I suspect that since the second Old South Theatre was a newsreel theater with news, short subjects, ‘toons, etc. that it had a frequent turnover of audiences, and thus probably used tokens/ turnstiles. I remember the exterior of it circa-1949/50, but I foolishly never went into it, otherwise I would know what that token was for!
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Leavitt; it’s Card # 417. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo dated March 30, 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says that the theater opened about 1926, was showing MGM movies, had 624 seats, and was a summer operation. A competing theater in Ogunquit was the Ogunquit Square Theatre. 1940 population was 2,100.
Although the MGM Report gives the address as “Park St.”, and “Summer St.” in Cinematour, I could not get either street to come up in the Zip code locater.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Park; it’s Card # 585. Address is Park Street. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941 Condition is Fair. The report says that the Park was over 10 years old (as of 1941), shows MGM movies, and had 436 seats. 1940 population was 1,800.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Savoy; it’s Card # 584. Address is East Street. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says that it opened about 1920, is showing MGM films, and has 385 seats. The 1940 population was 2,100.
I read somewhere that as of 1940, the Roxy was part of Sharby Theatres (Fred Sharby, Keene NH). But I have a 1942 roster of Sharby theaters and the Roxy was not on it by then.
In a forum on the site Eastonmass.com someone wrote in Oct 2004 that there was a movie theater where Pires Hardware is now. Someone responded that he/she saw “The Birds” there for .25 cents, and that movies there were preceeded by a cartoon. I believe that Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” came out in the early-1960s.
They recently restored one of those old, colorful, painted drop curtains which were very common in theaters a hundred or more years ago.
Somewhere on-line I read a posting (I can’t find it now) written by a woman who mentions some of her visits to Pierce Hall in the 1950s and 60s. She lists some of the popular movies she saw there, plus some stage shows: magic shows, kids shows, country music shows, etc.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Roxy; it’s Card # 577. Address is “Grass Street” but I don’t know if that’s correct. There is an exterior photo dated Feb. 1941. Condition is Good. The Report says that the Roxy opened in 1935, that was showing MGM films, and had 250 seats. The 1940 population was 1,100.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Easton Theatre; it’s Card # 232. But no one filled it out, so there is no info. There is an undated exterior photo. My experience with these cards is that those which have no info and only a photo were mostly made in the 1946- 1950 period. The photo shows a 2-story wood-frame commercial building with the theater entrance at left, and Kelley’s Store at right. There is a small verticl sign over the theater entrance which says “Easton”. Today, the former theater entrance leads to the offices upstairs. Kelley’s was occupied from about 1990 to 2014 by Pires Hardware. The store window frames look exactly the same today as in the MGM photo.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for Pierce Hall; it’s Card # 586. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says it was opened in 1920 (actually 1916) and was showing MGM movies. There were 350 seats on the main floor and 100 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 1,100.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Idle Hour; it’s Card # 578. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Fair. The Report says it opened in 1920 and was showing MGM films. There were 250 main floor seats and 100 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 1,600. Another source also says it dates from 1920, but that was the year that Frank T. Carr became manager (up until 1956). The item that Joe Vogel has found indicates that the theater was open by 1909, although that could have been a different building, i.e. there may have been 2 theaters in Hardwick named Idle Hour ?? (I’m guesing there was only one).
The CinemaData list for the Fairlee has two seating capacities: 300 & 250, both lower than the MGM Report’s total of 400. CinemaTour’s listing says that the theater opened about 1914, and that it was in the Town Hall at 75 Town Common Road.
The maps then suggest that the Rialto was a remodel of the old Opera House. The Rialto was part of the Tegu circuit and was thus known as “Tegu’s Rialto”. Later it was part of the Affiliated Theatres circuit.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Rialto; it’s Card # 596. But because of some bungling most of the information on the card is obscured. Someone took a new photo of the theater and pasted it on the card in such a way that the report data is covered over. The photo would have fit if they had cut off the lower part which shows only street pavement. But that was too much effort. The number of seats can be read (452 – but that had been crossed out).
