St. George Theatre
79 Concord Street,
Framingham,
MA
01702
79 Concord Street,
Framingham,
MA
01702
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Multiple sources available on the Internet agree that the Princess Theatre opened in 1908, and also agree that it was demolished in 1917. This does seem likely. George A. Giles had control of the Princess prior to 1917, the year he took over operation of the larger Gorman Theatre and first announced plans to build an even larger house in Framingham, noted in the January 6 issue of The Moving Picture World.
Although Giles' plans for a new house at Framingham did not come to fruition until 1921, I’ve found no references to the Princess in trade journal articles about Giles after November, 1917, though there are several to his other theaters, including the Gorman.
While the buildings of small theaters such as the Princess were sometimes incorporated as entrances to new auditoriums built behind them, the frontage of the St. George building was broader, and the width of its entrance narrower, than the Princess building. This really looks like a case of demolition and replacement rather than remodeling and incorporation of an earlier structure. The Princess should probably have its own page.
The photo above shows the closing program. I was at the final screening, BONNIE & CLYDE. Sad day.
The St. George Theatre had the same address as the Princess Theatre, 79 Concord Street. So I assume they were the same place. I posted a photo of the Princess on a vintage postcard.
Correction: “Open 6 days”.
The St. George in Framingham is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 650 seats and open 7 days/week. That seat count doesn’t seem right.
Thank you for the compliment. I don’t know when the marquee was installed, but they had one by 1940. I have a picture taken in 1940, which shows it.
The only interior photo of the St. George I can find, is the one I showed on my web page devoted to the theatre, linked by Lost Memory where the photos and ads are, above. It came from the large book titled “American Theatres of Today.”
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the St. George has a photo taken in 1941. The rather narrow entrance is 2-plus stories high and has a rectangular marquee. The front has two lines with white letters on black background. Movies are “Sleepers West” and “The Great Dictator”. The Report states that the theatre is on Concord St. and has beeen playing MGM product for over 15 years. The house is in “DeLuxe” condition. There are 772 seats on the main floor, and 546 in the balcony, total: 1318 seats.
Same theatre, the name changed for a short time. I haven’t looked at enough microfilm to get the exact dates.
Many of the ads on that page are for the Paramount Theatre. Was this another name for the St. George, or a different theatre?
Thanks Charles, but the address was already mentioned by Ken Roe, and the town is Framingham, not Farmington. (I know, sometimes the Film Daily has typos)
Many good memories of taking the bus from Holliston in the 1950’s to attend the matinee movies at the St. George. The theatre seemed pretty grand to we young people, and you got two features plus a short and a cartoon for a reasonable price – try that now!
Blackall, Clapp & Whittemore are credited as the architects of the Boston Colonial, Wilbur, Metropolitan (later known as the Music Hall and now called the Wang Center), as well as the Modern. The Modern had the first installed sound projection equipment in New England. The St George opened in 1921, and had sound installed in 1929. The Manager of the St George was George Sumter until he retired in 1946, followed by Anthony Capobianco, then James Collins who later became the Manager of the Natick Drive In, then John Berry.
The architects of the St. George Theater were Clarence H. Blackall, Clapp & Whittemore. The seating capacity (taken from architects plans) was for 1,299. The street address was 79 Concord St.
The St George was a General Cinema, aka Smith Management, from the late 1940’s until it closed.