I looked at the Google Street View for this location and there is no building which resembles the 1941 MGM Report photo of the Magnet Theater. The JW church at that address appears to be a newer structure and is even set back from the sidewalk.
danpetitpas – I had an idea that lack of $$$ was behind the end of refurbishing activity inside this theater circa-2004. Regarding what happened to all the entries on this Page, see the last sentence of the first posting above. There was a glitch here in CT that affected at least 10 to 15 or more theater pages, resulting in all postings being deleted. No one knew why. That has not happened in a while, that I know of.
The “Patriot Ledger Archives” column in the Quincy Patriot Ledger yesterday reprinted a small ad for the Wollaston Th. from the Ledger of Sept. 17, 1934. “last time today” were “Murder in the Private Car” and “Let’s Talk it Over”. Starts Sunday for 4 days: Shirley Temple in “Baby, Take a Bow” plus “Most Precious Thing in Life”. There were Matinees at 1:45PM and Evening shows at 7PM, with last complete show at 915PM. Only on Sundays were there continuous shows, beginning at 2PM. When I lived in Quincy in the 1940s and 1950s,there were continuous shows at all the theaters. You entered the theater whenever you wanted. 2-plus hours later when some familiar scenes appeared, you said “This is where I came in” and left. Today, most people prefer to be seated at the beginning of the movie.
Here is where the post theater was located at Fort Devens in the 1950s: if you stood with your back to the main gate you would see a large green area, the parade ground, in front of you. Beyond it in the distance was a row of brick buildings. The theater was to your far left, and back aways, with its front facing away from you. The main gate was on a local road, about a mile from downtown Ayer. I have no idea what is there today.
Chuck- thanks for your comment above. You obviously have seen the photo in the Arcadia Press book. As one who lived in that neighborhood, do you agree that the Plaza Theater was a new name for the old Criterion ?
The Roxy in Burlington is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. It’s the only cinema in Vermont in the network.
The Patriot Cinemas Nickleodeon 6 in Portland is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various opera houses in Europe. The other 2 cinemas in Maine which are part of the network are the Criterion in Bar Harbor and the Frontier in Brunswick.
The Marquee Westbrook 12 has joined the Opera in Cinema network, which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. The only other theater in Connecticut in the network is the Warner in Torrington.
The Coolidge Corner has joined the Opera in Cinemas network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. Other eastern-Mass. cinemas in the network include the Loring Hall in Hingham, The Cape Ann Community in Gloucester and the Capawock on MV island.
Lost- I heard that the asking price was set so low because the owner was eager to sell it and leave the area. The building is apparently in fairly good condition. By the way, in my post above of July 28, the sentence “…one of the oldest surviving…” should be changed to “one of the oldest surviving purpose-built movie theaters”. It was built in 1909 with movies foremost in mind, with the emphasis not on live performances.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Latchis in Claremont is, not surprisingly!, listed as part of the Peter D. Latchis theater circuit of Brattleboro VT. Latchis ran 14 theaters at that time, in NH, VT and MA.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Guild in Norwood is listed as being part of the George A. Giles theater circuit of Cambridge MA. Giles also ran the Norwood Th. in Norwood as well as the Uptown Th. in Boston and several others.
The LoopNet ad was posted as of Aug. 11th; the Casino must have been sold right after that. The new owner is/was an Independent movie exhibitor, who does not view this property as a “tear-down”. He wants to preserve it.
Retep- thanks for your interesting comments. Do you know anything about the Guild Theatre in Norwood? It’s not listed here in CT. If you know enough about it to create a Page for it, please follow the instructions in the “Add a Theater” tab on the CT Home page.
According to Google Street View, this theater is still standing and is/was being used as a church. The side-street which runs along its left side is Waverly St.
A friend who lives in downtown Boston and is a big film buff can’t wait for this new operation to begin. He pointed out that it will be the third movie venue for the new operators since they also run the Studio Th. in Belmont as well as the West Newton Cinema.
I went to the movies often at Fort Devens in the late 1950s. There was only one movie theater and I think it was called simply “the post theater”. It was located near the front gate, and was a free-standing building. It had a sloping floor but no balcony. There was also a stage with curtains, but I don’t think that it had a prominent stage-house like the Liberty photo posted by Don Lewis. So I can’t say if it was the same theater or not. However, it was built to a common design – many of these Army post theaters looked exactly alike ! The one at Ft. Devens featured regular movies like any other commercial movie theater, with a change of bill in mid-week if I remember correctly.
My vote is for a new seperate Page, because it is a new building and is probably not on the exact footprint of the demolished cinema. And the new name is slightly different. Otherwise, there will be a situation like that of the Beacon Theater in downtown Boston where one Cinema Treasures page covers 2 different theaters, both with the same name, and both on the same approximate site.
There is discussion above about the Grand Opera House in Brooklyn, which is not to be confused with this theater, the Grand. The Grand Opera House is listed under Brooklyn in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. The house was managed by Hyde & Behman, the stage dimensions are similar to what Warren has posted above. The admission prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50; there were 600 orchestra seats, 500 in the balcony, 800 in the gallery, and 100 box seats. Total, 2,000 seats, plus 200 standing spaces. There were 10 musicians in the house orchestra.
I looked at the Google Street View for this location and there is no building which resembles the 1941 MGM Report photo of the Magnet Theater. The JW church at that address appears to be a newer structure and is even set back from the sidewalk.
danpetitpas – I had an idea that lack of $$$ was behind the end of refurbishing activity inside this theater circa-2004. Regarding what happened to all the entries on this Page, see the last sentence of the first posting above. There was a glitch here in CT that affected at least 10 to 15 or more theater pages, resulting in all postings being deleted. No one knew why. That has not happened in a while, that I know of.
