Yeah, I don’t understand that at all; at first I thought it was the residence of Charles Gorman, the theater’s manager. (Maybe he lived in one of the trees).
On the Winthrop Hall Theatre page, CT member Ed Findlay posted a link to a long article which appeared in the Dorchester Argus-Citizen on June 2, 1983 written by TV critic Anthony LaCamera in which he writes of attending movies in Dorchester as a youth. He refers to this theater as the “Rialto Theatre”. This would have been sometime in the 1920s/1930s.
Ed, I don’t get what you are disagreeing with. You seem to agree with all the info printed above, but you say “I’ll gladly stand corrected…” (about what?) What point have you made that could possibly be corrected? We know the Winthrop Hall Theater was operating with vaudeville and movies, in a building 5-plus stories high. Then in 1918, the Strand opened across the street. The “Winnie” remained open. Then, by 1930, the building was partially torn down and a 2-story bank went into the space. Then in 1941, the Uphams Theater opened. I have seen a photo taken during opening week. To the right is the 2-story Dorchester Savings Bank. Then a long one-story block containing the new theater. Next to the bank is a store called “Vogue”, then next is the Uphams Theatre entrance, and to its left is a drug store named “Sawyers” or something ending in “wyers”.
Someone once told me that he head heard that the Uphams was carved out of a garage, and there was a garage immediately to the rear of this lot.
Yes, when the house closed for major renovations which created today’s auditorium, it was already being run by Marcus Loew, so it was an early Loew house. The “11 PM” is when the shows usually ended for the day. The vaude shows of that day also often included various movie shorts at the end of the program, so they were not 100% live.
What I mean Ed is that I have now read 2 descriptions of this property,– both mention the Winthrop Hall building and theater, and both mention the bank later, but for some reason they omit any mention of the Uphams Theater.(it opened around 1941). Regarding the Strand across the street: it opened in 1918; the Winthrop Hall Theater seems to have been still operating in 1927, and the bank opened circa- 1929/1930. The Uphams Theatre in 1941 was not new construction but was carved out of space in the existing structure, and was one story high, with no balcony. You’re right- there definitely was space there for it.
In an Arcadia Press photo book about Brighton, the Brighton Theatre is mentioned and a small ad or program reproduced. It says that the theater was known as “The Barn” and that it opened around 1915.
With regard to the Dohany Opera House: the only listing for Council Bluffs in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide is Dohany’s Theatre, 1,226 seats, George Bowen, Mgr. It was on the ground floor. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. Tickets cost 25 cents to 75 cents, and it had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 30 feet square, and the stage was 39 feet deep. There were 7 to 10 musicians in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Council Bluffs was 35,000.
That link has some interesting info. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mention the Uphams Theater and where it fits in with all of this. It also implies that the Winthrop Hall Theatre was replaced by the big Strand Th. across the street in 1918. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Winthrop Hall Theatre as being open 7 days per week and having 500 seats, 9 years after the Strand opened.
The facade in Ed Findlay’s recent photo above is definitely the same facade as in the 3/1941 MGM Theatre Report photo. The marquee was attached just below the two windows. There was a recessed entrance below with a center ticket booth.
Joe Cifre, who was a theater professional and a Boston theater historian in the mid-20th Century, wrote that Congress Hall was one of the early Boston movie venues. Some of the cinemas he mentions were store-front nickleodeons (he calls them “Store-Show Theaters”). I don’t know where some of these were located, such as the “King Theatre”, “Queen Theatre”, Back Bay theatre, Empire Th., Court Street Theatre. I know that the Monaco Theatre was near North Station.
Joe Cifre, who was a theater professional and a Boston theater historian in the mid-20th Century, wrote that the Winthrop Hall Theater was one of the early Boston film venues.
Yes, same bank building. The “Then and Now”– type book had a photo of it in 1982. Unfortunately, the captions of the 2 photos in that book did not mention the Uphams Theatre, only the Winthrop Hall Theater and the bank.
In the 1919 Boston Police Reports which Ed Findlay linked to on the page for the Day Square Th. in E. Boston, there is mention that one William Sweeney was appointed Special Police Officer at Congress Hall Theatre, 220 Broadway in South Boston for the year ending March 31, 1920. This appointment was made on the application of James F. Powers, owner of the Congress Hall Theatre. So James Powers was still there 11 years after the publication of the book which Joe Vogel mentions above.
