As I wrote earlier, the Bijou Theatre closed as the Bijou on August 16, 1947. It then reopened as the “New” Empire on April 4, 1948. So the place was dark for about eight months in between. I don’t have any information as to whether the staff from the Empire at 260 Westminster moved over to the “New” Empire at 368.
This has nothing to do with the Apple Valley Cinemas, but I found an ad from July, 1949 publicizing a “Roseland Movie Theatre Restaurant,” located at the junction of Route 44 & 5 in Smithfield. That would place it right near or at Apple Valley, which is at this same junction. The films for Wednesday thru Saturday, July 6 to July 9 were Friendly Enemies (1942) with Charles Ruggles and Pride of the Bowery (1940) with Leo Gorcey and the East Side Kids. My guess is that these two older movies were 16mm prints, probably locally obtained, shown in a makeshift setup. At any rate, the place seems to anticipate by decades the numerous food-and-film places that have popped up in recent years. I wonder how it all went. As a bit of esoterica I could add that these two films might today be of interest to auteur film cultists since they were directed by Allan Dwan and Joseph H. Lewis respectively.
Earlier I mentioned Henry V as being the only reserved seat engagement at the Avon that I knew of. Not so any more. Beginning June 1, 1949 there was a reserved seat run of another British movie, the beloved ballet story The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and starring Moira Shearer. Here is AN AD FOR OPENING DAY. Admission prices ranged from 90¢ to $2.40.
This theatre as the EMPIRE, twice:
About five weeks after the Empire Theatre a few blocks away at 260 Westminster Street shut down on February 29, 1948 to be soon demolished, a “New Empire Theatre” opened at 368 Westminster Street, according to newspaper ads. The address was given in the ads for the opening program on April 4, 1948. Now, 368 Westminster was the address of this theatre, which seemed to be given the name Empire once more. (It had previously been called the Empire from about 1915-1924.) This “New” Empire would itself shut down a year later on June 18, 1949, to be demolished in the winter of that year. In his book on Providence theatres, Temples of Illusion, Roger Brett does not mention this final renaming of the Westminster/Empire/Bijou, but Providence Journal newspaper ads, with addresses, give the evidence.
The first program for the “New” Empire on April 4, 1948 was Black Friday with Lugosi and Karloff and The Black Cat with Basil Rathbone and Alan Ladd. HERE IS THE AD for that opening day of the Bijou as the “New” Empire. The last advertised program for this theatre, on June 18, 1949, was Karloff and Lugosi in The Raven and Bela Lugosi in Murders in the Rue Morgue. This theatre and the previous Empire should have been named the Karloff Theatre or Lugosi Theatre. They constantly showed many of those films, which were even then oldies. Roger Brett wrote that in the last years of these two theatres, they were mostly frequented by a handful of people, often old derelicts, whose only interest was to escape the cold or to sleep. There was no real “culture of old films” then as there is more of today, though film-buff Brett expressed gratitude at all the cinema history he was able to see there. These films were booked because they were cheap and filled up the screen time. But it was no longer possible for run-down theatres like these, despite their characterful classic beauty, to survive.
History of “Empire” as a theatre name in Providence:
1) 410 Westminster Street (1899-1915) = Empire
2) 260 Westminster Street (1936-1948) = Low’s-Keith’s-Victory-Empire
3) 368 Westminster Street (1915-1924) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire (this theatre)
4) 368 Westminster Street (1948-1949) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire (this theatre again)
The name EMPIRE
About five weeks after this theatre shut down on February 29, 1948 to be soon demolished, a “New Empire Theatre” opened up a couple of blocks away at 368 Westminster Street, according to newspaper ads. The address was given in the ads for the opening program on April 4, 1948. Now, 368 Westminster was the address of the Bijou Theatre, which seemed to be given the name Empire once more. (It had previously been called the Empire from about 1915-1924.) This “New” Empire would itself shut down a year later on June 18, 1949, to be demolished in the winter of that year.
