In his Memoirs, famed playwright Tennessee Williams wrote amusingly of working as an usher at the Strand in 1943:
“A friend was employed in 1943 at the old Strand Theatre on Broadway as an usher, and, knowing that I was between profitable engagements, he told me that the Strand was in need of a new usher and that I might get the job provided I fit the uniform of my predecessor. Luckily it happened that this former usher was about my height and of similar build. I was put on the job. The attraction at the Strand was that World War II classic, Casablanca, which was an early starring vehicle for Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, both hot as blazes; the cast also included that fabulously charismatic ‘Fat Man,’ Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre and Paul Henreid, and there was Dooley Wilson playing and singing that immortal oldie, ‘As Time Goes By.’ In those days, with an attraction like that, the movie houses of Broadway were literally mobbed and aisles had to be roped off by the ushers to restrain the patrons till they could be seated. It was my job, at first, to guard the entrance to one of these aisles, and at an evening performance an enormously fat lady broke through the velvet rope and started to charge down the aisle, evidently intending to occupy a seat on the screen, and when I attempted to restrain her, she struck me over the head with a handbag that seemed to contain gold bricks. The next thing I remember I was still employed at the Strand but I was now situated near the entrance, in a spot of light, and directing traffic with white-gloved hands. ‘This way, ladies and gentlemen, this way, please,’ and ‘There will be a short wait for all seats.’ And somehow, during the several months' run of Casablanca, I was always able to catch Dooley Wilson and ‘As Time Goes By.’
“The pay was seventeen dollars a week, which covered my room at the ‘Y’ and left me seven dollars for meals. And I loved it…”
Baby Doll ran a total of 11 days and grossed $18,000 for the entire run. That was described by the management as a “good average but not a boxoffice record.” The less controversial Anastasia, starring Ingrid Bergman, followed.
The Castle and the Art Cinema on Broad Street shared a programming of the film of the La Scala production of Puccini’s La Bohème on November 3 & 4, 1965. An unusual bit of day-dating shared by the two theatres.
The Art Cinema and the Castle Theatre on Chalkstone Avenue shared a programming of the film of the La Scala production of Puccini’s La Bohème on November 3 & 4, 1965. An unusual bit of day-dating shared by the two theatres.
The film program for the last day of this theatre as the Bijou on August 16, 1947 was the The Beast With Five Fingers and That Way With Women. As I noted above, it reopened on April 4, 1948 as the “New” Empire. In 1949 it closed for good and was demolished.
The legendary soprano Mary Garden sang at the E.F. Albee on March 7, 1920. This was less than one year after the theatre had opened. Admission prices ranged from $1 to $3.50 for the sole Sunday-afternoon matinee. By law Providence theatres could not offer movies or plays on Sundays at the time. Musical events were permitted. As a result many of the downtown theatres had concerts and recitals by classical and popular artists.
Another of the “big” movies that were shown at this legit house was the Fox production of What Price Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen. It opened April 18, 1927. The film was accompanied by a “special symphony orchestra of 20” and there were two daily shows, at 2:15 and 8:15, with admission prices ranging from 50 cents to $1.65.
Nice to see that Showbill. The Stranger, beautifully realized by Luchino Visconti and with a tremendous performance by Marcello Mastroianni, has been out of circulation for decades and is a candidate for a major revival. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem likely because of what I’ve heard were rights issues involving the Camus estate. The French-language version, the most authentic, is what was shown in America.
On Monday, March 5, 1917 the legendary French actress gave final Providence stage performances here at Fays. The matinee plays were Camille and Madame X. That evening she performed in Cleopatra and Champs d'Honneur.
The Providence Journal reported the following day: “With flowers flinging over the footlights and the audience cheering wildly, Sarah Bernhardt said farewell to this city last night in the uniform of a French soldier. With the colors of France in her hand, she stood in the center of the stage in Fay’s Theatre and bowed and smiled and smiled and bowed as one who is weary after a long day’s work, but whose spirit is still fresh, whose eye still brightens at the mention of adventure or of mischief just around the corner.”
Mme. Bernhardt had appeared earlier on several occasions in the city including at the Empire. She also performed at the Odeon in Arctic.
In his Memoirs, famed playwright Tennessee Williams recalled going as a youth to the West End Lyric on Delmar Boulevard, a block away from Westminster Place where his family lived. He wrote of going with a girl named Hazel:
“I believe it was at puberty that I first knew that I had a sexual desire for Hazel and it was in the West End Lyric, the movie house on Delmar Boulevard. Sitting beside her before the movie began, I was suddenly conscious of her bare shoulders and I wanted to touch them and I felt a genital stirring.”
In fact Williams was homosexual and wrote extensively about his gay relationships in that quite excellent autobiography.
