A child is lost after movies at the Central Theatre!
From: “A Family’s Enduring Love” by Thomas A. O'Connell:
The story begins sometime after Christmas, the end of May and early June to be precise. The year was 1931. On that warm Saturday afternoon, Michelina Terranova gave her son Albert, 6, permission to attend the movies at The Central Theatre on West Broad Street, Pawcatuck, with his three friends. Before he left the 64-½ Oak Street home his sister Nancy, 12, gave him two nickels. Nancy’s recent tonsillectomy had garnered her some get-well money. She wanted to share her good fortune with her little brother. Mrs. Terranova knew the ways of little fellows and so she wrapped the two coins in a clean handkerchief. She tucked the little parcel into his pocket for an extra measure of security.
So off they walked Albert and his pals James Strafach, Albert Servidio, and Charles Pendola down Oak Street, onto High Street, and into the downtown Westerly business district. A right turn over the Pawcatuck River Bridge brought the boys almost to the movie house’s entrance next to Higgin’s Pharmacy.
That day Albert saw the movie twice, Nancy recently attested. By 6 p.m. he was hungry. Spying his older sister Josephine 17, at the show, he let her know of his desire to be fed. She apparently asked his three pals to bring him home and give him his favorite food, a banana.
Albert and his comrades probably talked some more, forgetting Josephine’s request. Soon Albert wandered away on his own. The boys must have thought that he’d left the place with his sister. However, Albert had plans. The three foot six inch lad thought himself capable of finding the home under his own power. So he walked out of the front door, took a right, and headed for home.
Later that evening, the three friends arrived back home. Mrs. Terranova, noticing Albert was not with them, asked of the child’s whereabouts.
The whole story can be found on this page of the Westerly Historical Society.
From an article in The Providence Journal on December 18, 2003:
“In May 1999, authorities announced with great fanfare that they had cracked one of the biggest of the unsolved cases, the 1996 Christmas Day fire that destroyed the Odeon Theater. They charged a local man with first-degree arson; the charge was eventually dropped for lack of evidence.”
When Fellini’s The Nights of Cabiria had its U.S. premiere here in October of 1957, the film was known simply as “Cabiria” for a short while. Here’s the ad.
Not this season…if I am to believe the absence of newspaper ads. And I intended to post that the arrival of this multiplex was responsible to a great degree for the demise of the Narragansett Theatre in nearby Narragansett, as well as the Campus Cinema in Wakefield, which is also in South Kingstown.
Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.
Social drama! In 1934 there was a textile workers' strike in Woonsocket. Here national guardsmen are on hand to prevent trouble. In the background we accidentally get a glimpse of the Laurier Theatre vertical marquee. The scene is Cumberland Street.
Here is one of the photos I took last night before seeing Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. The Orpheum is a 32 minute drive from where I live. The village common across from the theatre is very pleasant.
The book Westerly’s Gold by Thomas A. O'Connell mentions the Bliven briefly and indicates that the admission prices for the 1901 shows The New Minister and Sag Harbor were 25, 50, 75 cents and $1. He says that the Bliven was also used for graduations.
A child is lost after movies at the Central Theatre!
From: “A Family’s Enduring Love” by Thomas A. O'Connell:
The story begins sometime after Christmas, the end of May and early June to be precise. The year was 1931. On that warm Saturday afternoon, Michelina Terranova gave her son Albert, 6, permission to attend the movies at The Central Theatre on West Broad Street, Pawcatuck, with his three friends. Before he left the 64-½ Oak Street home his sister Nancy, 12, gave him two nickels. Nancy’s recent tonsillectomy had garnered her some get-well money. She wanted to share her good fortune with her little brother. Mrs. Terranova knew the ways of little fellows and so she wrapped the two coins in a clean handkerchief. She tucked the little parcel into his pocket for an extra measure of security.
So off they walked Albert and his pals James Strafach, Albert Servidio, and Charles Pendola down Oak Street, onto High Street, and into the downtown Westerly business district. A right turn over the Pawcatuck River Bridge brought the boys almost to the movie house’s entrance next to Higgin’s Pharmacy.
That day Albert saw the movie twice, Nancy recently attested. By 6 p.m. he was hungry. Spying his older sister Josephine 17, at the show, he let her know of his desire to be fed. She apparently asked his three pals to bring him home and give him his favorite food, a banana.
