In May of 1959 they had a “daring” double bill called “Wasted Lives” (about unwed mothers) along with an interwoven color featurette called “The Birth of Twins.” A group of us went to see this program when we were seniors in high school. It pretty much played only at drive-ins like numerous similar packages of exploitation films masquerading as serious sex-ed.
The Rustic still operates and shows first run movies during the warm months around the same time some of the multiplexes get them. I believe admission is around $17 per car. In the 1970s it operated as a porno theatre for a time. Hard and soft. I believe this is where I saw Sylvester Stallone in his early semi-infamous “Italian Stallion” where he is seen in full frontal nudity.
The “daring” bill I saw at the Bay State with three high school buddies in October of 1958 was “Because of Eve” and “She Shoulda' Said No!” “Because of Eve” depicted both normal and Cesarean type childbirths as well as warning about the dangers of V.D. “She Shoulda' Said No” was a cautionary film about the effects of drugs, especially marijuana, on one girl. Sensationalized ads and promotion were used to lure young people in to see these didactic films that were ultimately very dull and poorly made. I called the first one “informative” and judged the second one “horrible” in my notes made at the time.
I believe around 1958 they had some “daring” double bill called “Wasted Lives” (about illicit sex) along with a featurette called “The Birth of Twins.” We talked about it when we were seniors in high school. I believe I saw that program but in 1959 at the Quonset Drive-In in North Kingstown, RI. It pretty much played only at drive-ins.
The ads always said “Providence.” It was on the Providence side of the city line with Pawtucket. I too remember going to the Lonsdale Twin for some horror triple bill.
Johnson’s Hummocks was a popular seafood restaurant (primarily) on Allens Avenue in the 1960s and earlier. The building is still there. I’m guessing it’s some kind of club. That whole area is a given over to the sex trade: porno emporiums, sex clubs, gay bathhouses, almost the Bangkok of New England…well, not quite. But people come from all over. Um, excuse that.
For a very short time in 1963 the place was known (at least in newspaper ads) as the Seekonk Art Drive In…a drive-in art house! In July of 1963 there was a double bill here of Bolognini’s “Bell'Antonio” starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale playing with Jules Dassin’s “The Law,” also with Mastroianni and featuring Gina Lollobrigida. The same program day/dated with the Park Theatre in Cranston, RI. Very odd bit of programming for both venues except that Mastroianni had recently received a great deal of popular acceptance in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and “8½.” “Adults Only!” the Providence Journal ad proclaimed.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is seen in this 1960 photo of the dedication of Eisenhower Park, directly across Touro Street from the Strand (now the Jane Pickens.) The president liked Newport as a retreat and for golfing. This photo was taken on September 26 of that year.
Yes, lostmemory. Allens Avenue is correct. 1 Washington Avenue is wrong, in fact it is VERY AMUSING because that was the address for the U.S. Selective Service induction center at one time, located near the Providence shipyard and not far from the drive-in. It’s where you went for your draft physical and had to line up with a bunch of other naked guys to be examined. I know. I had to go there in the early 1960s.
Fay’s was also previously known as the Union Theatre. Old city directories list both the Union and Fay’s addresses as 60 Union Street. In a 1915 city directory there is listed a Union Theatre at 60 Union Street but no Fay’s.
If you are interested in old R.I. theatres, check out the Paramount and Colonial in Newport on this site. Their exteriors still exist and I just photographed them after believing that they had been completely demolished.
I had the pleasure of seeing a film at this theatre in the autumn of 1966. I believe it was “Fantastic Voyage.” I didn’t go here as much as the Majestic when I was at Lackland Air Force Base but I remember being impressed with its monumental beauty.
This theatre was a thrill to visit when I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in 1966. I remember taking the bus into town to see movies at the Majestic and other numerous theatres. Among those I noted seeing here were “The Professionals,” “Texas Across the River” and “After the Fox.”
Discovery…this theatre is NOT demolished. The exterior remains intact and in seeming good repair, with gutters and drain pipes extending from the roof area. It seems to have been used for many decades as various retail outlets, including a Newberry’s. Currently, a trendy store called Express occupies the original entrance and foyer area. Although this theatre is right there before your eyes, you need to look for it up and behind the Thames Street retail entrance. It is only a few feet from the rear of the Opera House on Touro Street and just a stone’s throw from the Jane Pickens (Strand). A scenery tower from vaudeville and theatrical days rises from the rear. Early Newport city directories list the street number as 146 rather than 144.
“High class vaudeville and latest motion pictures,” boasts a directory ad.
Here is a link to a site with an old postcard showing the Bijou Theatre on the right.
