Gary Theatre
131 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
131 Stuart Street,
Boston,
MA
02116
7 people
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Showing 76 - 91 of 91 comments
I also have heard that there was a tunnel connecting the Gary to the Saxon. Someone once told me that one of the staff used to use this tunnel for shooting practice!
If I recall correctly, the Plymouth was renamed the Gary in honor of someone in Ben Sack’s family, a son, I believe.
Michael:
If I recall – the Gary housed “The Sound of Music” from the start. However, I was very young (five!) at the time. I do know the Saxon housed “My Fair Lady” and was still playing when “Music” opened.
I tried to buy a souveneir program when SOM played at the New theatre in Baltimore. The concessions woman said they had none to give – perhaps the books sold out from the high demand. From the descriptions of the Gary theatre sounds like in its heyday it was a first class theatre. Now, here’s another riddle – according to the .in70mm website TSOM orginally opened at another theatre with TODD-AO(The Saxon?). The GAry theatre run may have been a move-over.
The Sound of Music was indeed in 70MM Todd-AO at the Gary. I have a copy of “Playbill for Boston, The Gary, July 1965.” It, of course, features TSOM and lots of ads. This was in addition to the $1 souvenier book for the film! Very cool. “Mary Poppins” played here as well! My sisters were forever commenting on how vast the space was. My father was an army officer then stationed at Ft. Devens and movie going at the Gary was uncommon and quite the event. It was expensive!
I saw Sound Of Music, as well as Mary Poppins, at The Gary as a kid in the mid-60’s. We sat in the cheaper balconey seats; I believe all seats were reserved. I recall The Gary being one of the big Sack road show houses. Still have a vague recollection of the vertical sign outside. I believe it closed before falling into horror/blaxploitation fare like the nearby Saxon and Astor theatres, and was vacant for awhile before being torn down to make way for the Transporation building. The Hillbilly Ranch and Herbie’s RamRod Room were on the same block (actually Herbies was in the alley to its left)
According to the photograph(Don’t worry, Gerald – it’s coming!) the marquee mentions the name of the film and that it was the 1965 Oscar film of the year. There was nothing saying that it was presented in TODD-AO. By 1966 sometimes theatres didn’t always display the film process on marquees possibly because the novelty of widescreen was gone. The theatre was located between a pub and a resturant. From the outside it seemed small so whether it was 35 mm or Todd-A0 7omm film I have no idea. I’m from Baltimore and was a visitor.
As an addendum, I have personal memories of movie-watching in Boston.
In 1958 we visited Boston for a few days during a postal union convention my father attended. Rigid in his views he felt that going to a movie was something we could do back home in Baltimore. So, we rarely saw a movie outside of Baltimore’s screens. However, we attended a night performance of “Windjammer”, which was the first(and last film) presented in Cinemiracle which was developed as a smoother rival to the orginal Cinerama. Part of the reason we saw “Windjammer” is that the film never came to Baltmore. Unfortunately, I have little memories of its presentation. However, my brother possessed the orginal hardbound souveneir book. Unfortunately, that book is now lost. I wonder how much that book is now.
In conclusion, I did see “Sound of Music”. Having nothing to do on a Thanksgiving day I took the bus downtown to the New in downtown Baltimore in its original roadshow presentation. Anyone having see “SOM” in its TODD-AO presentation can only remember the sudden participatory feeling of flying through the Swiss mountains, almost landing on Julie Andrews opening the film with its theme song “Sound of Music.”
So much for my personal life.
If the Gary was showing SOM in July of ‘66 it would have been one of Boston’s most important road show houses and presenting it in Todd AO. Was this indeed the case?
I would have loved seeing the film on its original release in Todd AO on hard ticket but had to wait until '67 when it finally made it to the suburbs on general release.
The idea of spending that kind of money on a movie would have been ludicrous to my parents. 75 cents for a child was more than enough.
What would $4.50( a mezzanine seat at NY’s Rivoli for the film) be today?
I’d just look over my original comment. For clarification, I was probably 14 or 15 years old. The date on the photo is July 1966.
It’s also B&W but I hope that only enhances the interest of the snapshot. Incidently, I was born in 1951 – you do the arithmetic.
Michael, I can be reached at
Sorry, Gerald. I can’t find the e-mail feature you mentioned. Could you tell me where to exactly find it?
I’d love to receive a scan as an email attachment, but don’t see a memberlist email feature here. I can be reached at
Michael, I’d be glad to scan it and email the scan to you and slow-mail the photo back. E-mail me using the member list e-mail feature.
If anyone has the know-how for scanning I have an old black and white instamatic photograph of the Gary in Boston. I must have been about thirteen or fourteen years ago travelling with my parents somewhere. We must have been strolling within the area when I stopped and took a photograph of the Gary with its marquee for “The Sound Of Music.” If anyone’s interested in scanning it for this site I’ll be more than glad to send to you.
This theatre was torn down in order to build the State Transportation Building in the early 1980s.
My strongest memory of the Gary is when I came up from Providence in 1961 to see Federico Fellini’s “scandalous” LA DOLCE VITA, which was premiering there at that time.