Albert and his comrades probably talked some more, forgetting Josephine’s request. Soon Albert wandered away on his own. The boys must have thought that he’d left the place with his sister. However, Albert had plans. The three foot six inch lad thought himself capable of finding the home under his own power. So he walked out of the front door, took a right, and headed for home.
Later that evening, the three friends arrived back home. Mrs. Terranova, noticing Albert was not with them, asked of the child’s whereabouts.
The whole story can be found on this page of the Westerly Historical Society.
From an article in The Providence Journal on December 18, 2003:
“In May 1999, authorities announced with great fanfare that they had cracked one of the biggest of the unsolved cases, the 1996 Christmas Day fire that destroyed the Odeon Theater. They charged a local man with first-degree arson; the charge was eventually dropped for lack of evidence.”
Here’s an ad for Rossellini’s Paisan which had its Providence premiere here in March of 1949.
When Fellini’s The Nights of Cabiria had its U.S. premiere here in October of 1957, the film was known simply as “Cabiria” for a short while. Here’s the ad.
This Casino Theatre is not to be confused with the Narragansett Casino, a dance and live entertainment venue and a Narragansett Pier legend.
Not this season…if I am to believe the absence of newspaper ads. And I intended to post that the arrival of this multiplex was responsible to a great degree for the demise of the Narragansett Theatre in nearby Narragansett, as well as the Campus Cinema in Wakefield, which is also in South Kingstown.
Of course the “original Italian version” has Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart dubbed in Italian. You hear their own voices in the English version.
D'accordo! For me the best Fellini films are Le notti di Cabiria, La strada, I vitelloni… and I bow to his somewhat later film Amarcord.
I like the name “Absinthe” for a theatre. Wonderfully decadent.
Here is an ad that appeared in the 1911 Pawtuxet Valley business directory for the Royal Theatre, William Brown, proprietor. I am confused by this, because the ad says Natick, whereas the listing on another page is coded “RP” -which means Riverpoint-, and the address is given as Main Street, “next to Iron Bridge,” Daily’s Block. Could Riverpoint have been considered part of Natick? Was this Royal the same as the Star? Different? In the same spot? Was Providence Street ever known as Main Street? Was “Iron Bridge” the bridge over Providence Street in what is now Natick or does it refer to the one on Main Street in Riverpoint? (Providence Street didn’t seen to be a street name at the time.) If it was in Riverpoint, why would someone have built a movie theatre just a few doors down from Thornton’s?
Here is a photo of the former Somerset Theatre and former furniture store.
Here is a crowd of mostly men beneath the marquee of Loew’s State in 1928.
Better image than I posted earlier of the interior and stage of the Majestic.
Slightly better image of the above famous photo of the 1931 closing night.
Audience at the final gala show at the Providence Opera House on March 14, 1931.
La Strada, 1956.
Here is a photo of the exterior of the theatre when it was known as the Imperial in its first years. You can see why Roger Brett refers to the front as “a jungle of fire escapes and ladders.”
My June 18 posting above of the time-line of name changes for this theatre (as filed on a PPL card) doesn’t include the name Shubert, which it was called from 1906 for few years.
Social drama! In 1934 there was a textile workers' strike in Woonsocket. Here national guardsmen are on hand to prevent trouble. In the background we accidentally get a glimpse of the Laurier Theatre vertical marquee. The scene is Cumberland Street.
Here is one of the photos I took last night before seeing Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. The Orpheum is a 32 minute drive from where I live. The village common across from the theatre is very pleasant.
I don’t remember what year I took this photo, but the theatre was clearly closed at the time.
The last movie I saw here was Gloomy Sunday in May, 2004. In fact, it was the first movie I saw here too.
When this theatre was the Shubert in 1906, there was a renowned performer who played here.
And a view from 1919 or so. Note the two vertical marquees, one on Washington Street, the other on Union Street. No horizontal marquee appears yet.
The book Westerly’s Gold by Thomas A. O'Connell mentions the Bliven briefly and indicates that the admission prices for the 1901 shows The New Minister and Sag Harbor were 25, 50, 75 cents and $1. He says that the Bliven was also used for graduations.
Here is a 1928 photo of the Hope Theatre.