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Windsor Theatre; it’s Card #598. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo dated April 1941. Condition is Good. The report says it opened in 1935 and was showing MGM films. There were 400 seats. 1940 population was 3,400.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Fairlee Theatre; it’s Card # 577. Address is “Main St.”, but I’m not sure of that. There is an exterior photo dated December, 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says the theater opened in 1900 (I don’t know if that’s accurate) and is showing MGM movies. There were 400 seats. The 1940 population of Fairlee was listed as 535.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Lisbon Theatre; it’s Card # 495. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Good. It says that the Lisbon was opened about 1927 and is showing MGM product. There are 302 seats on the main floor and 84 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 2,300.
A number of Odd Fellows halls in smaller towns were adapted into movie theaters like the Brook in Westbrook. There is one (still standing) only 2 miles from my house: the Victor Theatre in East Weymouth MA, now an audio-video recording studio.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Alton Drive-In; it’s Card # 606. But no one filled it out so there is no info. There is an undated photo which shows a wide driveway and a screen in the far distance. From the number on the card and the appearance of the card, I estimate that it dates from about 1950-51.
The historical society in Westbrook comments that the Rialto/ Brook theater was not that popular because there was the perception that once you went upstairs into the theater, you were in a “firetrap”.
The Theater Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Brook; it’s Card # 461. No one filled out the card, so there is no info. There is an undated photo of the exterior. Judging by the cars in the photo, it was taken in the late-1940s period. The Brook was to the right of the Star Theatre and had a very nice triangle marquee. The theater name on the MGM card is “Brooks”, but the marquee says “Brook”.
I suspect that since the second Old South Theatre was a newsreel theater with news, short subjects, ‘toons, etc. that it had a frequent turnover of audiences, and thus probably used tokens/ turnstiles. I remember the exterior of it circa-1949/50, but I foolishly never went into it, otherwise I would know what that token was for!
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Leavitt; it’s Card # 417. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo dated March 30, 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says that the theater opened about 1926, was showing MGM movies, had 624 seats, and was a summer operation. A competing theater in Ogunquit was the Ogunquit Square Theatre. 1940 population was 2,100.
Although the MGM Report gives the address as “Park St.”, and “Summer St.” in Cinematour, I could not get either street to come up in the Zip code locater.
I read that the Savoy was sold in 1930 to a local operator, and then was sold again in 1935 to another local operator.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Park; it’s Card # 585. Address is Park Street. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941 Condition is Fair. The report says that the Park was over 10 years old (as of 1941), shows MGM movies, and had 436 seats. 1940 population was 1,800.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Savoy; it’s Card # 584. Address is East Street. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says that it opened about 1920, is showing MGM films, and has 385 seats. The 1940 population was 2,100.
I read somewhere that as of 1940, the Roxy was part of Sharby Theatres (Fred Sharby, Keene NH). But I have a 1942 roster of Sharby theaters and the Roxy was not on it by then.
In a forum on the site Eastonmass.com someone wrote in Oct 2004 that there was a movie theater where Pires Hardware is now. Someone responded that he/she saw “The Birds” there for .25 cents, and that movies there were preceeded by a cartoon. I believe that Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” came out in the early-1960s.
