I saw the film Lifeguard here on September 19, 1976. I believe it might have been the last film I ever saw here before the theatre closed a year later.
I went to an Italian-horror double bill here on September 15, 1976. The films were Deep Red (Dario Argento) and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (Emilio Miraglia). The genre is not my cup of tea and I don’t think I really enjoyed it.
I went with a friend to a triple “horror” bill here on August 8, 1980. The program was The Came from Within (David Cronenberg), The Children and * Horror House*. I think we laughed throughout and ate a lot of drive-in junk food.
The earlier Walnut Hill Cinemas and Cinema 4 (1971 & 1973) were each located on Diamond Hill Road in the same general vicinity. The Walnut Hill Cinemas had been located in Walnut Hill Plaza. The Woonsocket Cinemas were in Woonsocket Plaza. Cinema 4 had also been in Woonsocket Plaza, in a different spot. The two plazas are practically adjacent. At no time were the Woonsocket Cinemas operating when either the Walnut Hill Cinemas or Cinema 4 were in existence. In 1989, when the Woonsocket Cinemas were opened, the other two theatres had already been closed and/or demolished.
Cinema 4, built as a single-screen theatre in 1973 to supplement the Walnut Hill Cinemas 1-2-3 and located a short throw away at 2000 Diamond Hill Avenue can be found by clicking here. The Woonsocket Cinemas, built in the same general area of Diamond Hill Road in 1989, can be found here.
The theatre was built by Cinema Systems of America, Inc. of Boston, headed by Jon Boorn, 31, president, of Newton. Dave Connor, 28, also of Newton was president of Cinema Systems of Boston.
General manager of the new cinema was Esther (Pandura) Stevens.
Opening night films on January 29, 1971 were The Traveling Executioner, There’s a Girl in My Soup, and Russ Meyers' Vixen. This last title was rated X but was not pornographic. Kiddie matinees were promised for upcoming bookings.
Two of the three auditoriums had 225 seats each. One had 250 seats.
The day this theatre opened, the Stadium Theatre, Woonsocket’s only other operating theatre, was showing Lovers and Other Strangers.
Some programs illustrating a progression:
1-29-71: Lovers and Other Strangers (This was the day the Walnut Hill Cinemas opened on Diamond Hill Road.)
12-72: Slaughterhouse Five
1-73: Superfly
7-73: Inga and Oh, Calcutta!
1-1-74: Climax and Feel (porno)
The 8-screen Woonsocket Cinemas opened on Friday, November 17, 1989, according to a feature in The Woonsocket Call announcing the event. It meant, for the first time in many years that city natives would be able to see first-run movies in their own town. The theatre was housed in the shell of the one-time Big G Supermarket, next door to Caldor.
The cinema was associated with Melrose Enterprises of Boston, which ran more than 100 screens in New England. Stephen Menasian and Clem Desmaarais were partners in the venture. Desmarais was also the owner and operator of the Rustic Drive-In on Route 146 in North Smithfield.
The conversion from supermarket to cinema complex had begun the previous May and the resulting cinemas had a combined seating capacity of 1680. Part of the decor featured tile from Brazil and Italian marble behind the snack bar. The lobby had an art deco theme.
The films that were shown opening day were Harlem Nights, Shocker, The Bear, Immediate Family, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Staying Together, Look Who’s Talking, The Fabulous Baker Boys.
The day after opening, a picture story in the same paper showed a photo of patrons who had lined up to get in. One was of Estelle Anger and her daughter Paula, both from Woonsocket, who were the theatre’s first two customers. Both avid movie fans, mom was treating daughter in celebration of the latter’s birthday.
There were 1,000 customers on that opening day. Look Who’s Talking was a sellout for two shows.
(Some of the above is paraphrased from Woonsocket Call material.)
Lockwood & Gordon Enterprises of Boston was a chain of New England theatres that bought the Art Cinema in September of 1958, according to a Providence Journal article September 17. At the time they also operated the Avon, Hope, and Castle in Providence. An art house policy with internatonal films was promised. The theatre had been remodeled and redecorated a year before and equipped with modern upholstered seats.
It should be noted that the theatre had been opened as the Art Cinema the previous January with Gervaise. Before that it had been the neighborhood Liberty Theatre since 1921. I do not know who ran the place when it first became the Art, but will find out. But apparently Lockwood & Gordon did not run in its first days under this policy, as I implied in my description.
A newspaper ad from October, 1962, the era of art-house mania. Both the Art and the Avon on the other side of town, were run at the time by the Lockwood Gordon chain of Boston.
A newspaper ad from October, 1962, the era of art-house mania. Both the Avon and the Art, on the other side of town, were run at the time by the Lockwood Gordon chain of Boston.
I am told by a former employee that the Metropolitan did not have air-conditioning (when he worked there in the 1940s) and for this reason would close during the summer months.
Bsilva, yes, I thought it was in the South End, near the Orpheum. I’m from Providence and don’t know the city that well. I paid a visit to the Orpheum a while back and took some photos. I found the exterior overwhelming. Have you been inside? Could you post something on its page?
