Was also used as the room for exhibitor screenings where theater chains would put in their bid to play a film after seeing it since Boston had an anti blind bid film exhibition law.I recall seeing Raiders of The Lost Ark weeks before the public would see it. Even saw Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan in an incomplete version with The Enterprise attached to attached to a long rod so it could be moved onscreen
Missed opening day but was there the second day for the original Star Wars run. They were still giving out “May The Force Be With You” buttons and had them there for the taking on a small table. I’ll always regret not taking a few, the one I did take was later lost.
A nice enough theater but a weird setup when it was not busy. You had to buy tickets downstairs in the main lobby for Cinema 3 then go back upstairs and down a fairly long corridor to get to #3. Saw Stallone’s Paradise Alley there and the theater was flooded with big puddles caused by heavy rains flowing down from the above garage.
There was a single screen cinema operating in Wolfeboro in the 70s. I remember seeing Woody Allen’s film Love and Death which was out in 1975. Seemed to be run by some cinema enthusiasts as I recall their schedule mentioned extra speakers being installed for the movie Tommy.
This explained a memory I had of seeing a double feature at The Salem of The Old Dark House and Maniac (1963 versions of both titles)and seeing another theater marquee almost next door as I came out. So The Empire was still standing then.
First theater I ever visited when my mother took me to see Disney’s Toby Tyler which would make it 1960 or 61.
Visited it one more time in 1968 but by then it was fading fast. Movie palaces seemed to lose all interior color as they got older.
I do remember the fake opera boxes and also seeing outlines on the walls where pipes for the Wurlizter had once been.
Sack Theaters opened this triple with a fairly big arcade next door. The arcade was never kept up to date and looked fairly run down after a few years. Not sure when it closed but the space was converted to another store by the mall.
Before being rebuilt into the 2 floor mall the Hew England Shopping Center in Saugus had kind of a weird setup. Looking in from highway there was the parking lot and a big Sears on the left and then there were sort of 2 strip malls slanted like a “V” but not meeting to complete the letter. Between the strip buildings was a concrete walkway which led to another parking lot. This was the lot for the theater which was not visible from the highway.
Pretty sure at one time the Strand was part of the General Cinema chain. I remember the newspaper ads for the chain and The strand was the only single house, all others were at least twin cinemas.
They just finished re-doing the theater lobby which was long overdue since they still had Loews fixtures and a coffee bar that they never used. Added a small bar/restaurant. Also re-did all the theater seating with power recliners which likely reduced the seating capacity. They’re now all reserved seating and upgraded one house to the Dolby Cinema system which is almost like Sensurround in each seat. But beware if you’re in the theater next to it especially if you’re seeing a quieter film as the sound bleeding is pretty bad.
An article I will always regret not saving (might’ve been in the Real Paper or The Phoenix) involved someone venturing into the Pilgrim at it’s worst X-rated phase. A very Dante into Hell type adventure for the uninitiated (though the author seemed to know what they were getting in to.).
Unconfirmed story told to me by a manager who worked the Gary. He said part of the heating system involved steam that would be sent along the floor of the theater. Joke was that folks would leave the theater with their pants pressed.
I noticed a comment mentioning sitting in the Saxon and seeing light coming in from behind the screen. There was a skylight backstage that leaked rather badly. So during rainstorms there was water dripping among the huge electrical switches back there.
Never had to do it but was told only way to replace lights that were at the top of the interior dome was to send someone up above and into the ceiling interior. The light unit would then have to be lowered to the floor on a rope and the bulb changed.
It may just be a team stripping everything from the place but I’ve seen 5-6 cars parked out in front of the theater for the last few weeks. No trucks or vans to haul stuff away though.
Covered in the booklet were Heart Like A Wheel, That Sinking Feeling, This Is Spinal Tap, Privates On Parade showing with American Gothic., El Norte, Wuthering Heights (Bunel version.)Plus a promo for The Premier Boston Gay GFilm Festival and L'Argent and My Best Friends Girl
The Hollywood Hits theater closed for good on Sept 6, 2016.Cited as the reason was competition and being unable to raise money for improvements to the cinemas.
Article here.
http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/updated-hollywood-hits-closed-for-good/article_36ae57c0-b87d-5d56-b251-83c75cb6f551.html
Worth noting about the Revere Showcase, added reclining powered seats in all houses. No instructions anywhere for them so your first time you have to guess how to work them. Also has a 4D motion control seats in 1 house that makes a movie into a ride. Worth trying once.Added an XPLUS house which is an Imax type of system.Has reserve seating so when you buy tickets you choose your seat, trouble is seems like the theaters are always mostly full giving you little choices but often when movie starts there is no crowd. Only place around me showing TMC revivals and also the Rifftrax live shows.