History of “Empire” as a theatre name in Providence:
1) 410 Westminster Street (1899-1915) = Empire
2) 260 Westminster Street (1936-1948) = Low’s-Keith’s-Victory-Empire (this theatre)
3) 368 Westminster Street (1915-1924) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire
4) 368 Westminster Street (1948-1949) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire
Before the building had been converted to a cinema in 1976, it had been vacant a bit after being the Burns Michael Trucking Company for several decades. The Providence City Directory lists 204 South Main Street under that business name way back to the 1930s.
The Columbus Theatre opened on November 1, 1926. Featured were stage comedy, music, and dance. On the screen was King Vidor’s La Boheme, an M.G.M. film with Lillian Gish and John Gilbert. Here is the NEWSPAPER AD announcing that opening day program. It appeared in the Providence Journal the day before. Also in the Journal on October 31 was an article describing the new theatre and showing a photo of the interior.
The last film program at the Empire, judging by ads in the Providence Journal, seems to have been on Sunday, February 29, 1948. It was a typical older double bill of Betrayed, a.k.a. When Strangers Marry (1944) and Western Gold (1937). No ads appeared after that date. On February 27 a Journal article had announced the impending closing and planned demolition: “Herbert M. Copellman, managing director of the theater, explained today that the last showng of movies at the Empire will be either tomorrow night or next Tuesday night.”
The article said too that the the theater auditorium had been admired increasingly during the previous few years by students of the architecture of its period and was praised for its “quaint charm.” The interior boasted attractive moldings, paintings, and decorations. Asked if any attempt would be made to save them, Copellman chuckled, “They can give it to an art museum as far as we’re concerned.”
When the theatre opened as Low’s Opera House on March 4, 1878, a theatrical production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was featured. By the time of its demolition in 1948, the theater was Providence’s then oldest theater: 1878-1948 or exactly 70 years.
On January 16, 1977 there was a short piece in the Providence Journal about Ray Bilodeau, who had recently opened the Cable Car Cinema less than three months before. In it Mr. Bilodeau complains about smallish audiences, losing money on the venture, even going broke, not being able to get films from some of the major distributors because of oppressive guarantees, and other problems.
Told to Shun Baby Doll
In January of 1957, when Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams Baby Doll was playing at the Majestic, the Most Rev. Russell J. McVinney, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, had told Rhode Island Catholics that they should not see the picture. I myself remember, as a student at LaSalle Academy at the time, that we were told by the principal in a P.A. announcement that the film was off-limits. A Providence Journal article from January 14 reported that Rev. Augustine F. Burns, pastor of Saint Mark’s Church in Jamestown, reminded his parishioners at services that they could not see the picture which was playing in Providence and also in Newport. Here is an ad for the film.
Perhaps someone at Pike Productions could help. They have an office in Newport, R.I. on Clarke Street, adjacent to the Jane Pickens Theatre. This is the Pike Productions website.
In June, 1948 the Providence Police banned the 1941 French film Volpone by Maurice Tourneur, as “indecent and irreligious.” It was scheduled to be shown at the Avon. It had also been condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency (CLOD). I don’t know yet if the decision was ever reversed. The movie, of course, had been based on Ben Jonson’s great comedy. It had played for over five months in New York at the Ambassador Theatre. Bradford F. Swan, author of a June 5th Providence Journal article reporting the ban, wrote, …“If its reputation as a period piece is kept in mind, and if it is taken as a mordant commentary on avarice and evil, ‘Volpone’ seemed hardly the movie to corrupt Providence.
During the World War II years the Avon Theatre generally showed selected revivals of U.S. films. The unavailability of most new European product would have made it difficult to show many European films. There were exceptions. The Avon put in a Russian-made film for the week beginning on January 17, 1943. Entitled Mashenka, it is a love story set during the Russian war with Finland and stars Valentina Karavayeva in the title role. The movie was favorably reviewed in the Providence Journal the following day by Bradford F. Swan who said that it “had its moments of deeply moving emotion.” HERE IS THE NEWSPAPER AD FOR OPENING DAY. The film ran for one week. It seems to have vanished without a trace since then.
The first film to play the Beekman, as shown in Warren’s posted marquee shot, was Never Take No for an Answer, a.k.a. Peppino e Violetta, a British-Italian co-production, about a boy named Peppino who wants to take his ailing donkey Violetta into the crypt of Saint Francis of Assisi. Denied permission, he goes to Rome to appeal to the Pope. The film was shot in Assisi and also in the Vatican, one of the few movies allowed to be filmed there.
