Park Square Cinema
31 St. James Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02116
31 St. James Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02116
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Levine Theatrical Enterprises
Architects: William C. Riseman
Firms: Peter & Stubbins
Functions: Bank
Previous Names: Telepix Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This minuscule movie theatre was actually located off a corridor within an office building on Park Square. It was opened in March 1939 as the Telepix Theatre. The programming included first run art fare and revival programs. It was closed in April 1962 and was taken over by Joseph Levine. It was remodeled to the plans of architect William C. Risemen to reopen as the Park Square Cinema in October 1962. It often did day-and-date with the Kenmore Square Cinema. It has been gutted and converted to retail/commercial usage.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 30 comments)
I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of this cinema, only that it was near the old Greyhound bus station and the Park Plaza. I loved this theater so much, was there all the time when I was a teenager and college student back in the ‘70s. I saw so many classics there: Tracy/Hepburn, “The Women”, Bette Davis, Deneuve, many great foreign films, too, especially Claude Chabrol (“Le Boucher”!). My friends couldn’t remember the name either and some told me I was imagining that a theater was there. Ty Burr of The Globe finally today confirmed the name for me. I am so happy to reconnect with such warm and wonderful memories of this little, old theater!
Is Ty Burr’s article online? Can you link to it? Thanks.
Hi, Ron,
Thanks for writing…
I emailed Ty at his Globe address, thought maybe he might know the name of the cinema and he did! We are both “of a certain age” ha ha. Did you ever go there? I don’t remember when it went away. I miss a lot of the old theaters, even the ones I wasn’t crazy about, I missed once they shut down, like The Cheri. I do like and go to The Capitol a lot (those owls!) and I love movies so much that I even tolerate the Boston Common Loew’s which I think is garish and belongs in Las Vegas.
I think I have gone “Rear Window” crazy! I watched it again last night for the 4th time in as many months. I can watch it over and over. Fascinating film.
Please keep writing if the spirit moves you. I love to talk about films! Cheers
Leo
How nice to remember the Telepix. I was a film student at BU during the early sixties and got to know the Manager of the theater quite well. She was Inge Loven, a lovely Swedish woman with an artificial leg who was a connoisseur of cinema. I remember spending hours in her tiny office at the theater talking about Kurosawa and the other greats. I believe she eventually returned to Sweden. I left Boston for New York before the name change. I am the new Director of the Visual Arts Theater in NYC (see entry). I hope Inge would be pleased. I think of her often.
Also notice a mistake in the Boxoffice article.
I frequented the Park Square Cimema(Actually renamed THE PARK SQUARE MOVIEHOUSE by then)in ‘72-'73 when I was 13 and 14.I saw THE GANG’S ALL HERE(1943)in jaw-dropping Technicolor in 1972, and wished that movies could still look like that.I wished my LIFE could like like that!I searched for more 40s Technicolor films like that, but in vain(“Gang’s All Here” was a special Dye Imbibition reprint)-Technicolor printing was close to obsolete, and in a few years Fox would convert all the negatives to splotchy, blotchy Eastmancolor versions and throw the Technicolor originals away!At least they’re Color-TV stations often ran them only in B/W!
My grandfather Irving Isaacs owned the Telepix for several years and shared many fun memoties with all of his grandchildren including having Mary Pickford and Jimmy Stewart as performers there and when they played newsreels my mother remembers being allowed to bring in her spaniel Ricky to watch with her. We still have the signed photo from MPickford to Irving Isaacs.
I was moved by reading the words by filmgene"about my aunt Inga Lovén, manager at the Telepix. Yes she returned to Sweden and this coming year 2016 there will be an exhibition of her paintings at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. I am her niece and the project manager of the exhibition. I would very much like to come in contact with the person behind the signature filmgene. I would like show her deep and broad intellectual on many areas, not only painting. She later became friends with the poet Charles Olsson and translated his poetry to Swedish. I would also like to get in contact with the signature debweil. Mr Isaac was my aunt employer. He gave her very free hands from what I understand. Maybe you have photos, poster or stories to tell about my aunt. My email is:
The September 19, 1962 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor said that the conversion of the old Telepix Theatre into the Park Square Cinema for Joseph Levine and partners was well underway in Boston, with the opening expected soon. The Telepix had closed in April. Plans for the project were by theater architect William Reisman.
The Telepix first opened in March 1939. An article with photo of mayor appeared in the Boston Globe on March 15, 1939.