Here is a programming memory of the Art Cinema. In November of 1958 the cinema offered the “First Annual Cinema Harvest of Films Unique.” I still have the flyer. The double bills shown were: SPECTER OF THE ROSE & GOYA, LA STRADA & I VITELLONI, THE STONE FLOWER & IVAN THE TERRIBLE, TONIGHT AT 8:30 & CASABLANCA, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO & EROICA, THE BIRTH OF A NATION and THE W.C. FIELDS FESTIVAL. To follow, beginning a regular run on Thanksgiving Day, was Fernandel in THE MAN IN THE RAINCOAT.
Here are more programming memories on the theatre I have been going to continuously since around 1948. In the month of August in 1957 and 1958, because August was slack time, the Avon did a repertory “August Film Festival”. They were a cinematic education for a youngster like me. The double-bill programs for August of 1957 were: CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & LA TRAVIATA, THE GRAPES OF WRATH & TOBACCO ROAD, REAR WINDOW & THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, THE CRUEL SEA & IN WHICH WE SERVE, OPEN CITY & PAISAN, LUST FOR LIFE & GABY, THE BED & MANON, WOMAN OF ROME & FRISKY, DIABOLIQUE & WAGES OF FEAR, BORIS GODUNOV & STARS OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET, TO CATCH A THIEF & LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING. Not bad! In August of 1958 I saw TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON & 12 ANGRY MEN, SUSPICION & THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, TOBACCO ROAD & THE GRAPES OF WRATH, I VITELLONI & THE BICYCLE THIEF, PRIVATE’S PROGRESS & WEE GEORDIE, PAGLIACCI & AIDA, SABRINA & THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, LA STRADA & NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, FERNANDEL THE DRESSMAKER & THE SHEEP HAS FIVE LEGS. Wow!
The theatre was built in 1914 by Charles W. Tupper and Earl G. Whelden, who operated it until 1926, when it was leased to Regional Chain Theatres of New England. E.M. Loew’s, which operated Olneyville’s other theatre at the time, the Olympia, acquired the lease in 1933, but by 1934 the theatre closed and remained almost entirely unused for decades. Around 1960 it was put up for sale and was later demolished. I remember when I was in high school that I would sometimes change buses at the stop directly in front of the theatre on my way home. I also remember accompanying my mother to the fruit and vegetable stand in the former lobby of the Royal. For me as a teenager in the 1950s the Royal was always a mysterious and intriguing building…but I never got to see the inside.
I have an old postcard, mailed in 1916, showing the “New Whitney Block and Bijou Theatre, Main Street, Fitchburg, Mass.” Perhaps I can post it when the site’s photo feature returns.
The Fenway was an art house in the early 1960s. In April of 1963 I saw the French SUNDAYS AND CYBELE here and Antonioni’s IL GRIDO in June. Also in June of 1963 the theatre was used for an early version of the Boston Film Festival. I remember seeing the Brazilian THE GIVEN WORD. In November of 1963 there were programs of nudies like BABES IN THE WOODS and KIPLING’S WOMEN. The place went from art fare to nudie/exploitation flicks.
One of the only times I went to this theatre was in 1958 to see a showing of the French-made THE CASE OF DR. LAURENT. It was dubbed in English here. The film, which starred the great Jean Gabin, achieved some exploitation because it featured the actual birth of a baby. The theatre was called the Mayflower then too.
I believe the only time I visited this theatre was in March of 1958 for a double bill of the Spanish-made THE MIRACLE OF MARCELINO, dubbed in English, shown with the cute French featurette THE RED BALLOON. It was a packed matinee.
The Orpheum was called the Music Hall in the 19th Century and was the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra until it moved to its new concert hall at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Back Bay, namely Symphony Hall.
No to Warren. The Gaiety (also spelled Gayety, including on the side of the building) is across the street and became the Publix for a few decades. It is still there in very decrepit shape and is suppposed to be demolished, from what I’ve heard.