The film was based on Paul Gallico’s sentimental novella called The Small Miracle. The Small Miracle was also the title of a TV remake of this film. This movie was not typical of the more “sophisticated” ones that were to play the Beekman over the years, but it was indeed an audience pleaser and a likable film. Bosley Crowther gave it a glowing review and even praised the donkey as “a real charmer.”
I used to own a 16mm print and am sorry to have sold it, since it is now so rare. After the Beekman, the film moved over to the Guild 50th where it continued a long succesful engagement.
The Warwick Cinema was showing The Poseidon Adventure in early 1973. That’s not odd, but day-dating the film with the usually art-house Avon Cinema in Providence certainly was. They shared newspaper ads too.
The Avon certainly went fairly mainstream when it was showing The Poseidon Adventure in early 1973, day-dating with the Warwick Cinema on Post Road in Warwick. They shared newspaper ads.
Although, as a shopping place, it’s a tad more characterful that many…if you like ersatz beach architecture. The single-screen Casino Theatre/Pier Cinema, demolished in the early 1970s and located a block from here, was a nicer building. Closing for two weeks? I didn’t know it had been open at all this past summer. Anyhow, I hope the new policy is successful. Rhode Island’s South County needs something with that kind of programming.
Here is a so-so photo of the Wales Theatre.
As I wrote earlier, the Bijou Theatre closed as the Bijou on August 16, 1947. It then reopened as the “New” Empire on April 4, 1948. So the place was dark for about eight months in between. I don’t have any information as to whether the staff from the Empire at 260 Westminster moved over to the “New” Empire at 368.
This has nothing to do with the Apple Valley Cinemas, but I found an ad from July, 1949 publicizing a “Roseland Movie Theatre Restaurant,” located at the junction of Route 44 & 5 in Smithfield. That would place it right near or at Apple Valley, which is at this same junction. The films for Wednesday thru Saturday, July 6 to July 9 were Friendly Enemies (1942) with Charles Ruggles and Pride of the Bowery (1940) with Leo Gorcey and the East Side Kids. My guess is that these two older movies were 16mm prints, probably locally obtained, shown in a makeshift setup. At any rate, the place seems to anticipate by decades the numerous food-and-film places that have popped up in recent years. I wonder how it all went. As a bit of esoterica I could add that these two films might today be of interest to auteur film cultists since they were directed by Allan Dwan and Joseph H. Lewis respectively.
Earlier I mentioned Henry V as being the only reserved seat engagement at the Avon that I knew of. Not so any more. Beginning June 1, 1949 there was a reserved seat run of another British movie, the beloved ballet story The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and starring Moira Shearer. Here is AN AD FOR OPENING DAY. Admission prices ranged from 90¢ to $2.40.
This theatre as the EMPIRE, twice:
About five weeks after the Empire Theatre a few blocks away at 260 Westminster Street shut down on February 29, 1948 to be soon demolished, a “New Empire Theatre” opened at 368 Westminster Street, according to newspaper ads. The address was given in the ads for the opening program on April 4, 1948. Now, 368 Westminster was the address of this theatre, which seemed to be given the name Empire once more. (It had previously been called the Empire from about 1915-1924.) This “New” Empire would itself shut down a year later on June 18, 1949, to be demolished in the winter of that year. In his book on Providence theatres, Temples of Illusion, Roger Brett does not mention this final renaming of the Westminster/Empire/Bijou, but Providence Journal newspaper ads, with addresses, give the evidence.
The first program for the “New” Empire on April 4, 1948 was Black Friday with Lugosi and Karloff and The Black Cat with Basil Rathbone and Alan Ladd. HERE IS THE AD for that opening day of the Bijou as the “New” Empire. The last advertised program for this theatre, on June 18, 1949, was Karloff and Lugosi in The Raven and Bela Lugosi in Murders in the Rue Morgue. This theatre and the previous Empire should have been named the Karloff Theatre or Lugosi Theatre. They constantly showed many of those films, which were even then oldies. Roger Brett wrote that in the last years of these two theatres, they were mostly frequented by a handful of people, often old derelicts, whose only interest was to escape the cold or to sleep. There was no real “culture of old films” then as there is more of today, though film-buff Brett expressed gratitude at all the cinema history he was able to see there. These films were booked because they were cheap and filled up the screen time. But it was no longer possible for run-down theatres like these, despite their characterful classic beauty, to survive.
