Hollywood Theatre
164 Taunton Avenue,
East Providence,
RI
02914
164 Taunton Avenue,
East Providence,
RI
02914
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Bank Night was popular in the forties:
http://tinyurl.com/ytet3s
The 1949 Film Daily Yearbook lists the seating capacity as 950.
My name is mike I live on Ivy st. which is on the side of the hollywood theatre and the theatre is for sale I would be able to
donate a cosiderable amount of time and effort to form a not for profit org. to buy, restore and run the theatre. I however do not have the nessesary skills to start a project such as this. I think the Hollywood is a beautifull theatre and should be saved not torn down. So, anyone interested? Please e-mail me at
Thankyou.
The theatre was still open in December, 1960 (ads shown in Providence Journal) and perhaps later.
An odd bit of programming for the Hollywood occurred in 1951, when the opera film The Barber of Seville, with Ferruccio Tagliavini, played from Wednesday, June 20 through Saturday, June 23. It had played four years earlier, in 1947, at the Avon in Providence and later at the Empire. Either someone at the theatre liked opera or else they were attempting to reach niche audiences.
In 1941-42 Mr. Samuel Bomes was listed as owner in the city directory, in 1955 it was Milton M. Bomes (his son?).
Here is a 1945 photo (expand for better resolution) of the Hollywood Theatre. The marquee announces Fred MacMurray in Where Do We Go From Here? and the co-feature One Body Too Many. The Hollywood Theatre was built across from the town hall on Taunton Avenue. By the late 1920s movies were so popular that Saturday movies had outgrown the Town Hall Council Chamber where they were being shown in this part of town. In the Riverside neighborhood, a few miles away, the Lyric Theatre was already operating.
Clarification. In an earlier entry I note that this had been called the “Bomes Theatre” at one time. I no longer believe so. The “Bomes Theatre” inscription above the theatre front refers to the original builder/owner Samuel Bomes. Like his Liberty on Broad Street in Providence, this was simply a Bomes Theatre. As far as I have been able to determine, it had always been called the Hollywood up to its 1959 closing. A January 1996 article in the Providence newspaper talks about how the empty house had been deteriorating for 15 years. It continues to remain closed, minus the marquee that had stayed attached for a time. It used to be used as a furniture warehouse by the owner, Henry Rose, owner of Rose Furniture Company in East Providence.
A photo is at www.preservationdirectory.com/photodatabase_theaters.html
The theatre was built in the 1920s, closed in 1959. The address is 164 Taunton Avenue. It was originally called the Bomes Theatre,and there is a sign to that effect in the cement facade. Some real trivia: in 1935 the “Swedish film comedy success” PETTERSON SVERIGE was shown. In 1937 SWEDEN – LAND OF THE VIKINGS and SHARGARD’S FLIRT. The theatre was probably rented to show ethnic films: Swedish, Portuguese, perhaps others.
As of this date the red-brick theatre building is there and used as a storage facility. I have never seen the interior. Perhaps some are residents acquainted with the theatre could give some details. Otherwise it just remains a tantalizing presence on Taunton Avenue.
The marquee is no longer there. East Providence has a large Portuguese population. For the longest time after the theatre closed (early 60s?), the marquee announced an imminent program of Portuguese films. Ghost programs for a ghost theatre?