By the way, Bob D., if you want to read amusing descriptions of attending kiddie matinees in the 1940s-50s, go to the page for the Dorchester Theatre in Boston, and the Rialto Theatre in Lowell MA. Also, do you know anything about the other movie theaters in Jamaica Plain listed here in Cinema Treasures? – the Egleston, the Madison and the Strand. If so, please write any comments on those pages.
OK, thanks. As mentioned above, I worked in JP from 1970-75 and was often in “downtown” JP along Centre St. and never noticed even a trace of any theatre buildings there. But, of course, I didn’t know where to look !
The Bayside was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo taken April 1941. The theatre was in a wood-frame structure which resembles a dance hall or roller rink. The main building has clapboard siding and a peaked roof, with a hip-roofed headhouse in front. There was no marquee, only a billboard on the side. The Report states that the theatre is at 767 Nantasket Ave., that it has been showing MGM films for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old, in Fair condition, and has 600 seats, all on one floor. The Report indicates that it is a summer operation. The competing theatre is the Apollo, and the 1940 population of Hull was 2,100. In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Bayside is listed under M&P Theatres, a Paramount affiliate; in Hull/ Allerton. ( This info replaces previous data which was somehow deleted from this page).
I long for those days, too! “If a film was dull or romantic, the kids' noise level would get so high you couldn’t hear the film.” How true! I attended many a kid matinee in those days, although not at the Jamaica Theatre. Where along Centre St. in JP was the Jamaica Th. located ?
Ken mc’s photo is very similar to the photo on the MGM Theatre Report. Note that the caption for ken mc’s photo states that the Liberty was originally named the Coster Theatre.
The State Theatre in Winthrop was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo dated April 1941. The theatre had an attractive brick Colonial-style (?) facade, with 2 3-deckers to the right. The Report states that the State has been presenting MGM product for over 10 years; was built about 1920, was in Good condition, and has 793 seats, all on one floor. In the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, the house was listed as the Dream Theatre with 800 seats and open 6 days per week. This info replaces postings to this page which have been deleted. (Very annoying)
The photo posted by ken mc on Jan 23 2008 is definitely the same building as in the 1941 MGM Report photo, except that by 1941 the theater had a large marquee out front.
The Randolph Theatre was included in the MGM Theater Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo on the report dated April 1941. The theatre entrance was in the middle of a one-story business block, with the Brockton Gas Light Co. to the left and R.E. Lyons and Randolph Drug to the right. The theatre had a triangle marquee with “This Thing Called Love” posted on it. The Report states that the theatre is at 68 North Main, that it has been playing MGM product for 3 years; that it was built in 1938, is in Excellent condition, and has 702 seats, all on one floor. There are no competing theaters in town, and the 1940 population was 7.600. This info replaces postings to this page which have somehow been deleted. (very annoying)
The Rialto in Brockton was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. The report has an exterior photo dated April 1941. The report states that the Rialto is at 135 ½ Main St., that it has been a MGM customer for over 10 years (as of 1941), that it’s over 15 years old, in Fair condition, and has 688 seats on the main floor and 401 balcony seats. The photo shows that the entrance was at the left end of a clapboard-sided building and that there was a Kresge 5&10 to its left. Movies posted on the small rectangular marquee are “Third Finger, Left Hand” and “Romance of the Rio Grande”. The report states that a competing theatre is the Modern. The 1940 population of Brockton was 62,300. In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Rialto, along with the Brockton Theatre, is listed as part of the M&P Theatres circuit, a Paramount affiliate. This info replaces the thread of comments here which has been deleted for reasons unknown ! (very annoying)
The Jane Pickens Th. in Newport is the only cinema in Rhode Island to exhibit the series of operas from La Scala Opera House in Milan, plus 2 other theatres in Italy, run by Emerging Pictures and Screenvision.
The Capawock is currently the only theatre in Massachusetts to exhibit the series of opera performances from LaScala and 2 other theatres in Italy, run by Emerging Pictures and Screenvision.
The 2 photos, from 1920 and 1927, posted by Ken Mc on Nov 17 2007 are of the same building, from 2 different vantage points. The theatre entrance bears no resemblance at all to the Strand’s entrance in the 1941 MGM photo and Lost’s photo of Oct 28 2005. The newer entrance is a small 2-story building with a store on the left and the theatre lobby on the right. After the 1927 fire, were they able to salvage the auditorium, or was the entire theatre complex of new construction ? Was the Strand which opened in 1926 a reworking of the Blanchard Theatre; then it was burned out in 1927? Then the Strand was rebuilt with a new entrance, or was the entire post-fire Strand Theatre a new building ??
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Feb. 12th has an article “Theater to Open at Westgate Mall” by Maria Papadopoulos which states that National Amusements' new cinema will be located on the former location of Macy’s at the south end of the mall. Construction is expected to start in the spring, it will have 12 stadium-style auditoriums, and should open in mid-2009. Next to it will be a new building containing a restaurant and retail shops.