And in this photo I took you can see that same spot today, 192 Thames Street. I cannot ascertain if anything of the original theatre remains. But I doubt it.
Ken, the Newport city directories I checked today from the 30s and 40s all list it as 76 Broadway, and the number on the apartment building itself is also 76. Why would it go from 76 to 22 and then back to 76? 22 would bring you near Washington Square, but the Paramount is a bit further up. 76 Broadway was also the office of the Shea’s theatre chain. Must have been in the theatre.
Contrary to what I wrote above and much to my surprise, I discovered today that the Paramount was NOT demolished. It was merely gutted (if that makes us happy) and converted to a HUD apartment building. Here are photos of the building at 76 Broadway:
The first photo shows the right side of the former theatre and its scenery tower from the days of vaudeville.
The second photo shows the left side. If you look closely you can see how the windows were cut out of the side of the brick building because of the difference in color in the grouting between the bricks.
The third photo shows the entrance to the apartment building, set back, with a kind of patio replacing the original theatre entrance and lobby.
The fourth photo shows newer brick contrasting with older brick as you move up toward the roof.
I had been frequenting the Salvation Army Thrift Shop at the rear of the building for years, including today, without realizing that this was the old Paramount Theatre of Newport! How could I be so unperceptive??? I never actually set foot in the Paramount, but remember seeing its marquee during my teen years.
I would kill to see any surviving photos of the old theatre entrance or the interior.
Here is a photo of the Jane Pickens I just took. Notice that to the right, between the two white buildings, can be seen the rear scenery tower of the old Colonial Theatre on Thames Street. In all my years of visiting Newport, I never paid any attention to that. The Colonial, Jane Pickens (Strand) and Opera House are less than 200 feet from each other.
Correction on above reference to the Paramount: it is not “long demolished”—-just gutted to form an apartment building at 76 Broadway. More photos shall appear on the Paramount, Opera House, and Colonial sites.
In May of 1959 they had a “daring” double bill called “Wasted Lives” (about unwed mothers) along with an interwoven color featurette called “The Birth of Twins.” A group of us went to see this program when we were seniors in high school. It pretty much played only at drive-ins like numerous similar packages of exploitation films masquerading as serious sex-ed.
RobertR, that is not a photo of the Rustic!
The Rustic still operates and shows first run movies during the warm months around the same time some of the multiplexes get them. I believe admission is around $17 per car. In the 1970s it operated as a porno theatre for a time. Hard and soft. I believe this is where I saw Sylvester Stallone in his early semi-infamous “Italian Stallion” where he is seen in full frontal nudity.
The “daring” bill I saw at the Bay State with three high school buddies in October of 1958 was “Because of Eve” and “She Shoulda' Said No!” “Because of Eve” depicted both normal and Cesarean type childbirths as well as warning about the dangers of V.D. “She Shoulda' Said No” was a cautionary film about the effects of drugs, especially marijuana, on one girl. Sensationalized ads and promotion were used to lure young people in to see these didactic films that were ultimately very dull and poorly made. I called the first one “informative” and judged the second one “horrible” in my notes made at the time.
The 1951-52 Motion Picture Almanac says the place could accomodate 800 cars.
I believe around 1958 they had some “daring” double bill called “Wasted Lives” (about illicit sex) along with a featurette called “The Birth of Twins.” We talked about it when we were seniors in high school. I believe I saw that program but in 1959 at the Quonset Drive-In in North Kingstown, RI. It pretty much played only at drive-ins.
The ads always said “Providence.” It was on the Providence side of the city line with Pawtucket. I too remember going to the Lonsdale Twin for some horror triple bill.
Johnson’s Hummocks was a popular seafood restaurant (primarily) on Allens Avenue in the 1960s and earlier. The building is still there. I’m guessing it’s some kind of club. That whole area is a given over to the sex trade: porno emporiums, sex clubs, gay bathhouses, almost the Bangkok of New England…well, not quite. But people come from all over. Um, excuse that.
For a very short time in 1963 the place was known (at least in newspaper ads) as the Seekonk Art Drive In…a drive-in art house! In July of 1963 there was a double bill here of Bolognini’s “Bell'Antonio” starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale playing with Jules Dassin’s “The Law,” also with Mastroianni and featuring Gina Lollobrigida. The same program day/dated with the Park Theatre in Cranston, RI. Very odd bit of programming for both venues except that Mastroianni had recently received a great deal of popular acceptance in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and “8½.” “Adults Only!” the Providence Journal ad proclaimed.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is seen in this 1960 photo of the dedication of Eisenhower Park, directly across Touro Street from the Strand (now the Jane Pickens.) The president liked Newport as a retreat and for golfing. This photo was taken on September 26 of that year.