History of “Empire” as a theatre name in Providence:
1) 410 Westminster Street (1899-1915) = Empire
2) 260 Westminster Street (1936-1948) = Low’s-Keith’s-Victory-Empire
3) 368 Westminster Street (1915-1924) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire (this theatre)
4) 368 Westminster Street (1948-1949) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire (this theatre again)
The name EMPIRE
About five weeks after this theatre shut down on February 29, 1948 to be soon demolished, a “New Empire Theatre” opened up a couple of blocks away at 368 Westminster Street, according to newspaper ads. The address was given in the ads for the opening program on April 4, 1948. Now, 368 Westminster was the address of the Bijou Theatre, which seemed to be given the name Empire once more. (It had previously been called the Empire from about 1915-1924.) This “New” Empire would itself shut down a year later on June 18, 1949, to be demolished in the winter of that year.
History of “Empire” as a theatre name in Providence:
1) 410 Westminster Street (1899-1915) = Empire
2) 260 Westminster Street (1936-1948) = Low’s-Keith’s-Victory-Empire (this theatre)
3) 368 Westminster Street (1915-1924) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire
4) 368 Westminster Street (1948-1949) = Westminster-Empire-Bijou-Empire
Nice shot. I remember at times seeing signage saying “Adult Films Cont from 6:30.” I assumed the abbreviated word was “continuous” but had to laugh.
Before the building had been converted to a cinema in 1976, it had been vacant a bit after being the Burns Michael Trucking Company for several decades. The Providence City Directory lists 204 South Main Street under that business name way back to the 1930s.
Life of the Empire Theatre: September 4, 1899 to January 16, 1915 (last program).
The Columbus Theatre opened on November 1, 1926. Featured were stage comedy, music, and dance. On the screen was King Vidor’s La Boheme, an M.G.M. film with Lillian Gish and John Gilbert. Here is the NEWSPAPER AD announcing that opening day program. It appeared in the Providence Journal the day before. Also in the Journal on October 31 was an article describing the new theatre and showing a photo of the interior.
The last film program at the Empire, judging by ads in the Providence Journal, seems to have been on Sunday, February 29, 1948. It was a typical older double bill of Betrayed, a.k.a. When Strangers Marry (1944) and Western Gold (1937). No ads appeared after that date. On February 27 a Journal article had announced the impending closing and planned demolition: “Herbert M. Copellman, managing director of the theater, explained today that the last showng of movies at the Empire will be either tomorrow night or next Tuesday night.”
The article said too that the the theater auditorium had been admired increasingly during the previous few years by students of the architecture of its period and was praised for its “quaint charm.” The interior boasted attractive moldings, paintings, and decorations. Asked if any attempt would be made to save them, Copellman chuckled, “They can give it to an art museum as far as we’re concerned.”
When the theatre opened as Low’s Opera House on March 4, 1878, a theatrical production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was featured. By the time of its demolition in 1948, the theater was Providence’s then oldest theater: 1878-1948 or exactly 70 years.
On January 16, 1977 there was a short piece in the Providence Journal about Ray Bilodeau, who had recently opened the Cable Car Cinema less than three months before. In it Mr. Bilodeau complains about smallish audiences, losing money on the venture, even going broke, not being able to get films from some of the major distributors because of oppressive guarantees, and other problems.
It wasn’t until well into the 1980s, under the ownership of his brother Al Bilodeau and subsequent management by Al’s son and Ray’s nephew Eric Bilodeau that the cinema began enjoying some apparent success, due in no small measure to the enormously profitable café portion of the cinema, which is open all day, even outside of film screening times and caters to the abundant number of students from RISD, which abuts the cinema-café. The café generates interest in the films; the films bring money to the café. In some ways this is not a cinema with a café but a café with a cinema. Which is just fine.
