Garden City Cinema

‘Rachel, Rachel’ Sparks Call to Revoke License
The Providence Journal Bulletin reported on September 19, 1968 that attempts were made to revoke the theatre license of the Graden City Cinema. John M. Voccola, a Republican representing the Fourth Ward, released a letter to councilman Norman H. Olson, chairman of the council’s safety services and license committee, demanding that owners of the theater be called before the committee “to show cause why the license whould not be revoked.”

At issue was the film Rachel, Rachel. The movie, directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife Joanne Woodward, dealt with the lesbian love relationship of a spinster schoolteacher.

In his letter, Mr. Voccola said the the theatre had previously indicated at the time they applied for a license that they would not show “objectionanble” films and “I emphasized the fact that I would not approve this license if any obscene or undesirable movies were shown.”

At the time Rachel, Rachel was playing at several area theatres, had received numerous favorable reviews form critics. A Journal film critic had described the movie as “a masterpiece of sensitive characterization…brilliantly acted and directed, of a state of loneliness and isolation.”

The theatre was twinned in the fall of 1972 with auditoriums seating about 500 each.

I didn’t realize it was twinned as early as ‘72, but I seem to remember going here when it was a mammoth single-screen theatre so it must have been before that.

What I remember is that when it was twinned, it was a weird configuation. If memory serves me correctly they essentially cut the theatre in half, running a wall down the middle of the theatre, putting two screens up where the single-screen was. Someone likened watching a film in the twinned Garden City Cinema to being in a wind tunnel.

I worked at Garden City Cinema from August 1984 until it closed in April of 1986. General Cinema was losing to Showcase at the time, and all of the “blockbusters” used to go to Showcase. In the final year, attendance was extremely poor (mostly less than 5 patrons on weeknights) and sometimes less than 50 per showing on weekends. Talk was that the theater would become second-run, but it was decided just to close. The theater and neighboring bowling alley were destroyed, and Shaw’s and a mini stripmall were erected. The Shaw’s was demolished in 2007, and a Whole Foods was built on the site.

I do have a lot of memories of the Cinema. My e-mail is “”. I would love to hear from anyone interested, especially Gerald A. DeLuca! Please put “Garden City Cinema” in the subject line so I don’t delete is as spam!

Frank DeAngelis

I met Stephen King and George Romero at a screening of Creepshow there in 1982. My uncle Owen Haskell took me to these things on a regular basis and made me the movie buff I am today! Thank god for this page!!!!