I found reference to the Winthrop Hall, with two photos, in one of those “Then and Now” photo books. Apparently sometime in the 1930s, the building was partially demolished; it was reduced in height from 5-plus stories to one-plus story, gutted out and a totally new facade constructed. Since the theater was an “upstairs house” we can be sure that it did not survive. Later, around 1940, the Uphams Theatre was created in part of this space. Still later, it was a bank branch.
Yes, someone who was familiar with film distribution in Boston many years ago told me that these “Scenic Temples” were affiliated with one another. I wrote up a partial list of them which I posted last month under Scenic Temple, Boston (CT 30432). I have seen the Congress Hall in South Boston listed in old street directories under “Public Halls”.
Ed- yes, it takes time and patience to go through the BPD police reports- I only went half way. I also found a reference to the Rialto/Roslindale Theater in Roslindale, and the Fenway Theatre.
The building in the beautiful postcard which Ed Findlay has found is the same building as in the May 1941 MGM Theatre Report photo. In 1941, the ballroom was called “Beachview Dancing” and the theatre was the “Boulevard Theatre”. This postcard implies that the original name was “Crescent Gardens Theatre”.
There seems to have been a dearth of theaters in Melrose compared with nearby Malden and Medford. The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists a “Belrose” Theatre (almost certainly a typo) with 800 seats, open 6 days per week; plus the Melrose City Hall auditorium with 1000 seats, which was also a film venue at that time.
A further clue that this theater was originally called the “Roslindale Theatre” is in a May 1919 Boston Police Dept report which CT member Edward Findlay has found. In routine license matters, it mentions Charles J. Gorman, prop. of the “Roslindale Theatre” at 703-711 South Street and 411 South Street.
In the 1919 Boston Police report that Ed Findlay has found it says that the Mgr of the Day Square Theatre in E. Boston, Abraham Montague, requested that two persons be appointed as Special Police Officers at the theater, one of whom was himself!
Yeah, I don’t understand that at all; at first I thought it was the residence of Charles Gorman, the theater’s manager. (Maybe he lived in one of the trees).
In the Boston business and street directories for both 1918 and 1921, this theater is listed at 220 West Broadway as “Congress Hall Scenic Temple.”
On the Winthrop Hall Theatre page, CT member Ed Findlay posted a link to a long article which appeared in the Dorchester Argus-Citizen on June 2, 1983 written by TV critic Anthony LaCamera in which he writes of attending movies in Dorchester as a youth. He refers to this theater as the “Rialto Theatre”. This would have been sometime in the 1920s/1930s.
Ed, I don’t get what you are disagreeing with. You seem to agree with all the info printed above, but you say “I’ll gladly stand corrected…” (about what?) What point have you made that could possibly be corrected? We know the Winthrop Hall Theater was operating with vaudeville and movies, in a building 5-plus stories high. Then in 1918, the Strand opened across the street. The “Winnie” remained open. Then, by 1930, the building was partially torn down and a 2-story bank went into the space. Then in 1941, the Uphams Theater opened. I have seen a photo taken during opening week. To the right is the 2-story Dorchester Savings Bank. Then a long one-story block containing the new theater. Next to the bank is a store called “Vogue”, then next is the Uphams Theatre entrance, and to its left is a drug store named “Sawyers” or something ending in “wyers”.
Someone once told me that he head heard that the Uphams was carved out of a garage, and there was a garage immediately to the rear of this lot.
Yes, when the house closed for major renovations which created today’s auditorium, it was already being run by Marcus Loew, so it was an early Loew house. The “11 PM” is when the shows usually ended for the day. The vaude shows of that day also often included various movie shorts at the end of the program, so they were not 100% live.
What I mean Ed is that I have now read 2 descriptions of this property,– both mention the Winthrop Hall building and theater, and both mention the bank later, but for some reason they omit any mention of the Uphams Theater.(it opened around 1941). Regarding the Strand across the street: it opened in 1918; the Winthrop Hall Theater seems to have been still operating in 1927, and the bank opened circa- 1929/1930. The Uphams Theatre in 1941 was not new construction but was carved out of space in the existing structure, and was one story high, with no balcony. You’re right- there definitely was space there for it.
I looked in a current copy of the weekly Weymouth News today. There is an ad for Patriot Cinemas but nothing from South Shore Cinemas.