I attended the same showing of Wizard of Oz on May 11 mentioned by Ron Newman.Really a wonderful night of fun with people in costume, some in formal wear. Inside the theater they had vendors going up and down the aisles selling popcorn, candy and drinks between acts. Place was packed too, 600+ attendance.
Looks better each time I go there as the restorations still go on.
To show how diverse their booking policy is, besides Oz in the big house there were current blockbusters in the other houses and a special showing of the original Godzilla (Gojira, subtitled) also going on.
The theater was split in 1978. First attractions as a twin were Goin' South and Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe.
Not too bad a job on the split since the single house was wide enough that the twins escaped the dreaded double bowling alley look of so many split theaters.
Really missed the cross aisle from the single house that let you really stretch out your legs.
Place had a very odd layout. You entered from the back and on your right were rows of 8-12 seats. These went from very back to close to the screen. Near front were 4-6 rows of seats set at an angle off to the left. These rows had maybe 5-6 seats in them.
Bathroom was near these rows and I recall it was tiny and had an old coin-op after shave/cologne dispenser. (like the womens version seen here http://playingintheworldgame.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/coin-operated-perfume-dispenser-1952/ )
I wish someone was around who knew the story of this place. I mean was it designed from the start as a cinema or was there just some room left over after the the 2 clubs were designed.
Easy to see why the real estate was so valuable, the theater was literally across the street from the ocean.
A nice house but kind of long and narrow. When it was twinned they split it crosswise sparing it from becoming the dreaded twin bowling alleys. If you were sitting in the back house you’d see the projectionist walk down the aisle to another booth to start the show in the front house.
I believe the place was twinned during the end of it’s days as the Fine Arts X-rated house.Probably after video started making adult theaters unnecessary.
The ad would always be in the local papers theater section. I’d guess they just put up a screen in front of the balcony seats.
I remember this place. It was called West Peabody Cinema after the Jerry Lewis name was removed.
A really oddball location. It was technically at the same location as a small mall. BUT at the edge of the mall was a wall of solid rock maybe 15-20 feet high which completely blocked any view of the theater from the mall parking lot. This cliff was only 3-6 ft thick and you could drive around it to get to the cinema.There was another entrance road but it was badly marked so place was isolated from view.
I asked manager at cinema about the wall and he said place was built well after the mall and owner of mall refused to pay to take down wall.
Like most small twins it ended up going porno before it closed, but I think it reverted back to regular films before closing.
Was also used as the room for exhibitor screenings where theater chains would put in their bid to play a film after seeing it since Boston had an anti blind bid film exhibition law.I recall seeing Raiders of The Lost Ark weeks before the public would see it. Even saw Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan in an incomplete version with The Enterprise attached to attached to a long rod so it could be moved onscreen
Missed opening day but was there the second day for the original Star Wars run. They were still giving out “May The Force Be With You” buttons and had them there for the taking on a small table. I’ll always regret not taking a few, the one I did take was later lost.
A nice enough theater but a weird setup when it was not busy. You had to buy tickets downstairs in the main lobby for Cinema 3 then go back upstairs and down a fairly long corridor to get to #3. Saw Stallone’s Paradise Alley there and the theater was flooded with big puddles caused by heavy rains flowing down from the above garage.
There was a single screen cinema operating in Wolfeboro in the 70s. I remember seeing Woody Allen’s film Love and Death which was out in 1975. Seemed to be run by some cinema enthusiasts as I recall their schedule mentioned extra speakers being installed for the movie Tommy.
This explained a memory I had of seeing a double feature at The Salem of The Old Dark House and Maniac (1963 versions of both titles)and seeing another theater marquee almost next door as I came out. So The Empire was still standing then.
First theater I ever visited when my mother took me to see Disney’s Toby Tyler which would make it 1960 or 61. Visited it one more time in 1968 but by then it was fading fast. Movie palaces seemed to lose all interior color as they got older. I do remember the fake opera boxes and also seeing outlines on the walls where pipes for the Wurlizter had once been.
Sack Theaters opened this triple with a fairly big arcade next door. The arcade was never kept up to date and looked fairly run down after a few years. Not sure when it closed but the space was converted to another store by the mall.
Before being rebuilt into the 2 floor mall the Hew England Shopping Center in Saugus had kind of a weird setup. Looking in from highway there was the parking lot and a big Sears on the left and then there were sort of 2 strip malls slanted like a “V” but not meeting to complete the letter. Between the strip buildings was a concrete walkway which led to another parking lot. This was the lot for the theater which was not visible from the highway.
Pretty sure at one time the Strand was part of the General Cinema chain. I remember the newspaper ads for the chain and The strand was the only single house, all others were at least twin cinemas.
They just finished re-doing the theater lobby which was long overdue since they still had Loews fixtures and a coffee bar that they never used. Added a small bar/restaurant. Also re-did all the theater seating with power recliners which likely reduced the seating capacity. They’re now all reserved seating and upgraded one house to the Dolby Cinema system which is almost like Sensurround in each seat. But beware if you’re in the theater next to it especially if you’re seeing a quieter film as the sound bleeding is pretty bad.