Liam, no, the entrance was from the front as it always had been. The two auditorium entrances were to the left and right of the candy concession. I believe there were side exit doors, one to the parking lot on the right, one to a side street on the left that were opened after crowded shows. One thing about this place that sticks in the mind about this place when it ws the Cinerama, is the plush-red drapes, curtains, everything. It had the decor of a bordello. I used to go here in the late 1950s and the 1960s, when it was the nabe Hope Theatre, to see double bills of movies that I might have missed elsewhere.
Neither did I. I went to those also. I think Marathon Man was one of the ones they got too. A theatre that size costs it something like $5,000 just to open the door!
Yes, true. I remember the 1965 Sylvia played there forever, and it was such a mediocre film. I think the competition from these theatres, especially the Cinerama, is why the Avon would find its niche in repertory in the 1970s. The death of the Cinerama in 1983 was bad for filmgoers, good for the Avon. I don’t think the Four Seasons was much competition for very long in the 1960s, although they got first-run on some important films like Juliet of the Spirits (if I remember correctly) which was really Avon stuff, if they had cared about it at that point. By the end of the 1960s the Columbus/Studio had already moved to ultra-sexy stuff before descending into outright porn.
A Providence Journal newspaper article on August 13, 1956 carried the banner “Thornton Girl to Star in Movie.” The girl was 13-year-old Frances Manfredi who had a role in the film Rock, Rock, Rock under the name of Fran Manfred. The film starred Tuesday Weld and Alan Freed. Ms. Manfredi surely saw movies many times at this theatre in the village of Thornton. I don’t know what became of her, and her name does not appear on IMDb, apart from the credits of this one movie.
The world premiere of the wartime film about an aircraft carrier, Wing and a Prayer, took place here on July 28, 1944. A day later stars Dana Andrews and Sir Cedric Hardwicke made appearances on stage at the Majestic. The Quonset Officers Glee Club sang. Here is the opening day newspaper ad for the program.
On April 5, 1940 singer Nelson Eddy, born in the Olneyville section of Providence, performed at the Metropolitan after an absence of three years. Ticket price range: $1.00 – $3.50.
I saw the film Lifeguard here on September 19, 1976. I believe it might have been the last film I ever saw here before the theatre closed a year later.
I went to an Italian-horror double bill here on September 15, 1976. The films were Deep Red (Dario Argento) and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (Emilio Miraglia). The genre is not my cup of tea and I don’t think I really enjoyed it.
I went with a friend to a triple “horror” bill here on August 8, 1980. The program was The Came from Within (David Cronenberg), The Children and * Horror House*. I think we laughed throughout and ate a lot of drive-in junk food.
I saw an ideal presentation of The Empire Strikes Back here in July 31, 1980.
I saw Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood here in May, 1973.
Here is the opening day newspaper ad for Cinema 4.
The earlier Walnut Hill Cinemas and Cinema 4 (1971 & 1973) were each located on Diamond Hill Road in the same general vicinity. The Walnut Hill Cinemas had been located in Walnut Hill Plaza. The Woonsocket Cinemas were in Woonsocket Plaza. Cinema 4 had also been in Woonsocket Plaza, in a different spot. The two plazas are practically adjacent. At no time were the Woonsocket Cinemas operating when either the Walnut Hill Cinemas or Cinema 4 were in existence. In 1989, when the Woonsocket Cinemas were opened, the other two theatres had already been closed and/or demolished.
The Walnut Hill Cinemas, which Cinema 4 was built to supplement, can be found here.
The opening day film for Cinema 4 was Deliverance.
After the theatre was closed it became an Evangelical church, later was razed, and the area is now occupied by a Lowe’s store.
Cinema 4, built as a single-screen theatre in 1973 to supplement the Walnut Hill Cinemas 1-2-3 and located a short throw away at 2000 Diamond Hill Avenue can be found by clicking here. The Woonsocket Cinemas, built in the same general area of Diamond Hill Road in 1989, can be found here.
The theatre was built by Cinema Systems of America, Inc. of Boston, headed by Jon Boorn, 31, president, of Newton. Dave Connor, 28, also of Newton was president of Cinema Systems of Boston.
General manager of the new cinema was Esther (Pandura) Stevens.
Opening night films on January 29, 1971 were The Traveling Executioner, There’s a Girl in My Soup, and Russ Meyers' Vixen. This last title was rated X but was not pornographic. Kiddie matinees were promised for upcoming bookings.
Two of the three auditoriums had 225 seats each. One had 250 seats.
The day this theatre opened, the Stadium Theatre, Woonsocket’s only other operating theatre, was showing Lovers and Other Strangers.
Some programs illustrating a progression:
1-29-71: Lovers and Other Strangers (This was the day the Walnut Hill Cinemas opened on Diamond Hill Road.)
12-72: Slaughterhouse Five
1-73: Superfly
7-73: Inga and Oh, Calcutta!
