,
Brookline,
MA
02446
23 people
favorited this theater
Converted in 1933 as an Art Deco style movie house from a 1906-built Universalist church in the Boston suburb of Brookline, the Coolidge Corner Theatre has been showing movies for over seventy years.
New management shifted the Coolidge Corner’s schedule from first run films in 1977 as the theater became a showcase for art house and foreign films.
In an effort to increase profits, the balcony was closed off and converted into a second screen. Despite the renovation, the theater could no longer turn an adequate profit and was put up for sale and nearly demolished.
In 1989, the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation bought the theater and now houses a steady stream of art house, second run films and classic movies. A 45-seat video screening room was added in 2000. One more small video screening room has since been added bringing the total screen count to four.
The Coolidge Corner Theatre is the only currently operating Art Deco style theater in the Boston area.
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Recent comments (view all 62 comments)
Where is the entrance to this theatre? The 1986 photo posted above shows a normal theatre entrance, but current photos seem to suggest that the original entrance has been converted to other usage.
Does one have to walk down the alley to gain entrance to the auditorium portion of the building? What a shame that is, if in fact that is what you must do, to get into such a wonderful theatre. It would be kind of like entering a speakeasy.
The original entrance was in front; it was converted a long time ago into retail space. The exit doors off of the inner foyer were then converted into an entrance. So, you go down the alley along the right side of the building to enter.
Item in Boxoffice magazine, January 18, 1960 about the Coolidge Corner adopting a first-run policy with French film The Lovers.
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My recollection is that the original front entrance was converted to fast-order restaurant use when the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation took control, around 1989. Originally there was still a door leading from the restaurant into the theatre lobby, but I think that’s gone (or permanently locked) now.
Their website now has panoramic views of the auditorium and lobby; they also completed a renovation in 2006.
Yankee Magazine has named the Coolidge Corner as one of the five top movie theaters in New England. The other four are in Dennis MA, Newport RI, Concord NH and Waterville ME. The judge was veteran local movie man Garen Daly. The listing in Yankee was reported in a small item in today’s Boston Sunday Herald. It says that these five cinemas “have found a unique voice, one that represents the communities in which they dwell.”
Saw Midnight in Paris there recently which was showing in the lovely Art Deco main theatre. Went to school in Boston in the 60’s, but don’t remember going here then.
I love the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and I always will. Holding an annual membership there really helps.
I absolutely love this theatre. It’s one of those main auditoriums that gives you shivers.
Came here right when they were doing extensive renovations around 2001. Repair-work and scaffoldings were everywhere, but the theater was still gorgeous.
I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and during the follow-the-boucing-ball scene, EVERYONE in the audience sang along to the lyrics at full pitch. Coolest cinematic/theatrical experience to date.