An article I will always regret not saving (might’ve been in the Real Paper or The Phoenix) involved someone venturing into the Pilgrim at it’s worst X-rated phase. A very Dante into Hell type adventure for the uninitiated (though the author seemed to know what they were getting in to.).
Unconfirmed story told to me by a manager who worked the Gary. He said part of the heating system involved steam that would be sent along the floor of the theater. Joke was that folks would leave the theater with their pants pressed.
I noticed a comment mentioning sitting in the Saxon and seeing light coming in from behind the screen. There was a skylight backstage that leaked rather badly. So during rainstorms there was water dripping among the huge electrical switches back there. Never had to do it but was told only way to replace lights that were at the top of the interior dome was to send someone up above and into the ceiling interior. The light unit would then have to be lowered to the floor on a rope and the bulb changed.
It may just be a team stripping everything from the place but I’ve seen 5-6 cars parked out in front of the theater for the last few weeks. No trucks or vans to haul stuff away though.
Covered in the booklet were Heart Like A Wheel, That Sinking Feeling, This Is Spinal Tap, Privates On Parade showing with American Gothic., El Norte, Wuthering Heights (Bunel version.)Plus a promo for The Premier Boston Gay GFilm Festival and L'Argent and My Best Friends Girl
The Hollywood Hits theater closed for good on Sept 6, 2016.Cited as the reason was competition and being unable to raise money for improvements to the cinemas. Article here. http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/updated-hollywood-hits-closed-for-good/article_36ae57c0-b87d-5d56-b251-83c75cb6f551.html
Worth noting about the Revere Showcase, added reclining powered seats in all houses. No instructions anywhere for them so your first time you have to guess how to work them. Also has a 4D motion control seats in 1 house that makes a movie into a ride. Worth trying once.Added an XPLUS house which is an Imax type of system.Has reserve seating so when you buy tickets you choose your seat, trouble is seems like the theaters are always mostly full giving you little choices but often when movie starts there is no crowd. Only place around me showing TMC revivals and also the Rifftrax live shows.
I attended the same showing of Wizard of Oz on May 11 mentioned by Ron Newman.Really a wonderful night of fun with people in costume, some in formal wear. Inside the theater they had vendors going up and down the aisles selling popcorn, candy and drinks between acts. Place was packed too, 600+ attendance. Looks better each time I go there as the restorations still go on. To show how diverse their booking policy is, besides Oz in the big house there were current blockbusters in the other houses and a special showing of the original Godzilla (Gojira, subtitled) also going on.
They converted one of the house to mini IMAX a year or two back.
Not even close to the full scale IMAX at Jordan’s Furniture in Reading.
The theater was split in 1978. First attractions as a twin were Goin' South and Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe. Not too bad a job on the split since the single house was wide enough that the twins escaped the dreaded double bowling alley look of so many split theaters. Really missed the cross aisle from the single house that let you really stretch out your legs.
Place had a very odd layout. You entered from the back and on your right were rows of 8-12 seats. These went from very back to close to the screen. Near front were 4-6 rows of seats set at an angle off to the left. These rows had maybe 5-6 seats in them. Bathroom was near these rows and I recall it was tiny and had an old coin-op after shave/cologne dispenser. (like the womens version seen here http://playingintheworldgame.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/coin-operated-perfume-dispenser-1952/ )
I wish someone was around who knew the story of this place. I mean was it designed from the start as a cinema or was there just some room left over after the the 2 clubs were designed.
Easy to see why the real estate was so valuable, the theater was literally across the street from the ocean. A nice house but kind of long and narrow. When it was twinned they split it crosswise sparing it from becoming the dreaded twin bowling alleys. If you were sitting in the back house you’d see the projectionist walk down the aisle to another booth to start the show in the front house.
I believe the place was twinned during the end of it’s days as the Fine Arts X-rated house.Probably after video started making adult theaters unnecessary. The ad would always be in the local papers theater section. I’d guess they just put up a screen in front of the balcony seats.
I remember this place. It was called West Peabody Cinema after the Jerry Lewis name was removed. A really oddball location. It was technically at the same location as a small mall. BUT at the edge of the mall was a wall of solid rock maybe 15-20 feet high which completely blocked any view of the theater from the mall parking lot. This cliff was only 3-6 ft thick and you could drive around it to get to the cinema.There was another entrance road but it was badly marked so place was isolated from view. I asked manager at cinema about the wall and he said place was built well after the mall and owner of mall refused to pay to take down wall. Like most small twins it ended up going porno before it closed, but I think it reverted back to regular films before closing.
Correct link (I hope)
http://marblehead.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/new-warwick-theater-may-attract-more-movie-goers-than39fd5ffa52