Gary Theatre
131 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
131 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
6 people
favorited this theater
This sizable theatre was formerly the Plymouth Theatre which opened in 1911. It was located on Stuart Steet near Tremont Street and right around the corner from what is now the Emerson Majestic Theatre.
It became the Gary Cinema in 1958. It was demolished in 1978 for construction of the State Transportation Building.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 82 comments)
That whole area has really changed. I remember the hillbilly ranch and playboy club in that area near park square and the old greyhound bus terminal. I wish there were some photos somewhere of them.
AFTER READING ALL COMMENTS about Sound Of Music and the Gary I must add mine. Saw Sound Of Music the 1st time at I believe The Ontario in Wash D.C. beautiful 70mm presentation then I saw it at the Gary which was also beautiful and great sound. I saw it for a 3rd time at the Capri in San Diego. This was the best picture and sound of all. Also saw West Side Story there and I believe also at the Ontario in D.C. all in 70mm. Saw WSS and SOM several times at othe theatres in reg 35 mm release. The best ToddAO presentations in Boston I believe were at the Astor and the Metropolitan(Music Hall and especially for sound it had to be the Walter Reade Charles even after Sack(USA) took over.
The best Todd-AO presentation was at the Astor.
Five-story marquee installed for new Todd-AO theatre: boxoffice
I remember seeing Lawrence Of Arabia there…several times.
More on the roadshow conversion in this 1957 trade article: boxoffice
Ben Sack bought these theaters cheap because they were condemned as legit houses. The dressing rooms were infested with vermin. So he cleaned them up remodeled them and open them as movie theaters. The Astor was the only theater to rip out the stage the dressing rooms and the proscenium to make room for the huge curved screen.
I remember seeing The Sound of Music there, when it first came out and was in the movie theatres.
The Gary (named after Ben Sack’s son) and Saxon (also supposedly named after “Sack’s son”) were linked by an underground passageway.
The underground passageway which Nataloff mentions was only one story underground. It ran from the north side of the inner lobby of the Plymouth/Gary down Allen’s Alley alongside the Majestic. There was an exit into the north side of the Majestic lobby. The passageway then made a sharp left turn to run northward under Tremont Street. There was an exit into the lobby of the Little Building (Tremont & Boylston), then it continued northward into the Boylston Street trolley station. This passageway was completely intact, with lights which still worked, as of 1983, although it was out of use long before then. The section alongside the Majestic was busted open and filled in around 2001 as a prelude to the construction of the Emerson Tufte Building at the head of Allen’s Alley (site of the Gary auditorium).