The “Patriot Ledger Archives” column in the Quincy Patriot Ledger yesterday reprinted a small ad for the Wollaston Th. from the Ledger of Sept. 17, 1934. “last time today” were “Murder in the Private Car” and “Let’s Talk it Over”. Starts Sunday for 4 days: Shirley Temple in “Baby, Take a Bow” plus “Most Precious Thing in Life”. There were Matinees at 1:45PM and Evening shows at 7PM, with last complete show at 915PM. Only on Sundays were there continuous shows, beginning at 2PM. When I lived in Quincy in the 1940s and 1950s,there were continuous shows at all the theaters. You entered the theater whenever you wanted. 2-plus hours later when some familiar scenes appeared, you said “This is where I came in” and left. Today, most people prefer to be seated at the beginning of the movie.
Here is where the post theater was located at Fort Devens in the 1950s: if you stood with your back to the main gate you would see a large green area, the parade ground, in front of you. Beyond it in the distance was a row of brick buildings. The theater was to your far left, and back aways, with its front facing away from you. The main gate was on a local road, about a mile from downtown Ayer. I have no idea what is there today.
Chuck- thanks for your comment above. You obviously have seen the photo in the Arcadia Press book. As one who lived in that neighborhood, do you agree that the Plaza Theater was a new name for the old Criterion ?
The Roxy in Burlington is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. It’s the only cinema in Vermont in the network.
The Patriot Cinemas Nickleodeon 6 in Portland is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various opera houses in Europe. The other 2 cinemas in Maine which are part of the network are the Criterion in Bar Harbor and the Frontier in Brunswick.
The Criterion in Bar Harbor is part of the Opera in Cinema network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters.
The Marquee Westbrook 12 has joined the Opera in Cinema network, which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. The only other theater in Connecticut in the network is the Warner in Torrington.
The Warner in Torrington has joined the Opera in Cinemas network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters.
The Coolidge Corner has joined the Opera in Cinemas network which presents opera and ballet performances from various European theaters. Other eastern-Mass. cinemas in the network include the Loring Hall in Hingham, The Cape Ann Community in Gloucester and the Capawock on MV island.
Lost- I heard that the asking price was set so low because the owner was eager to sell it and leave the area. The building is apparently in fairly good condition. By the way, in my post above of July 28, the sentence “…one of the oldest surviving…” should be changed to “one of the oldest surviving purpose-built movie theaters”. It was built in 1909 with movies foremost in mind, with the emphasis not on live performances.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Latchis in Claremont is, not surprisingly!, listed as part of the Peter D. Latchis theater circuit of Brattleboro VT. Latchis ran 14 theaters at that time, in NH, VT and MA.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Guild in Norwood is listed as being part of the George A. Giles theater circuit of Cambridge MA. Giles also ran the Norwood Th. in Norwood as well as the Uptown Th. in Boston and several others.
Note that in the 1980 photo, the name of the theater, as posted on the marquee,seems to be just plain “Cinema”.
The LoopNet ad was posted as of Aug. 11th; the Casino must have been sold right after that. The new owner is/was an Independent movie exhibitor, who does not view this property as a “tear-down”. He wants to preserve it.
Lost- No, I don’t know anything about the Park in E. Walpole. There are many long-gone movie theaters which are not listed (yet!) here in CT.
Retep- thanks for your interesting comments. Do you know anything about the Guild Theatre in Norwood? It’s not listed here in CT. If you know enough about it to create a Page for it, please follow the instructions in the “Add a Theater” tab on the CT Home page.
According to Google Street View, this theater is still standing and is/was being used as a church. The side-street which runs along its left side is Waverly St.
The Casino was recently sold to someone who is a long-time cinema operator.
The THSA page on Facebook is nicely done and should help bring attention to the Society and its work.
A friend who lives in downtown Boston and is a big film buff can’t wait for this new operation to begin. He pointed out that it will be the third movie venue for the new operators since they also run the Studio Th. in Belmont as well as the West Newton Cinema.
I went to the movies often at Fort Devens in the late 1950s. There was only one movie theater and I think it was called simply “the post theater”. It was located near the front gate, and was a free-standing building. It had a sloping floor but no balcony. There was also a stage with curtains, but I don’t think that it had a prominent stage-house like the Liberty photo posted by Don Lewis. So I can’t say if it was the same theater or not. However, it was built to a common design – many of these Army post theaters looked exactly alike ! The one at Ft. Devens featured regular movies like any other commercial movie theater, with a change of bill in mid-week if I remember correctly.
My vote is for a new seperate Page, because it is a new building and is probably not on the exact footprint of the demolished cinema. And the new name is slightly different. Otherwise, there will be a situation like that of the Beacon Theater in downtown Boston where one Cinema Treasures page covers 2 different theaters, both with the same name, and both on the same approximate site.
There is discussion above about the Grand Opera House in Brooklyn, which is not to be confused with this theater, the Grand. The Grand Opera House is listed under Brooklyn in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. The house was managed by Hyde & Behman, the stage dimensions are similar to what Warren has posted above. The admission prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50; there were 600 orchestra seats, 500 in the balcony, 800 in the gallery, and 100 box seats. Total, 2,000 seats, plus 200 standing spaces. There were 10 musicians in the house orchestra.