Wurlitzer concerts
The stunning Wurlitzer organ in place now gets good use in sporadic free noon concerts that are nicely attended. They also include free refreshments, and patrons are encouraged to bring lunches. The one I attended yesterday also had a 35mm showing of a truly hilarious Buster Keaton short from 1920 called One Week. These free concerts also give one a chance to roam about the palatial theatre from top to bottom in an unhurried, un-mobbed setting and revel in its loveliness. Dates for these concerts and all PPAC events are listed on the theatre’s website.
On opening day, October 6, 1928, the feature film attraction was the “Metro Movietone sound picture” Excess Baggage with William Haines. Also on the program were Movietone and Vitaphone offerings, M.G.M. and Fox news, and Joseph Stoves at the “mighty $100,000 Morton organ.”
The first person to purchase a ticket was a 14-year-old Providence boy by the name of James Riley, who had waited hours for the honor. The first day’s attractions began at 10 A.M. Capacity crowds filled the 3800-seat theatre throughout the day, for a total of 14,000 patrons by day’s end. Admission prices ranged from 20 cents to 50 cents. At the dedication ceremony in the evening Governor Norman S. Case, Senator Peter Goelet Gerry, and Mayor James E. Dunne offered words of praise and congratulation.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the World, referred to as the World Cinema. No specific titles were given, just the category of “distinctive films.”
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was for the Embassy News Theatre.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was for the Plaza, then showing The Princess Comes Along.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the Astor, which was in its fifth month with The Great Ziegfeld.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the Cinema de Paris, which, given the address, seems to have been another name for the 5th Avenue Cinema/Playhouse.
The small Providence Journal ad for the Empire’s last day on January 16, 1915 stated:
THIS IS GOOD-BYE WEEK
at the EMPIRE
A Wonderful Scenic Production of THE SPOILERS
PHOTOPLAY IN NINE PARTS
With William Farnum, Kathlyn
Williams and Cast of over 200
Time Table
12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30
I wonder when the name “Lincoln” began. It was also called that on February 1, 1950 when the bill was She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Jigsaw, according to a rare Providence Journal ad.
In his Memoirs, famed playwright Tennessee Williams wrote amusingly of working as an usher at the Strand in 1943:
“A friend was employed in 1943 at the old Strand Theatre on Broadway as an usher, and, knowing that I was between profitable engagements, he told me that the Strand was in need of a new usher and that I might get the job provided I fit the uniform of my predecessor. Luckily it happened that this former usher was about my height and of similar build. I was put on the job. The attraction at the Strand was that World War II classic, Casablanca, which was an early starring vehicle for Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, both hot as blazes; the cast also included that fabulously charismatic ‘Fat Man,’ Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre and Paul Henreid, and there was Dooley Wilson playing and singing that immortal oldie, ‘As Time Goes By.’ In those days, with an attraction like that, the movie houses of Broadway were literally mobbed and aisles had to be roped off by the ushers to restrain the patrons till they could be seated. It was my job, at first, to guard the entrance to one of these aisles, and at an evening performance an enormously fat lady broke through the velvet rope and started to charge down the aisle, evidently intending to occupy a seat on the screen, and when I attempted to restrain her, she struck me over the head with a handbag that seemed to contain gold bricks. The next thing I remember I was still employed at the Strand but I was now situated near the entrance, in a spot of light, and directing traffic with white-gloved hands. ‘This way, ladies and gentlemen, this way, please,’ and ‘There will be a short wait for all seats.’ And somehow, during the several months' run of Casablanca, I was always able to catch Dooley Wilson and ‘As Time Goes By.’
“The pay was seventeen dollars a week, which covered my room at the ‘Y’ and left me seven dollars for meals. And I loved it…”
Baby Doll ran a total of 11 days and grossed $18,000 for the entire run. That was described by the management as a “good average but not a boxoffice record.” The less controversial Anastasia, starring Ingrid Bergman, followed.
The Castle and the Art Cinema on Broad Street shared a programming of the film of the La Scala production of Puccini’s La Bohème on November 3 & 4, 1965. An unusual bit of day-dating shared by the two theatres.
The Art Cinema and the Castle Theatre on Chalkstone Avenue shared a programming of the film of the La Scala production of Puccini’s La Bohème on November 3 & 4, 1965. An unusual bit of day-dating shared by the two theatres.
The film program for the last day of this theatre as the Bijou on August 16, 1947 was the The Beast With Five Fingers and That Way With Women. As I noted above, it reopened on April 4, 1948 as the “New” Empire. In 1949 it closed for good and was demolished.
The legendary soprano Mary Garden sang at the E.F. Albee on March 7, 1920. This was less than one year after the theatre had opened. Admission prices ranged from $1 to $3.50 for the sole Sunday-afternoon matinee. By law Providence theatres could not offer movies or plays on Sundays at the time. Musical events were permitted. As a result many of the downtown theatres had concerts and recitals by classical and popular artists.
The Casino Theatre became the Pier Cinema in 1967.