“What goes around, comes around”. The business section of the Boston Herald today has a report that National Amusements plans to build a 12-screen, 55,000 square foot cinema at Westgate Mall in Brockton. They hope to open it in mid-2009.
The circa-1950 photo of the Hudson Th. on Pope St. is quite different from the 1941 photo in the MGM Report. The entire street-level front of the theatre has been up-dated and “modernized” for ken mc’s newer photo.
Nice memories, Leni ! I, too, thought the National was “beautiful and magical” (and glamourous) when I first went into it as a kid of 12 or so in the late-1940s. There were many plans to try to save it but nothing worked out and it was finally demolished around 1997, by which time it was a battered hulk.
to Frank Bosketti and to novastorm- how about going into the pages for some of the other Lawrence theatres here in Cinema Treasures and writing about your memories of them?
marysparklie- if you haven’t located a photo of the Morton yet, go to the website for the Theatre Historical Society, www.historictheatres.org, and find their e-mail address. Tell them you want to buy a copy of the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Morton Theatre, Dorchester MA, taken in May 1941. They may have other photos of the Morton, as well. But they are expensive; they charge over $50 for a photo !
Note that in TC’s 1966 postcard there is a billboard advertising “Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy”. Seems likely that this was the same Fralinger who was involved in the construction of the Apollo Theatre.
Sinister- you will lose your Novice status just by reading around here in CT. Some of the old single-screen theatres were cut up into several auditoriums. This was a cheaper alternative to building a brand-new multiplex, but it usually “ruined” the old theatre !
In the Boston Herald of January 14, 2008 there is a review written by Jed Gottlieb of the live feed from the Metropolitan Opera House in NY of Verdi’s “Macbeth” which was presented in one of the auditoriums at the Regal Fenway at 130PM on Sat. Jan. 12th. Tickets were $22 and the show sold out in advance so that there were hopeful ticket-buyers hanging out in front, just like at live events. Gottlieb liked the performance but didn’t care for the intermission camera-work showing stagehands changing the sets; he thought that it worked against the make-believe. There were subtitles in English. The next performance at the Fenway will be on Feb. 16. The shows are live-via-satellite.
By the way, Bob D., if you want to read amusing descriptions of attending kiddie matinees in the 1940s-50s, go to the page for the Dorchester Theatre in Boston, and the Rialto Theatre in Lowell MA. Also, do you know anything about the other movie theaters in Jamaica Plain listed here in Cinema Treasures? – the Egleston, the Madison and the Strand. If so, please write any comments on those pages.
OK, thanks. As mentioned above, I worked in JP from 1970-75 and was often in “downtown” JP along Centre St. and never noticed even a trace of any theatre buildings there. But, of course, I didn’t know where to look !
The Bayside was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo taken April 1941. The theatre was in a wood-frame structure which resembles a dance hall or roller rink. The main building has clapboard siding and a peaked roof, with a hip-roofed headhouse in front. There was no marquee, only a billboard on the side. The Report states that the theatre is at 767 Nantasket Ave., that it has been showing MGM films for over 10 years; that it’s over 15 years old, in Fair condition, and has 600 seats, all on one floor. The Report indicates that it is a summer operation. The competing theatre is the Apollo, and the 1940 population of Hull was 2,100. In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Bayside is listed under M&P Theatres, a Paramount affiliate; in Hull/ Allerton. ( This info replaces previous data which was somehow deleted from this page).
I long for those days, too! “If a film was dull or romantic, the kids' noise level would get so high you couldn’t hear the film.” How true! I attended many a kid matinee in those days, although not at the Jamaica Theatre. Where along Centre St. in JP was the Jamaica Th. located ?
The State in Webster was originally named the Steinburg Theater according to info found by CT member “ken mc”.
Ken mc’s photo is very similar to the photo on the MGM Theatre Report. Note that the caption for ken mc’s photo states that the Liberty was originally named the Coster Theatre.
The State Theatre in Winthrop was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo dated April 1941. The theatre had an attractive brick Colonial-style (?) facade, with 2 3-deckers to the right. The Report states that the State has been presenting MGM product for over 10 years; was built about 1920, was in Good condition, and has 793 seats, all on one floor. In the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, the house was listed as the Dream Theatre with 800 seats and open 6 days per week. This info replaces postings to this page which have been deleted. (Very annoying)
The photo posted by ken mc on Jan 23 2008 is definitely the same building as in the 1941 MGM Report photo, except that by 1941 the theater had a large marquee out front.
