The current issue of Newsweek, September 12, 2005, has a large photo on pages 42 & 43 of a flooded Canal Street. On the left can be seen the marquee of the Saenger Theatre. On the right is Loew’s State. Vehicles and people can be seen in about two feet of water or more.
The current issue of Newsweek, September 12, 2005, has a large photo on pages 42 & 43 of a flooded Canal Street. On the left can be seen the marquee of the Saenger Theatre. On the right is Loew’s State. Vehicles and people can be seen in about two feet of water or more.
The Avon Cinema in Providence opened as an art house in 1938 with Abel Gance’s The Life and Loves of Beethoven and has been operating ever since. Perhaps there are other older ones. I don’t know. But this one certainly deserves consideration. It is a single-screener and and currently a first-run art house.
Work continues on the Liberty Theater Cultural Center. This Providence Journal news-photo by Kathy Borchers shows the rear of the auditorium and the former projection booth.
A photo-article in The Providence Journal of September 1, 2005 discusses continuing plans to convert the former Bomes-owned Liberty Theatre (later Art Cinema) to a neighborhood “community space where arts and culture are displayed and celebrated.”
The building is currently owned by the Providence Redevelopment Agency, which takes ownership of abandoned properties.
The consensus among area residents is to turn the building into the “Liberty Theater Cultural Center, a facility that could serve as a multi-cultural arts and education resource for the South Side and the entire city.” Under the plan, the center would have space for live theater and dance, musical performances, film and culturally diverse performing arts.
The article reports that plans would likely include gutting the interior and replacing electrical, plumbing, heating and air and sprinkler systems, according to an assessment by the Urban Design Group. Cost estimates range from $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
The theatre opened in 1921 and has been closed since 1975.
Three men were held in a plot to destroy the movie projector at the Liberty Theatre in September of 1931. One of the men, Conrad S. Lavigne, had worked there as a projectionist. He pleaded guilty and was given a jail term. The theatre was owned by Samuel Bomes, who several years before had brought injunction proceedings against the Moving Picture Operators' Union to enjoin picketing about the theatre and the case eventually went to the Supreme Court. An article about the attempted break-in appeared in the Providence newspaper on September 13, 1931.
In addition to its regular programs, the Carlton Theatre, in 1951, began presenting video broadcasts of sporting events such as championship fights and football games. The debut occurred on September 29 with an exclusive look at the Notre Dame – Indiana game, which was not carried on any commercial channel. In addition, viewers saw a double feature plus short subjects, all for $1. Only a handful of patrons turned out, according to an article in the Providence Journal the following day.
Starting in 1973, and for a time afterwards, the Elmwood had programs of double features of Spanish-language films every Saturday. The programs were begun by Virgilio Grullon and Rafael Nunez. One of the films shown was Don Quixote Cabalga with the famed Mexican comic star Cantinflas. Mr. Nunez asserted it was difficult to get prints of many other films with Cantinflas because of distributor restrictons. Another of the Mexican films programmed was White Roses for My Black Sister, a story of interracial marriage. The venture generally broke even but did not become a profit-making enterprise. An article entitled “Spanish-language films broke even 1st year” appeared in the Providence Journal on February 3, 1974.
On January 10, 1965 a newspaper ad for the Lafayette announced, without giving a specific title, a “new Portuguese feature film.” The only other theatre in R.I. I know of for sure as showing occasional Portuguese-language films for the ethnic audience was the Hollywood in East Providence.
In January, 1965 a newspaper ad for the Majestic promoted a film called Guess What and the Single Girl. I think the Providence Journal might not have been accepting film titles containing the word “sex.”
In the years 1974 & 1975 (perhaps earlier and later too?) the Hillside was used for showing Italian films on Sundays. Imputazione per uno studente with Massimo Ranieri played February 2, 1974. Pensando a te played the following Sunday. Ads had unnamed second features. On October 19, 1975 I saw a double bill f La monaca di Monza with Il segno del leone. These films were run by Rolando Petrella of the Italian radio program “La Voce d'Italia” on radio station WRIB. He had run the programs at the Italy Cinema in Johnston and in other venues.
The theatre didn’t fully close in 1954 as previously asserted. There were stage events, even films, in 1955. October 1, 1955 brought a production of the opera The Barber of Seville with Robert Merrill, Salvatore Baccaloni, under the direction of Maestro Danilo Sciotti.