Yes to Charles. It was called the Pagoda for a time (showing Chinese action films.) As for the other names, I don’t have any information.
Not to my knowledge. I used to go there from time to time decades ago. They were next to the Stuart. I have an ad in front of me from November, 1963 when they were showing PROMISES! PROMISES! with Jayne Mansfield.
It’s interesting to see that foreign films played there from time to time as well, i.e.: WILD STRAWBERRIES, BELLE DE JOUR, A MAN AND A WOMAN, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, MALIZIA, ALL SCREWED UP, LAST TANGO IN PARIS. Not what you normally associate with the Uptown.
I don’t believe the U.S. release of AIDA was of a subtitled print at all. While indeed sung in Italian, there were sporadic bits of “summarizing” English narration for each episode and no subtitles provided. The 1982 re-issue (same version) at the Guild was with reserved performances, but not reserved seats. The original opera was heavily truncated, with startling jumps, even within arias, where music was cut out. In his review for the New York Times for the 1954 opening, Bosley Crother referred to the then virtualy unknown Sophia Loren as “a handsome woman”!!!
No, definitely not. The Palace was further up on the opposite side of the street…about 500 feet away. I’ve been to both theatres: the Palace when it showed films in the 1970s and 1980s and the former Majestic in the 1990s when the auditorium was open. I believe it may have been used for local theatre productions for a time. I’d like to find out where the Gem Theatre, listed as 1231 Main Street in directories, was located in relation to those two places.
Here is a programming memory of the Art Cinema. In November of 1958 the cinema offered the “First Annual Cinema Harvest of Films Unique.” I still have the flyer. The double bills shown were: SPECTER OF THE ROSE & GOYA, LA STRADA & I VITELLONI, THE STONE FLOWER & IVAN THE TERRIBLE, TONIGHT AT 8:30 & CASABLANCA, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO & EROICA, THE BIRTH OF A NATION and THE W.C. FIELDS FESTIVAL. To follow, beginning a regular run on Thanksgiving Day, was Fernandel in THE MAN IN THE RAINCOAT.
Here are more programming memories on the theatre I have been going to continuously since around 1948. In the month of August in 1957 and 1958, because August was slack time, the Avon did a repertory “August Film Festival”. They were a cinematic education for a youngster like me. The double-bill programs for August of 1957 were: CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & LA TRAVIATA, THE GRAPES OF WRATH & TOBACCO ROAD, REAR WINDOW & THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, THE CRUEL SEA & IN WHICH WE SERVE, OPEN CITY & PAISAN, LUST FOR LIFE & GABY, THE BED & MANON, WOMAN OF ROME & FRISKY, DIABOLIQUE & WAGES OF FEAR, BORIS GODUNOV & STARS OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET, TO CATCH A THIEF & LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING. Not bad! In August of 1958 I saw TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON & 12 ANGRY MEN, SUSPICION & THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, TOBACCO ROAD & THE GRAPES OF WRATH, I VITELLONI & THE BICYCLE THIEF, PRIVATE’S PROGRESS & WEE GEORDIE, PAGLIACCI & AIDA, SABRINA & THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, LA STRADA & NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, FERNANDEL THE DRESSMAKER & THE SHEEP HAS FIVE LEGS. Wow!
The theatre was built in 1914 by Charles W. Tupper and Earl G. Whelden, who operated it until 1926, when it was leased to Regional Chain Theatres of New England. E.M. Loew’s, which operated Olneyville’s other theatre at the time, the Olympia, acquired the lease in 1933, but by 1934 the theatre closed and remained almost entirely unused for decades. Around 1960 it was put up for sale and was later demolished. I remember when I was in high school that I would sometimes change buses at the stop directly in front of the theatre on my way home. I also remember accompanying my mother to the fruit and vegetable stand in the former lobby of the Royal. For me as a teenager in the 1950s the Royal was always a mysterious and intriguing building…but I never got to see the inside.