The Randolph Theatre was included in the MGM Theater Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo on the report dated April 1941. The theatre entrance was in the middle of a one-story business block, with the Brockton Gas Light Co. to the left and R.E. Lyons and Randolph Drug to the right. The theatre had a triangle marquee with “This Thing Called Love” posted on it. The Report states that the theatre is at 68 North Main, that it has been playing MGM product for 3 years; that it was built in 1938, is in Excellent condition, and has 702 seats, all on one floor. There are no competing theaters in town, and the 1940 population was 7.600. This info replaces postings to this page which have somehow been deleted. (very annoying)
The Rialto in Brockton was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. The report has an exterior photo dated April 1941. The report states that the Rialto is at 135 ½ Main St., that it has been a MGM customer for over 10 years (as of 1941), that it’s over 15 years old, in Fair condition, and has 688 seats on the main floor and 401 balcony seats. The photo shows that the entrance was at the left end of a clapboard-sided building and that there was a Kresge 5&10 to its left. Movies posted on the small rectangular marquee are “Third Finger, Left Hand” and “Romance of the Rio Grande”. The report states that a competing theatre is the Modern. The 1940 population of Brockton was 62,300. In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Rialto, along with the Brockton Theatre, is listed as part of the M&P Theatres circuit, a Paramount affiliate. This info replaces the thread of comments here which has been deleted for reasons unknown ! (very annoying)
The Jane Pickens Th. in Newport is the only cinema in Rhode Island to exhibit the series of operas from La Scala Opera House in Milan, plus 2 other theatres in Italy, run by Emerging Pictures and Screenvision.
The Capawock is currently the only theatre in Massachusetts to exhibit the series of opera performances from LaScala and 2 other theatres in Italy, run by Emerging Pictures and Screenvision.
The 2 photos, from 1920 and 1927, posted by Ken Mc on Nov 17 2007 are of the same building, from 2 different vantage points. The theatre entrance bears no resemblance at all to the Strand’s entrance in the 1941 MGM photo and Lost’s photo of Oct 28 2005. The newer entrance is a small 2-story building with a store on the left and the theatre lobby on the right. After the 1927 fire, were they able to salvage the auditorium, or was the entire theatre complex of new construction ? Was the Strand which opened in 1926 a reworking of the Blanchard Theatre; then it was burned out in 1927? Then the Strand was rebuilt with a new entrance, or was the entire post-fire Strand Theatre a new building ??
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Feb. 12th has an article “Theater to Open at Westgate Mall” by Maria Papadopoulos which states that National Amusements' new cinema will be located on the former location of Macy’s at the south end of the mall. Construction is expected to start in the spring, it will have 12 stadium-style auditoriums, and should open in mid-2009. Next to it will be a new building containing a restaurant and retail shops.
“What goes around, comes around”. The business section of the Boston Herald today has a report that National Amusements plans to build a 12-screen, 55,000 square foot cinema at Westgate Mall in Brockton. They hope to open it in mid-2009.
I think these new rules will cause problems for the grammar- and spelling-challenged among us!
The circa-1950 photo of the Hudson Th. on Pope St. is quite different from the 1941 photo in the MGM Report. The entire street-level front of the theatre has been up-dated and “modernized” for ken mc’s newer photo.
Any idea when this cinema pub opened? I know that it’s very near the old Amesbury Theatre on Main St. which has been converted to other uses.
Nice memories, Leni ! I, too, thought the National was “beautiful and magical” (and glamourous) when I first went into it as a kid of 12 or so in the late-1940s. There were many plans to try to save it but nothing worked out and it was finally demolished around 1997, by which time it was a battered hulk.
to Frank Bosketti and to novastorm- how about going into the pages for some of the other Lawrence theatres here in Cinema Treasures and writing about your memories of them?
marysparklie- if you haven’t located a photo of the Morton yet, go to the website for the Theatre Historical Society, www.historictheatres.org, and find their e-mail address. Tell them you want to buy a copy of the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Morton Theatre, Dorchester MA, taken in May 1941. They may have other photos of the Morton, as well. But they are expensive; they charge over $50 for a photo !
Note that in TC’s 1966 postcard there is a billboard advertising “Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy”. Seems likely that this was the same Fralinger who was involved in the construction of the Apollo Theatre.
What happened to all the comments which were posted here? Why do threads of comments sometimes disappear completely from certain theatre Pages in CT ?
Sinister- you will lose your Novice status just by reading around here in CT. Some of the old single-screen theatres were cut up into several auditoriums. This was a cheaper alternative to building a brand-new multiplex, but it usually “ruined” the old theatre !
In the Boston Herald of January 14, 2008 there is a review written by Jed Gottlieb of the live feed from the Metropolitan Opera House in NY of Verdi’s “Macbeth” which was presented in one of the auditoriums at the Regal Fenway at 130PM on Sat. Jan. 12th. Tickets were $22 and the show sold out in advance so that there were hopeful ticket-buyers hanging out in front, just like at live events. Gottlieb liked the performance but didn’t care for the intermission camera-work showing stagehands changing the sets; he thought that it worked against the make-believe. There were subtitles in English. The next performance at the Fenway will be on Feb. 16. The shows are live-via-satellite.