3-D Movie at Drive-In Provides Police with 4-D Traffic Tieup
That was the headline of a Providence Journal newspaper article on July 13, 1953 reporting that the showing of a 3-D movie at this drive-in the night before combined with volumes of traffic returning from the R.I. beaches had caused a monumental traffic snarl in the area. The movie was Fort Ti which played with the 3-D short Spooks, featuring the 3 Stooges.
The former Palace Theatre is now known as God’s Family Church. Next to the church is a cemetery which abuts Providence’s lovely multi-laked Roger Williams Park. A peek into the interior reveals a well-maintained building. The original seats have been replaced by pews, while retaining the rake of the floor. The projection booth structure over the entrance remains intact as seen in this furtive photo taken through a side door.
The Gem Theatre, mentioned in Roger Brett’s volume about Providence movie theatres, Temples of Illlusion, as a separate theatre from this one, turns out to be the same one with a different name. Newspaper ads show it calling itself “The little house with the big features.” They boasted that they were the only theatre in Providence that changed its entire program every day. They must have been having stiff competition with the new and larger Royal Theatre, built in 1914 in Olneyville Square. Here is a newspaper ad for the Gem Theatre from October 17, 1915.
It is evident now, based on city directories of the time, the the theatre had another name as well. From about 1915-1916, it was called the Gem Theatre.
Between 1916, when the Toy Theatre closed, and 1938, when the Avon Theatre opened, the building was used as the Toy Garage. I assume it was an automobile service garage of some type. The Providence City Directory lists the establishment under this name during those years at the address of 460 Thayer Street and gives the names of various owners/managers during that time period.
The oldest still-in-operation art house in New York City, I would guess, is the Paris Theatre, which opened in 1948 with Symphonie Pastorale.
The current issue of Newsweek, September 12, 2005, has a large photo on pages 42 & 43 of a flooded Canal Street. On the left can be seen the marquee of the Saenger Theatre. On the right is Loew’s State. Vehicles and people can be seen in about two feet of water or more.
The current issue of Newsweek, September 12, 2005, has a large photo on pages 42 & 43 of a flooded Canal Street. On the left can be seen the marquee of the Saenger Theatre. On the right is Loew’s State. Vehicles and people can be seen in about two feet of water or more.
The Avon Cinema in Providence opened as an art house in 1938 with Abel Gance’s The Life and Loves of Beethoven and has been operating ever since. Perhaps there are other older ones. I don’t know. But this one certainly deserves consideration. It is a single-screener and and currently a first-run art house.
Work continues on the Liberty Theater Cultural Center. This Providence Journal news-photo by Kathy Borchers shows the rear of the auditorium and the former projection booth.
Renewal plans for the Liberty Theatre/Art Cinema.
A photo-article in The Providence Journal of September 1, 2005 discusses continuing plans to convert the former Bomes-owned Liberty Theatre (later Art Cinema) to a neighborhood “community space where arts and culture are displayed and celebrated.”
The building is currently owned by the Providence Redevelopment Agency, which takes ownership of abandoned properties.
The consensus among area residents is to turn the building into the “Liberty Theater Cultural Center, a facility that could serve as a multi-cultural arts and education resource for the South Side and the entire city.” Under the plan, the center would have space for live theater and dance, musical performances, film and culturally diverse performing arts.
The article reports that plans would likely include gutting the interior and replacing electrical, plumbing, heating and air and sprinkler systems, according to an assessment by the Urban Design Group. Cost estimates range from $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
The theatre opened in 1921 and has been closed since 1975.
Three men were held in a plot to destroy the movie projector at the Liberty Theatre in September of 1931. One of the men, Conrad S. Lavigne, had worked there as a projectionist. He pleaded guilty and was given a jail term. The theatre was owned by Samuel Bomes, who several years before had brought injunction proceedings against the Moving Picture Operators' Union to enjoin picketing about the theatre and the case eventually went to the Supreme Court. An article about the attempted break-in appeared in the Providence newspaper on September 13, 1931.
In addition to its regular programs, the Carlton Theatre, in 1951, began presenting video broadcasts of sporting events such as championship fights and football games. The debut occurred on September 29 with an exclusive look at the Notre Dame – Indiana game, which was not carried on any commercial channel. In addition, viewers saw a double feature plus short subjects, all for $1. Only a handful of patrons turned out, according to an article in the Providence Journal the following day.