I have an old postcard, mailed in 1916, showing the “New Whitney Block and Bijou Theatre, Main Street, Fitchburg, Mass.” Perhaps I can post it when the site’s photo feature returns.
As both a film lover and a music lover, I can assert that both are important.
The address for the Warwick Cinema was 780 Post Road, as stated in a 1977 newspaper ad.
The Fenway was an art house in the early 1960s. In April of 1963 I saw the French SUNDAYS AND CYBELE here and Antonioni’s IL GRIDO in June. Also in June of 1963 the theatre was used for an early version of the Boston Film Festival. I remember seeing the Brazilian THE GIVEN WORD. In November of 1963 there were programs of nudies like BABES IN THE WOODS and KIPLING’S WOMEN. The place went from art fare to nudie/exploitation flicks.
One of the only times I went to this theatre was in 1958 to see a showing of the French-made THE CASE OF DR. LAURENT. It was dubbed in English here. The film, which starred the great Jean Gabin, achieved some exploitation because it featured the actual birth of a baby. The theatre was called the Mayflower then too.
I believe the only time I visited this theatre was in March of 1958 for a double bill of the Spanish-made THE MIRACLE OF MARCELINO, dubbed in English, shown with the cute French featurette THE RED BALLOON. It was a packed matinee.
Much of the interior of the theatre, seating, projection booth, seemed intact in a visit a while ago.
The Orpheum was called the Music Hall in the 19th Century and was the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra until it moved to its new concert hall at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Back Bay, namely Symphony Hall.
The theatre was built in 1890 as Lothrop’s Opera House. It was also called Lynch’s Pleasant Street Theatre, and the Fine Arts Theatre.
No to Warren. The Gaiety (also spelled Gayety, including on the side of the building) is across the street and became the Publix for a few decades. It is still there in very decrepit shape and is suppposed to be demolished, from what I’ve heard.
Yes to Charles. It was called the Pagoda for a time (showing Chinese action films.) As for the other names, I don’t have any information.
The address for the Midway Theatre was 830 Oakland Beach Road.
The address in a 1963 newspaper ad was given as 617 Washington Street.
Ads for attractions at this theatre always indicated “Opposite Parker House.”
Not to my knowledge. I used to go there from time to time decades ago. They were next to the Stuart. I have an ad in front of me from November, 1963 when they were showing PROMISES! PROMISES! with Jayne Mansfield.
The Brattle in Cambridge, Massachusetts uses rear-projection.
The theatre was used by the Associate Artists Opera Company for a November 1974 production of Antonio Salieri’s rarely-heard FALSTAFF.
Sorry, that was an error during entry. Boston, Massachusetts! Needs to be corrected.
It’s interesting to see that foreign films played there from time to time as well, i.e.: WILD STRAWBERRIES, BELLE DE JOUR, A MAN AND A WOMAN, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, MALIZIA, ALL SCREWED UP, LAST TANGO IN PARIS. Not what you normally associate with the Uptown.
My suspicion is that the Gem and the Majestic were the same theatre. I’m not sure.
sorry, Crowther.
I don’t believe the U.S. release of AIDA was of a subtitled print at all. While indeed sung in Italian, there were sporadic bits of “summarizing” English narration for each episode and no subtitles provided. The 1982 re-issue (same version) at the Guild was with reserved performances, but not reserved seats. The original opera was heavily truncated, with startling jumps, even within arias, where music was cut out. In his review for the New York Times for the 1954 opening, Bosley Crother referred to the then virtualy unknown Sophia Loren as “a handsome woman”!!!
No, definitely not. The Palace was further up on the opposite side of the street…about 500 feet away. I’ve been to both theatres: the Palace when it showed films in the 1970s and 1980s and the former Majestic in the 1990s when the auditorium was open. I believe it may have been used for local theatre productions for a time. I’d like to find out where the Gem Theatre, listed as 1231 Main Street in directories, was located in relation to those two places.