In an Arcadia Press photo book about Brighton, the Brighton Theatre is mentioned and a small ad or program reproduced. It says that the theater was known as “The Barn” and that it opened around 1915.
With regard to the Dohany Opera House: the only listing for Council Bluffs in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide is Dohany’s Theatre, 1,226 seats, George Bowen, Mgr. It was on the ground floor. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. Tickets cost 25 cents to 75 cents, and it had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 30 feet square, and the stage was 39 feet deep. There were 7 to 10 musicians in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Council Bluffs was 35,000.
The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists Congress Hall, with 500 seats.
That link has some interesting info. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mention the Uphams Theater and where it fits in with all of this. It also implies that the Winthrop Hall Theatre was replaced by the big Strand Th. across the street in 1918. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Winthrop Hall Theatre as being open 7 days per week and having 500 seats, 9 years after the Strand opened.
The facade in Ed Findlay’s recent photo above is definitely the same facade as in the 3/1941 MGM Theatre Report photo. The marquee was attached just below the two windows. There was a recessed entrance below with a center ticket booth.
The Day Square Theater is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 800 seats.
Joe Cifre, who was a theater professional and a Boston theater historian in the mid-20th Century, wrote that Congress Hall was one of the early Boston movie venues. Some of the cinemas he mentions were store-front nickleodeons (he calls them “Store-Show Theaters”). I don’t know where some of these were located, such as the “King Theatre”, “Queen Theatre”, Back Bay theatre, Empire Th., Court Street Theatre. I know that the Monaco Theatre was near North Station.
Joe Cifre, who was a theater professional and a Boston theater historian in the mid-20th Century, wrote that the Winthrop Hall Theater was one of the early Boston film venues.
Yes, same bank building. The “Then and Now”– type book had a photo of it in 1982. Unfortunately, the captions of the 2 photos in that book did not mention the Uphams Theatre, only the Winthrop Hall Theater and the bank.
In the 1919 Boston Police Reports which Ed Findlay linked to on the page for the Day Square Th. in E. Boston, there is mention that one William Sweeney was appointed Special Police Officer at Congress Hall Theatre, 220 Broadway in South Boston for the year ending March 31, 1920. This appointment was made on the application of James F. Powers, owner of the Congress Hall Theatre. So James Powers was still there 11 years after the publication of the book which Joe Vogel mentions above.
I found reference to the Winthrop Hall, with two photos, in one of those “Then and Now” photo books. Apparently sometime in the 1930s, the building was partially demolished; it was reduced in height from 5-plus stories to one-plus story, gutted out and a totally new facade constructed. Since the theater was an “upstairs house” we can be sure that it did not survive. Later, around 1940, the Uphams Theatre was created in part of this space. Still later, it was a bank branch.
Yes, someone who was familiar with film distribution in Boston many years ago told me that these “Scenic Temples” were affiliated with one another. I wrote up a partial list of them which I posted last month under Scenic Temple, Boston (CT 30432). I have seen the Congress Hall in South Boston listed in old street directories under “Public Halls”.
Ed- yes, it takes time and patience to go through the BPD police reports- I only went half way. I also found a reference to the Rialto/Roslindale Theater in Roslindale, and the Fenway Theatre.
The building in the beautiful postcard which Ed Findlay has found is the same building as in the May 1941 MGM Theatre Report photo. In 1941, the ballroom was called “Beachview Dancing” and the theatre was the “Boulevard Theatre”. This postcard implies that the original name was “Crescent Gardens Theatre”.
There seems to have been a dearth of theaters in Melrose compared with nearby Malden and Medford. The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists a “Belrose” Theatre (almost certainly a typo) with 800 seats, open 6 days per week; plus the Melrose City Hall auditorium with 1000 seats, which was also a film venue at that time.
A further clue that this theater was originally called the “Roslindale Theatre” is in a May 1919 Boston Police Dept report which CT member Edward Findlay has found. In routine license matters, it mentions Charles J. Gorman, prop. of the “Roslindale Theatre” at 703-711 South Street and 411 South Street.
In the 1919 Boston Police report that Ed Findlay has found it says that the Mgr of the Day Square Theatre in E. Boston, Abraham Montague, requested that two persons be appointed as Special Police Officers at the theater, one of whom was himself!
The poster described above dates from 1938.