Starting in 1973, and for a time afterwards, the Elmwood had programs of double features of Spanish-language films every Saturday. The programs were begun by Virgilio Grullon and Rafael Nunez. One of the films shown was Don Quixote Cabalga with the famed Mexican comic star Cantinflas. Mr. Nunez asserted it was difficult to get prints of many other films with Cantinflas because of distributor restrictons. Another of the Mexican films programmed was White Roses for My Black Sister, a story of interracial marriage. The venture generally broke even but did not become a profit-making enterprise. An article entitled “Spanish-language films broke even 1st year” appeared in the Providence Journal on February 3, 1974.
On January 10, 1965 a newspaper ad for the Lafayette announced, without giving a specific title, a “new Portuguese feature film.” The only other theatre in R.I. I know of for sure as showing occasional Portuguese-language films for the ethnic audience was the Hollywood in East Providence.
In January, 1965 a newspaper ad for the Majestic promoted a film called Guess What and the Single Girl. I think the Providence Journal might not have been accepting film titles containing the word “sex.”
The Lyric was still showing movies in 1965, according to an ad I found. I don’t know how much beyond that it lasted.
In the years 1974 & 1975 (perhaps earlier and later too?) the Hillside was used for showing Italian films on Sundays. Imputazione per uno studente with Massimo Ranieri played February 2, 1974. Pensando a te played the following Sunday. Ads had unnamed second features. On October 19, 1975 I saw a double bill f La monaca di Monza with Il segno del leone. These films were run by Rolando Petrella of the Italian radio program “La Voce d'Italia” on radio station WRIB. He had run the programs at the Italy Cinema in Johnston and in other venues.
The theatre didn’t fully close in 1954 as previously asserted. There were stage events, even films, in 1955. October 1, 1955 brought a production of the opera The Barber of Seville with Robert Merrill, Salvatore Baccaloni, under the direction of Maestro Danilo Sciotti.
3-D Movie at Drive-In Provides Police with 4-D Traffic Tieup
That was the headline of a Providence Journal newspaper article on July 13, 1953 reporting that the showing of a 3-D movie at this drive-in the night before combined with volumes of traffic returning from the R.I. beaches had caused a monumental traffic snarl in the area. The movie was Fort Ti which played with the 3-D short Spooks, featuring the 3 Stooges.
Other Olneyville Square theatres were the Royal, the Dimerina, and the Olympia.
Other Olneyville Square theatres were the Edisonia/Pastime/Gem, the Royal, and the Olympia.
Other Olneyville Square theatres were the Edisonia/Pastime/Gem, the Dimerina, and the Royal.
Other Olneyville Square theatres were the Edisonia/Pastime/Gem, the Dimerina, and the Olympia.
During its years as the Victory, the theatre was also known as the R.K.O. Victory for a time.
The former Palace Theatre is now known as God’s Family Church. Next to the church is a cemetery which abuts Providence’s lovely multi-laked Roger Williams Park. A peek into the interior reveals a well-maintained building. The original seats have been replaced by pews, while retaining the rake of the floor. The projection booth structure over the entrance remains intact as seen in this furtive photo taken through a side door.
Kaufman and Braunig were named as owners in the 1916 city directory. The Gem Theatre no longer appears in the 1917 city directory or in later ones.
The Gem Theatre, mentioned in Roger Brett’s volume about Providence movie theatres, Temples of Illlusion, as a separate theatre from this one, turns out to be the same one with a different name. Newspaper ads show it calling itself “The little house with the big features.” They boasted that they were the only theatre in Providence that changed its entire program every day. They must have been having stiff competition with the new and larger Royal Theatre, built in 1914 in Olneyville Square. Here is a newspaper ad for the Gem Theatre from October 17, 1915.
It is evident now, based on city directories of the time, the the theatre had another name as well. From about 1915-1916, it was called the Gem Theatre.
Between 1916, when the Toy Theatre closed, and 1938, when the Avon Theatre opened, the building was used as the Toy Garage. I assume it was an automobile service garage of some type. The Providence City Directory lists the establishment under this name during those years at the address of 460 Thayer Street and gives the names of various owners/managers during that time period.