Another of the “big” movies that were shown at this legit house was the Fox production of What Price Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen. It opened April 18, 1927. The film was accompanied by a “special symphony orchestra of 20” and there were two daily shows, at 2:15 and 8:15, with admission prices ranging from 50 cents to $1.65.
Nice to see that Showbill. The Stranger, beautifully realized by Luchino Visconti and with a tremendous performance by Marcello Mastroianni, has been out of circulation for decades and is a candidate for a major revival. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem likely because of what I’ve heard were rights issues involving the Camus estate. The French-language version, the most authentic, is what was shown in America.
Sarah Bernhardt farewell performances
On Monday, March 5, 1917 the legendary French actress gave final Providence stage performances here at Fays. The matinee plays were Camille and Madame X. That evening she performed in Cleopatra and Champs d'Honneur.
The Providence Journal reported the following day: “With flowers flinging over the footlights and the audience cheering wildly, Sarah Bernhardt said farewell to this city last night in the uniform of a French soldier. With the colors of France in her hand, she stood in the center of the stage in Fay’s Theatre and bowed and smiled and smiled and bowed as one who is weary after a long day’s work, but whose spirit is still fresh, whose eye still brightens at the mention of adventure or of mischief just around the corner.”
Mme. Bernhardt had appeared earlier on several occasions in the city including at the Empire. She also performed at the Odeon in Arctic.
In his Memoirs, famed playwright Tennessee Williams recalled going as a youth to the West End Lyric on Delmar Boulevard, a block away from Westminster Place where his family lived. He wrote of going with a girl named Hazel:
“I believe it was at puberty that I first knew that I had a sexual desire for Hazel and it was in the West End Lyric, the movie house on Delmar Boulevard. Sitting beside her before the movie began, I was suddenly conscious of her bare shoulders and I wanted to touch them and I felt a genital stirring.”
In fact Williams was homosexual and wrote extensively about his gay relationships in that quite excellent autobiography.
Wurlitzer concerts
The stunning Wurlitzer organ in place now gets good use in sporadic free noon concerts that are nicely attended. They also include free refreshments, and patrons are encouraged to bring lunches. The one I attended yesterday also had a 35mm showing of a truly hilarious Buster Keaton short from 1920 called One Week. These free concerts also give one a chance to roam about the palatial theatre from top to bottom in an unhurried, un-mobbed setting and revel in its loveliness. Dates for these concerts and all PPAC events are listed on the theatre’s website.
Opening day at Loew’s State Theatre
On opening day, October 6, 1928, the feature film attraction was the “Metro Movietone sound picture” Excess Baggage with William Haines. Also on the program were Movietone and Vitaphone offerings, M.G.M. and Fox news, and Joseph Stoves at the “mighty $100,000 Morton organ.”
The first person to purchase a ticket was a 14-year-old Providence boy by the name of James Riley, who had waited hours for the honor. The first day’s attractions began at 10 A.M. Capacity crowds filled the 3800-seat theatre throughout the day, for a total of 14,000 patrons by day’s end. Admission prices ranged from 20 cents to 50 cents. At the dedication ceremony in the evening Governor Norman S. Case, Senator Peter Goelet Gerry, and Mayor James E. Dunne offered words of praise and congratulation.
Rhode Island’s most beautiful theatre was born.
Here is a a photo of a flooded Thames Street after the hurricane that struck on September 21, 1938. The Colonial Theatre can be seen in the distance.
James, perhaps you should post those interesting comments on the Plaza page.
Here is a link to a recent San Francisco Examiner article on the renovation of Cinema 21.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the World, referred to as the World Cinema. No specific titles were given, just the category of “distinctive films.”
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was for the Embassy News Theatre.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was for the Plaza, then showing The Princess Comes Along.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the Astor, which was in its fifth month with The Great Ziegfeld.
THESE THEATRE ADS appeared in a program booklet “Stadium Concerts Review” for Lewisohn Stadium, College of the City of New York, for July 29 to August 4, 1936. The concerts were by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. The small ads tout what was playing at several New York movie theatres. One of them was the Cinema de Paris, which, given the address, seems to have been another name for the 5th Avenue Cinema/Playhouse.
The small Providence Journal ad for the Empire’s last day on January 16, 1915 stated:
THIS IS GOOD-BYE WEEK
at the
EMPIRE
A Wonderful Scenic Production of
THE SPOILERS
PHOTOPLAY IN NINE PARTS
With William Farnum, Kathlyn
Williams and Cast of over 200
Time Table
12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30
I wonder when the name “Lincoln” began. It was also called that on February 1, 1950 when the bill was She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Jigsaw, according to a rare Providence Journal ad.
A cultural presentation on October 21 & 22 of 1965 was La Bohème, a filming of a La Scala opera production of Puccini’s popular masterpiece.
…and on February 6, 1963 it was still open for It’s Only Money with Jerry Lewis and Operation Bullshine.