They recently restored one of those old, colorful, painted drop curtains which were very common in theaters a hundred or more years ago. Somewhere on-line I read a posting (I can’t find it now) written by a woman who mentions some of her visits to Pierce Hall in the 1950s and 60s. She lists some of the popular movies she saw there, plus some stage shows: magic shows, kids shows, country music shows, etc.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Roxy; it’s Card # 577. Address is “Grass Street” but I don’t know if that’s correct. There is an exterior photo dated Feb. 1941. Condition is Good. The Report says that the Roxy opened in 1935, that was showing MGM films, and had 250 seats. The 1940 population was 1,100.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Easton Theatre; it’s Card # 232. But no one filled it out, so there is no info. There is an undated exterior photo. My experience with these cards is that those which have no info and only a photo were mostly made in the 1946- 1950 period. The photo shows a 2-story wood-frame commercial building with the theater entrance at left, and Kelley’s Store at right. There is a small verticl sign over the theater entrance which says “Easton”. Today, the former theater entrance leads to the offices upstairs. Kelley’s was occupied from about 1990 to 2014 by Pires Hardware. The store window frames look exactly the same today as in the MGM photo.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for Pierce Hall; it’s Card # 586. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says it was opened in 1920 (actually 1916) and was showing MGM movies. There were 350 seats on the main floor and 100 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 1,100.
The Theatre Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Idle Hour; it’s Card # 578. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Fair. The Report says it opened in 1920 and was showing MGM films. There were 250 main floor seats and 100 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 1,600. Another source also says it dates from 1920, but that was the year that Frank T. Carr became manager (up until 1956). The item that Joe Vogel has found indicates that the theater was open by 1909, although that could have been a different building, i.e. there may have been 2 theaters in Hardwick named Idle Hour ?? (I’m guesing there was only one).
The Cinematour site has a Lyric Theatre as an additional movie theater in Waterbury, but the Cinemadata list does not have a Lyric in Waterbury.
The CinemaData list for the Fairlee has two seating capacities: 300 & 250, both lower than the MGM Report’s total of 400. CinemaTour’s listing says that the theater opened about 1914, and that it was in the Town Hall at 75 Town Common Road.
I believe that later the Windsor became part of the Affiliated Theatres circuit of Boston.
The maps then suggest that the Rialto was a remodel of the old Opera House. The Rialto was part of the Tegu circuit and was thus known as “Tegu’s Rialto”. Later it was part of the Affiliated Theatres circuit.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Rialto; it’s Card # 596. But because of some bungling most of the information on the card is obscured. Someone took a new photo of the theater and pasted it on the card in such a way that the report data is covered over. The photo would have fit if they had cut off the lower part which shows only street pavement. But that was too much effort. The number of seats can be read (452 – but that had been crossed out).
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Windsor Theatre; it’s Card #598. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo dated April 1941. Condition is Good. The report says it opened in 1935 and was showing MGM films. There were 400 seats. 1940 population was 3,400.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Fairlee Theatre; it’s Card # 577. Address is “Main St.”, but I’m not sure of that. There is an exterior photo dated December, 1941. Condition is Fair. The report says the theater opened in 1900 (I don’t know if that’s accurate) and is showing MGM movies. There were 400 seats. The 1940 population of Fairlee was listed as 535.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Lisbon Theatre; it’s Card # 495. Address is Main St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Good. It says that the Lisbon was opened about 1927 and is showing MGM product. There are 302 seats on the main floor and 84 in the balcony. The 1940 population was 2,300.
A number of Odd Fellows halls in smaller towns were adapted into movie theaters like the Brook in Westbrook. There is one (still standing) only 2 miles from my house: the Victor Theatre in East Weymouth MA, now an audio-video recording studio.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Alton Drive-In; it’s Card # 606. But no one filled it out so there is no info. There is an undated photo which shows a wide driveway and a screen in the far distance. From the number on the card and the appearance of the card, I estimate that it dates from about 1950-51.
The historical society in Westbrook comments that the Rialto/ Brook theater was not that popular because there was the perception that once you went upstairs into the theater, you were in a “firetrap”.
The Theater Historical Society on-line archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Brook; it’s Card # 461. No one filled out the card, so there is no info. There is an undated photo of the exterior. Judging by the cars in the photo, it was taken in the late-1940s period. The Brook was to the right of the Star Theatre and had a very nice triangle marquee. The theater name on the MGM card is “Brooks”, but the marquee says “Brook”.