Thornton's Theatre
1003 Main Street,
West Warwick,
RI
02893
1003 Main Street,
West Warwick,
RI
02893
1 person
favorited this theater
A village theatre in the River Point section of West Warwick. It existed in the 1930’s and survived into the 1960’s, after which it was demolished.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
The theatre was not a great movie palace, just a well-liked and economical place to see pictures in the Clyde/Riverpoint section of West Warwick. Here is a photo of Thornton’s as it was being demolished.
On January 20, 1906, according to an ad in the Pawtuxet Valley Times, this place was known as Thornton’s Opera House and promoted showings of “Belmont’s Moving Pictures and Illustrated Songs.” At the end of May of 1906, a movie San Francisco After the Earthquake was advertised. No other movie theatres or theatres of any kind were listed in the local paper at that same time.
A 1927 city directory lists four town theatres: Majestic, Gem, Palace, Thornton’s. I have found newspaper ads for all except the Majestic. Also, the Star, in the Natick section of West Warwick, remains a mysterious early-silent-era cinema.
The ads I found for Thornton’s went from 1901, when they were Thornton’s Opera House and doing live theatre. It may have existed in the late 19th Century, but that remains to be checked. Here are local newspaper ads for the Gem, Majestic, and Thornton’s on March 14, 1918.
Here’s a nice ad from January 30, 1926, for John Ford’s The Iron Horse.
I just love reading about the turn of the century theaters and their transformation to movie houses.
What I found particularly interesting was the newspaper ad for the Thornton Theater. The ad states the fee of .10c and .01c for War Tax. WWI, that is as Stolen Hours came out in 1918!!
Here is a postcard image of Thornton’s Opera House as it appeared in 1907.
The Thornton Opera House in Warwick (postoffice, River Point) is listed in the 1897-98 edition of Julius Cahn’s Officil Theatrical Guide. The manager was J.H. Thornton and the press agent was O.B. Thornton. Seating capacity wass 1,500. The proscenium opening was 30 feet wide X 17 feet high. The stage was 24 feet deep. The theatre was on the 2nd floor of the building. There were 5 in the orchestra. Admission prices ranged from 25 cents to 75 cents. Local hotels were the Clyde, Warwick and Briggs. Printed posters read “Thornton’s Opera House, River Point.”
This theatre was part of the September 1923 6th Paramount Week. In this advertisement from the (Providence) Evening Tribune, September 1, 1923, we see a fascinating list of Rhode Island area theatres, many long-gone and long-forgoten, or even unheard of, as well as what they were showing during that week. CLICK HERE and move text to see all theatres.
A NEWSPAPER AD for Arctic area theatres from September 6, 1925.