Apple Valley Cinemas
445 Putnam Pike,
Smithfield,
RI
02917
445 Putnam Pike,
Smithfield,
RI
02917
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 34 of 34 comments
this place needs better seats and a better concession stand, the popcorn taste like cardboard.
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.
Newspaper ad for Esquire Theatres in Rhode Island on December 7, 1971.
In April of 1993, when they re-opened after a long closure, refurbished and with additional screens, they were a discount house. The first day…they were charging only 50 cents per film. I saw Forever Young and * Body of Evidence* for 50 cents each. Needless to say, there were long lines.
this place needs a major overhaul- the marquee needs to be replaced-doesn’t anyone know how to spell- National Amusements needs to spend some $ or is it a write off for them.
Funny, but I too saw “Desperate Characters” there in December of 1970, according to my film-viewing log.
That’s an accurate description of the theater, Gerald, which explains why I hardly ever went there to see movies. The only occasion that comes to mind was to see “Desperate Characters,” an obscure film with Shirley MacLaine, early seventies, I think.
8th graders should be banned from the theather. they are stupid, they are a distaction and should allowed in.
Thank,
Joe
I have been coming to this place for over 35 years, frequently but not religiously, because it is a short drive from where I live. There is no magic here. The place has no real character, just a bunch of nondescript screening rooms built around a concession stand, and hardly any lobby. It is a tad bit spiffier since they put in new seats a while ago. I had a bad experience with CHICAGO here a while back. The auditorium where it was being screened had the most awful tinny sound imaginable, which could ruin a musical like that one.