Yes, lostmemory. Allens Avenue is correct. 1 Washington Avenue is wrong, in fact it is VERY AMUSING because that was the address for the U.S. Selective Service induction center at one time, located near the Providence shipyard and not far from the drive-in. It’s where you went for your draft physical and had to line up with a bunch of other naked guys to be examined. I know. I had to go there in the early 1960s.
Fay’s was also previously known as the Union Theatre. Old city directories list both the Union and Fay’s addresses as 60 Union Street. In a 1915 city directory there is listed a Union Theatre at 60 Union Street but no Fay’s.
A 1928 city directory lists a “Star Theatre” as existing at 116 North Main Street. Might the Star and the Crown have been one and the same?
The theatre MAY have also been known as the Scenic Theatre. A city directory from 1928 lists a Scenic Theatre but not a Midway for Oakland Beach.
At one point the Pike was known as “Highway Open Air Theatre.”
The entrance seems to have been on Prichard Street. So perhaps “Prichard Street” that can be added as the address. Anyone know the exact address?
Thanks, lostmemory. Here’s another old postcard view with the actual entrance visible.
If you are interested in old R.I. theatres, check out the Paramount and Colonial in Newport on this site. Their exteriors still exist and I just photographed them after believing that they had been completely demolished.
I had the pleasure of seeing a film at this theatre in the autumn of 1966. I believe it was “Fantastic Voyage.” I didn’t go here as much as the Majestic when I was at Lackland Air Force Base but I remember being impressed with its monumental beauty.
This theatre was a thrill to visit when I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in 1966. I remember taking the bus into town to see movies at the Majestic and other numerous theatres. Among those I noted seeing here were “The Professionals,” “Texas Across the River” and “After the Fox.”
Discovery…this theatre is NOT demolished. The exterior remains intact and in seeming good repair, with gutters and drain pipes extending from the roof area. It seems to have been used for many decades as various retail outlets, including a Newberry’s. Currently, a trendy store called Express occupies the original entrance and foyer area. Although this theatre is right there before your eyes, you need to look for it up and behind the Thames Street retail entrance. It is only a few feet from the rear of the Opera House on Touro Street and just a stone’s throw from the Jane Pickens (Strand). A scenery tower from vaudeville and theatrical days rises from the rear. Early Newport city directories list the street number as 146 rather than 144.
“High class vaudeville and latest motion pictures,” boasts a directory ad.
Here are five photos I took of the exterior.
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR with rear of Opera House on right.
FIVE
Here is a link to a site with an old postcard showing the Bijou Theatre on the right.
And in this photo I took you can see that same spot today, 192 Thames Street. I cannot ascertain if anything of the original theatre remains. But I doubt it.
Ken, the Newport city directories I checked today from the 30s and 40s all list it as 76 Broadway, and the number on the apartment building itself is also 76. Why would it go from 76 to 22 and then back to 76? 22 would bring you near Washington Square, but the Paramount is a bit further up. 76 Broadway was also the office of the Shea’s theatre chain. Must have been in the theatre.
Contrary to what I wrote above and much to my surprise, I discovered today that the Paramount was NOT demolished. It was merely gutted (if that makes us happy) and converted to a HUD apartment building. Here are photos of the building at 76 Broadway:
The first photo shows the right side of the former theatre and its scenery tower from the days of vaudeville.
The second photo shows the left side. If you look closely you can see how the windows were cut out of the side of the brick building because of the difference in color in the grouting between the bricks.
The third photo shows the entrance to the apartment building, set back, with a kind of patio replacing the original theatre entrance and lobby.
The fourth photo shows newer brick contrasting with older brick as you move up toward the roof.
I had been frequenting the Salvation Army Thrift Shop at the rear of the building for years, including today, without realizing that this was the old Paramount Theatre of Newport! How could I be so unperceptive??? I never actually set foot in the Paramount, but remember seeing its marquee during my teen years.
I would kill to see any surviving photos of the old theatre entrance or the interior.
This is a photo of the Opera House in Newport, RI, with its recently restored/recreated façade.
And this second photo shows the rear of the Colonial Theatre (left) in close proximity with the rear/side of the Opera House (right).
Here is a photo of the Jane Pickens I just took. Notice that to the right, between the two white buildings, can be seen the rear scenery tower of the old Colonial Theatre on Thames Street. In all my years of visiting Newport, I never paid any attention to that. The Colonial, Jane Pickens (Strand) and Opera House are less than 200 feet from each other.
Correction on above reference to the Paramount: it is not “long demolished”—-just gutted to form an apartment building at 76 Broadway. More photos shall appear on the Paramount, Opera House, and Colonial sites.