AMC Chestnut Hill 5

The Chestnut Hill Cinema would be a perfect arthouse – when I went there it seemed to be an upscale neighborhood with the Chestnut Hill Mall nearby. Unless AMC ran it into the ground (I hope not), it was an upscale theatre compared to other General Cinemas.

Somebody ought to resurrect the General Cinema Corporation name and the old original logo. It’s kind of historic, in modern history, anyway. It’s almost like when Loews became Sony Theatres for a few years, what were they thinking?

Actually, they would probably hurt the Embassy, as there’s only about 5 miles between them. I wonder who will book the film?

Entertainment Cinemas is a brand name long gone from the Boston area; they used to be in Cambridge (Fresh Pond), Quincy, and Stoughton.

The Northeast Cinemas brand disappeared from Boston Globe ads a few months ago. It used to adorn the ads for Sharon and Bridgewater cinemas, and maybe others I don’t remember. It seemed to be a temporary name for whatever Hoyts used to own that they didn’t sell to Regal.

To compete against AMC, Showcase, Loews, and Landmark in this market, an independent theatre needs either strong local community ties or a strong brand identity — preferably both. I’m curious how a newly independent Chestnut Hill Cinema will approach this problem.

Interesting news. I suspect that a 5-screen house (even a successful one doesn’t fit into AMC’s business model of 16-30-plexes. I wonder what was actually “sold”; the building is owned by SR Weiner & Associates, I believe.

I, too, would be interested in any dates and additional details.

BCG apparently owns a number of theatres in various markets. The Tri-Boro Cinema in Attleboro, MA. is one of their houses.

They are going to continue to operate it as a theater; they operate many theaters in New England.

Does this mean it will no longer be a theater?

There a Container Store in there now.

Local newspapers don’t agree on what town this theatre is located in. The Boston Globe movie directory lists it under Newton, but the Boston Phoenix says it’s in Brookline. Perhaps both are right, and the town line passes through the property?

(“Chestnut Hill” is not a town, just a zip code and neighborhood name that takes in adjoining parts of Brookline, Newton, and the Brighton neighborhood in Boston.)

Ian, it was and probably still is a fun business for a lot of people. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it. I left because I found I could no longer support the overall direction of the film industry (ever-increasing violence, sex, drug use, etc). I still miss it, as evidenced by my finding this site.

I remember when GCC sent out a memo to all theatres (around 1979) with a dollar bill attached, celebrating the chain’s average “per person” concession average reaching that lofty plateau. What is it in theatres now, about $4?

Theatre cleaning varied from market to market and theatre to theatre, as it does now. Some managers didn’t clean at all, and others picked up trash, swept and even spot mopped. In some you would lose your shoes walking down an aisle because the floors were so sticky, and in others I’d have eaten off the floor because they were so clean.

Overall operations improved when GCC’s new (about 1987) President, Paul Del Rossi began the “Reel Excellence” program. It detailed 108 operating standards, including cleanliness, maintenance, customer service, picture and sound quality, popcorn and drink quality, etc. Theatres were evaluated by secret shoppers, area managers, and home office personnel, and theatre teams could reach Bronze, Silver, or Gold award levels.

You want advice? Keep the auditorium temperatures comfortable, the popcorn fresh, the auditoriums clean, the spitwads off the screen, the babies crying in the LOBBY, the concession lines moving FAST, the major showtimes separated to spread out guest arrival, etc, etc. You know it all already, I’m sure. Hire good people, spend as much time training them on what you expect as you can, show them you appreciate their efforts, and have a good time!

Drinks from vending were 12 oz, the concession stand had 14 and 20 oz. Popcorn had plain boxes, small was 10 oz, large 25 oz. (correct me if my memory is off a little). Buttered came in 24 oz and 46 oz. cups.
People still left their stuff under the seats after a show, but there wasn’t as much sold back then.
I think I remember that memo, but in by ‘66, the Cinema in Shoppers World Framingham was already allowing all food into the auditorium.
When I was a kid going to the show there, I remember only buying popcorn and candy, but not drinks.
I think the drink vending machine was owned by ABC Vending, as we had ABC cups with the little character on it.

In the 1960’s and into the 70’s, the variety of concession items was limited to Popcorn, drinks, and candy. (sometimes a dixie cup or ice cream sandwich was sold) Sizes were smaller, too. A small buttered popcorn was 24 oz, large 46. Drinks were 12 oz and 20 oz. Volume of business for concession was less, as I remember Cinemas used to buy butter at the local supermarket to melt in the buttermat. I’m sure ushers in the auditoriums were sent to aisles to sweep up spills in the 1960’s but the need for entire crews to pickup wasn’t there.
Once they introduced buckets of 83 oz and 123 oz, and 32 oz drinks, as well as larger candy sizes, the litter became a problem. If you go back to the earlier years, in the 1930’s and 40’s, I think concession stands were nearly nonexistent, and I’ve been told food was banned from auditoriums.