Beacon Hill Theatre
1 Beacon Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
1 Beacon Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
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re Sacks tidbits. I remember in the 1950s that the Sack organization every year in the Spring would place ads in the trades announcing that that particular year’s Oscar Winning “Best Picture” had opened in a Sack Theatre. This went on for years.
Ron – yes the original Beacon Hill was at roughly that same spot.
Dwodeyla- I too have heard that Ben Sack won the (original) Beacon Hill Theatre in a poker game. Sack was originally a junk dealer, and this winning was his entry into the entertainment business. I believe he died last year (or possibly the year before). His family has gold ‘lifetime’ passes to get into former Sack houses for free. When I worked for Loews I had the opportunity to talk to his grandson, Terry Sack, who was a very nice guy. When I mentioned my interest in local cinema history (and the fact that I knew his grandfather’s name, a rarity for young people today) he was kind enought to offer me the opportunity to meet with Mr. Sack, but alas, I never made the time to do so.
There are still a few people around in the Loews Boston operations that go back to the Sack days… more ushers and projectionists than managers. I worked with a great lady at Harvard Square who got her start as an usher at the Saxon when she was 15. She has worked pretty much every theater in Boston, the Charles, Beacon Hill, etc. She still works at the Harvard Square Theatre.
Do any of you guys remember the old Sack policy trailers where the little animated people in sacks formed the “S” in “Sack”?
If you walk around the rear of the Loews Assembly Square Cinemas, the fire dept. pipes still say “Sacks Cinema” on them.
Also, I am not sure about the other area Loews, but the Assembly Sq. Cinema was still technically operated by “Sacks Theatres” on its entertainment license, at least until the Loews bankruptcy of 2001. All of the theaters were operated under various corporate entities because of grandfathering issues, etc.
Those are my “Sacks” tidbits. Anybody else?
Does anyone know what famous Bostonian ushered at a Loews Theatre in Boston? Thanks.
In the mid-1970s, Sack ran these theaters in central Boston: Beacon Hill, Pi Alley, Savoy (now Opera House), Saxon (now Cutler Majestic), Gary, Cinema 57 (now Stuart Street Playhouse), Music Hall (now Wang Center), and Cheri. They later took over the Charles and Paris.
I’m pretty sure that the Beacon Hill Theater I saw in the 1970s replaced an earlier theater on the same spot.
Ben Sack won this theatre in a poker game. When the film “And God Created Woman” played here, the Assistant Manager, Izzy Strier, needed Mr Sack’s intervention to avoid being arrested by the Boston Police for running a film which violated Boston’s blue laws.
Nearly all Downtown Boston theaters were owned by Ben Sack from the late 1950’s and through the 1970’s, run by Mr Sack, and Alan Friedberg with Bill Glazer, until sold to the Loews Corporation. Any anecdotes and information on the history of Sack Theatres would be appreciated.
A few years ago, the management at the One Beacon Street Building expanded their underground garage. I used to park my car there. I’m pretty sure that was the space occupied by the Beacon Hill Theater, so the theater substructure most likely has been demolished. I saw several films when it was an art house venue (“Kagamusha,” “Say Amen, Somebody,”) and a couple when it became a grind house. The last film I saw there was “Beverly Hills Cop II,” and the urban crowd at the matinee was rowdy. You had to climb a lot of stairs to get back to street level.
And I hear that the Copley will soon be closing as well!
The Beacon Hill, before closing in November of 1992, essentially operated as a grindhouse for the last 10 years or so of its operation, showing mostly low-budget action and horror flicks, along with the occasional move-over from one of the other Sack/USA/Loews Theatres – the Charles, Cheri, Cinema 57, Pi Alley, Copley Place, and Nickelodeon, among others – operating in Boston at the time. (Of that lot, only the Copley Place currently remains open for business.)
The former entrance is now a COPY COP.When you entered the Theatre, you immediately walked down several levels of stairs. The Theatre faces going down Tremont St. You walk over that big flat sidewalk area with the auditorium underneath you.
The 2nd Beacon Hill Theatre, which still exists underground,
was built in the same block as the original. This house was tripled
in the 70s by blocking off the rear 20% of both left and right rears.
The entrance still sticks out of the ground.
I believe this to be the BEACON THEATRE, which was the sister to the MODERN THEATRE on Washington St. This theatre was opened in 1913 by movie theatre pioneer Jacob Lourie and his partners. It had, along with the MODERN, the first Western Electric sound projection equipment installed in the country. It premiered along with its sister theatre, the Boston showing of the “Jazz Singer”. It was build exclusively for the showing of moving pictures and along with the MODERN was the first deluxe movie-only theatre in New England. It was opened by New England Theatres Operating Company (NETOCO) and later was part of the M&P and ATC before SACKs.
Ads for attractions at this theatre always indicated “Opposite Parker House.”
The exact address for this theatre is 1 Beacon Street, which becomes Tremont Street at that point. The theatre was still operating in the early 90s and by that time it contained three auditoriums in its beneath-street-level location.