Beacon Hill Theatre

I remember the second version of this theater with fondness.

It was deep underground, reached by a long, wide flight of stairs. The decor was very stark and “modern,” almost clinical. However, the equipment was all brand-new and technically excellent.

The auditorium seated between 800 or 900. The curtainless screen was 55 feet wide and concave. It was, at the time, the only curved movie screen in downtown Boston (the Cinerama having closed a few years earlier). The booth had 35/70mm projectors, and was capable of showing 35mm with monaural optical and four-track stereo sound, and 70mm with six-track stereo sound.

Beneath the screen was a curious barrier or grille made of white wooden slats, tilted inward towards the screen. It looked like an ultra-wide cow-catcher on a locomotive! Never did figure out what it was for.

My first visit was for the 70mm reissue of THIS IS CINERAMA in 1972. Although probably not as exciting as the original 3-projector version, if you sat up close (as I did) you got a very powerful sense of depth and participation. The soundtrack was played at VERY high volume, and sounded excellent, as did most of the films I saw at this venue.

Many other 70mm films played at the Beacon over the years, including blow-ups of PAPILLON and THE WIND AND THE LION, the re-issue of THE EXORCIST, and the 3-D reissue of HOUSE OF WAX. They also showed the 3-D version of ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN, which was X-rated, although I managed to get in anyway. :)

A pair of large full-range speakers were installed on the side walls of the theater for the “Sound 360” showing of DAMNATION ALLEY. These remained in place until the theater was converted to a triplex in the late ‘70s. The conversion cut the theater in half lengthwise, retaining the curved screen for the main auditorium, and adding two very small auditoriums in the rear.

The last film I saw there was Bertolucci’s 1900.

Ron ,Interesting answer to your Question on Sunday showings can be found in an old Motion Picture Almanac.I have one from 1956 and they have everystate and Blue laws on Sundays.If you could ever get ahold of one these Almanacs you would have any Question Answered on Sunday showings.IF you have a state in Question I would be glad type down the Blue laws for that state in Question.

I noticed this with certain other films in that period with “adult content.” Apparently it was a type of local blue-law restriction on certain entertainments deemed inapropriate for Sundays.

Another related item I found was that later in 1951 the manager of the Delavan Theatre in Delavan, Wisconsin, quit after the Lions Club protested the showings of “Bitter Rice.” Many locals expressed indignation and suggested that the theatre should be boycotted.

Item in Boxoffice magazine, January 6, 1951:

George Kraska, managing director of the Beacon Hill, said that the opening day of the Italian film “Bitter Rice,” broke every record for the showing of a foreign film in the house and that “it looks like a six weeks' or longer run.” The picture cannot play Sundays. The previous record for the theatre was held by “The Bicycle Thief,” which ran eight weeks.

Regarding Ron’s post from June 2005 — “The book also says that "on November 10, 1948, a refurbished Beacon became the Beacon Hill Theatre” — I came across an article on the refurb of this & two other NE theatres in the Motion Picture Herald’s Better Theatre’s section (12/18/1948). Included are various before & after images of the exterior and interior, as well as a floorplan and some interesting prose.

You can see the images here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yloxt58

I couldn’t Photoshop the interior images into anything worthwhile, so they’re not in that album. You can see those images & read the article, if you’d like. I’ve made the PDF available here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yfxpvjt

You probably saw all of those at the first Beacon Hill Theatre, the one that was torn down in 1969.

And now the Carving Station restaurant has closed.

If I recall correctly, the emergency exits in the theater opened into the adjacent underground garage near the ramp for the cars, so in an emergency, there was a direct, unobstructed, and relatively fireproof, exit up to Tremont Street. After the theater closed, they knocked down the walls and created more parking.

This site is amazing. I enjoy the wealth of information and everyone’s fond remembrances.
My own recollections of the “old” or original Beacon Hill, the single screen theater above ground at the corner of Beacon and Tremont Streets are from the late 1960’s. I use to sometimes cut classes to attend the daytime screenings. The first time I went there, I remember having a hard time finding the theater because the address was 1 Beacon St and the entrance was on Tremont Street. Go figure. I remember asking several people if they knew where the Beacon Hill Theater was.
I thought this theater was not as ornate or stylish as some of the other Sack houses (Savoy, Music Hall, or the Saxon). As I remember, the auditorium was rather shoe-boxy rather than fan shaped and seemed smaller than the other theaters with a smaller screen more suited to art films rather than glossy Hollywood movies. (The great and much appreciated photo provided by TC illustrates that). Strangely, I don’t recall the two balconies lining the side walls. Films I remember seeing at the Beacon Hill: Louis Malle’s “Viva Maria”; Richardson’s “The Loved One”; Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451”; Stanley Donen’s “Two For the Road”.

I do believe that this was where our parents took us in 1958 or 1959 to see “Gigi” starring Maurice Chevalier. I was only 7 in 1958, so don’t blame me if I am wrong. But I do remember exactly that in the autumn of 1968 “Yellow Submarine” arrived here. We had seen that movie in London in July 1968, just days after The Beatles had come to the world premiere in Piccadilly Circus. But when we saw it in Boston again we were shocked that the song “Hey, Bulldog” had been cut. This was apparently done for the entire U.S. release and it was not the individual theater’s responsibility.

The Beacon Theatre is visible on this 1982 map. It is on the west side of Tremont Street, just north of Beacon Street, adjoining Houghton & Dutton Co. Dry Goods.

Ron. Yes, it was Houghton and Dutton. Here’s a web page showing a trade card for the store: http://www.cyberbee.com/september05.html I saw a picture of the store in Jane Holtz Kay’s “Lost Boston.” Tom

RE: the discussion above of Donald King’s recent Boston theatres book. He did not leave the Boston area in the 1970s or 1980s, but way back in the early 1950s! Or maybe in the 1940s. The original Beacon Theatre was opened about Feb.1910, designed by Clarence Blackwell and had 700-plus seats. It was on the west side of Tremont St., a short distance north of Beacon. It had a big verical sign, and was similar in size to the Modern/Mayflower. It had a balcony. I remember seeing the first Brigit Bardot film there in the late-1950s and there was a full house on a Friday evening, as she had generated a great deal of publicity. I seem to recall that the office building which stood just south of the theatre and which was located at the corner of Tremont and Beacon had originally been a famous Boston department store. When all of this was torn down, the entrance for the new Beacon cinema was approximately on the same site. I saw “Caligula” in there in the Fall of 1980. It had 3 screens then, and I recall that it was spotless, immaculate inside.