1-1-74: Climax and Feel (porno)
Ads from the 1970s list the theatre as the Franklin Cinema.
Opening of the Woonsocket Cinemas
The 8-screen Woonsocket Cinemas opened on Friday, November 17, 1989, according to a feature in The Woonsocket Call announcing the event. It meant, for the first time in many years that city natives would be able to see first-run movies in their own town. The theatre was housed in the shell of the one-time Big G Supermarket, next door to Caldor.
The cinema was associated with Melrose Enterprises of Boston, which ran more than 100 screens in New England. Stephen Menasian and Clem Desmaarais were partners in the venture. Desmarais was also the owner and operator of the Rustic Drive-In on Route 146 in North Smithfield.
The conversion from supermarket to cinema complex had begun the previous May and the resulting cinemas had a combined seating capacity of 1680. Part of the decor featured tile from Brazil and Italian marble behind the snack bar. The lobby had an art deco theme.
The films that were shown opening day were Harlem Nights, Shocker, The Bear, Immediate Family, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Staying Together, Look Who’s Talking, The Fabulous Baker Boys.
The day after opening, a picture story in the same paper showed a photo of patrons who had lined up to get in. One was of Estelle Anger and her daughter Paula, both from Woonsocket, who were the theatre’s first two customers. Both avid movie fans, mom was treating daughter in celebration of the latter’s birthday.
There were 1,000 customers on that opening day. Look Who’s Talking was a sellout for two shows.
(Some of the above is paraphrased from Woonsocket Call material.)
Lockwood & Gordon Enterprises of Boston was a chain of New England theatres that bought the Art Cinema in September of 1958, according to a Providence Journal article September 17. At the time they also operated the Avon, Hope, and Castle in Providence. An art house policy with internatonal films was promised. The theatre had been remodeled and redecorated a year before and equipped with modern upholstered seats.
It should be noted that the theatre had been opened as the Art Cinema the previous January with Gervaise. Before that it had been the neighborhood Liberty Theatre since 1921. I do not know who ran the place when it first became the Art, but will find out. But apparently Lockwood & Gordon did not run in its first days under this policy, as I implied in my description.
A newspaper ad from October, 1962, the era of art-house mania. Both the Art and the Avon on the other side of town, were run at the time by the Lockwood Gordon chain of Boston.
A newspaper ad from October, 1962, the era of art-house mania. Both the Avon and the Art, on the other side of town, were run at the time by the Lockwood Gordon chain of Boston.
I am told by a former employee that the Metropolitan did not have air-conditioning (when he worked there in the 1940s) and for this reason would close during the summer months.
Bsilva, yes, I thought it was in the South End, near the Orpheum. I’m from Providence and don’t know the city that well. I paid a visit to the Orpheum a while back and took some photos. I found the exterior overwhelming. Have you been inside? Could you post something on its page?
Liam, no, the entrance was from the front as it always had been. The two auditorium entrances were to the left and right of the candy concession. I believe there were side exit doors, one to the parking lot on the right, one to a side street on the left that were opened after crowded shows. One thing about this place that sticks in the mind about this place when it ws the Cinerama, is the plush-red drapes, curtains, everything. It had the decor of a bordello. I used to go here in the late 1950s and the 1960s, when it was the nabe Hope Theatre, to see double bills of movies that I might have missed elsewhere.
Neither did I. I went to those also. I think Marathon Man was one of the ones they got too. A theatre that size costs it something like $5,000 just to open the door!
Yes, true. I remember the 1965 Sylvia played there forever, and it was such a mediocre film. I think the competition from these theatres, especially the Cinerama, is why the Avon would find its niche in repertory in the 1970s. The death of the Cinerama in 1983 was bad for filmgoers, good for the Avon. I don’t think the Four Seasons was much competition for very long in the 1960s, although they got first-run on some important films like Juliet of the Spirits (if I remember correctly) which was really Avon stuff, if they had cared about it at that point. By the end of the 1960s the Columbus/Studio had already moved to ultra-sexy stuff before descending into outright porn.
It is a neighborhood theatre…in Variety jargon.
A Providence Journal newspaper article on August 13, 1956 carried the banner “Thornton Girl to Star in Movie.” The girl was 13-year-old Frances Manfredi who had a role in the film Rock, Rock, Rock under the name of Fran Manfred. The film starred Tuesday Weld and Alan Freed. Ms. Manfredi surely saw movies many times at this theatre in the village of Thornton. I don’t know what became of her, and her name does not appear on IMDb, apart from the credits of this one movie.
The world premiere of the wartime film about an aircraft carrier, Wing and a Prayer, took place here on July 28, 1944. A day later stars Dana Andrews and Sir Cedric Hardwicke made appearances on stage at the Majestic. The Quonset Officers Glee Club sang. Here is the opening day newspaper ad for the program.
On April 5, 1940 singer Nelson Eddy, born in the Olneyville section of Providence, performed at the Metropolitan after an absence of three years. Ticket price range: $1.00 – $3.50.