Told to Shun Baby Doll
In January of 1957, when Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams Baby Doll was playing at the Majestic, the Most Rev. Russell J. McVinney, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, had told Rhode Island Catholics that they should not see the picture. I myself remember, as a student at LaSalle Academy at the time, that we were told by the principal in a P.A. announcement that the film was off-limits. A Providence Journal article from January 14 reported that Rev. Augustine F. Burns, pastor of Saint Mark’s Church in Jamestown, reminded his parishioners at services that they could not see the picture which was playing in Providence and also in Newport. Here is an ad for the film.
Perhaps someone at Pike Productions could help. They have an office in Newport, R.I. on Clarke Street, adjacent to the Jane Pickens Theatre. This is the Pike Productions website.
In June, 1948 the Providence Police banned the 1941 French film Volpone by Maurice Tourneur, as “indecent and irreligious.” It was scheduled to be shown at the Avon. It had also been condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency (CLOD). I don’t know yet if the decision was ever reversed. The movie, of course, had been based on Ben Jonson’s great comedy. It had played for over five months in New York at the Ambassador Theatre. Bradford F. Swan, author of a June 5th Providence Journal article reporting the ban, wrote, …“If its reputation as a period piece is kept in mind, and if it is taken as a mordant commentary on avarice and evil, ‘Volpone’ seemed hardly the movie to corrupt Providence.
During the World War II years the Avon Theatre generally showed selected revivals of U.S. films. The unavailability of most new European product would have made it difficult to show many European films. There were exceptions. The Avon put in a Russian-made film for the week beginning on January 17, 1943. Entitled Mashenka, it is a love story set during the Russian war with Finland and stars Valentina Karavayeva in the title role. The movie was favorably reviewed in the Providence Journal the following day by Bradford F. Swan who said that it “had its moments of deeply moving emotion.”
HERE IS THE NEWSPAPER AD FOR OPENING DAY. The film ran for one week. It seems to have vanished without a trace since then.
The first film to play the Beekman, as shown in Warren’s posted marquee shot, was Never Take No for an Answer, a.k.a. Peppino e Violetta, a British-Italian co-production, about a boy named Peppino who wants to take his ailing donkey Violetta into the crypt of Saint Francis of Assisi. Denied permission, he goes to Rome to appeal to the Pope. The film was shot in Assisi and also in the Vatican, one of the few movies allowed to be filmed there.
The film was based on Paul Gallico’s sentimental novella called The Small Miracle. The Small Miracle was also the title of a TV remake of this film. This movie was not typical of the more “sophisticated” ones that were to play the Beekman over the years, but it was indeed an audience pleaser and a likable film. Bosley Crowther gave it a glowing review and even praised the donkey as “a real charmer.”
HERE IS AN AD publicizing this film at the Beekman.
I used to own a 16mm print and am sorry to have sold it, since it is now so rare. After the Beekman, the film moved over to the Guild 50th where it continued a long succesful engagement.
The Warwick Cinema was showing The Poseidon Adventure in early 1973. That’s not odd, but day-dating the film with the usually art-house Avon Cinema in Providence certainly was. They shared newspaper ads too.
The Avon certainly went fairly mainstream when it was showing The Poseidon Adventure in early 1973, day-dating with the Warwick Cinema on Post Road in Warwick. They shared newspaper ads.
Ad ad from December 8, 1978 asserts that Robert Altman’s film A Wedding was then in its “10th Unbelievable Week.”
The Stadium Theatre and the Palace Theatre in West Warwick shared ads for porno movie programs, in 1974 and 1975 at least.
The Palace Theatre and the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket shared ads for porno movies in 1974 and 1975 at least.
Although, as a shopping place, it’s a tad more characterful that many…if you like ersatz beach architecture. The single-screen Casino Theatre/Pier Cinema, demolished in the early 1970s and located a block from here, was a nicer building. Closing for two weeks? I didn’t know it had been open at all this past summer. Anyhow, I hope the new policy is successful. Rhode Island’s South County needs something with that kind of programming.
A photo of the Caine Lyric can be found in one of the links on the page of Logan’s Utah Theatre.
Here is a newspaper ad for the opening day of the Garden City Cinema on December 22, 1967. It includes a small photo of the theatre front.