Plaza Theater
293 Essex Street,
Salem,
MA
01970
293 Essex Street,
Salem,
MA
01970
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This explained a memory I had of seeing a double feature at The Salem of The Old Dark House and Maniac (1963 versions of both titles)and seeing another theater marquee almost next door as I came out. So The Empire was still standing then.
David and DApril are both me.
You make a lot of very good points there. So many decades have passed that we may never know the answer for sure.
David
David/ DApril1 – Yes, sometimes when a theater had “New” in its name it meant that it was not to be compared with an earlier theater of the same name on the same site or different site in town. But it also could be used to indicate that the theater had been totally renovated – same theater, new renovations. I’ve come across this situation a few times!
Hi Joe,
That’s great historical information on the predecessor theater to the Plaza. Given the date of the destructive fire at the Witch Theater and its later demise in 1913, and the opening of the Plaza Theatre in December of that same year, I wouldn’t rule out that the earlier information given above might have been in error. Possibly the theater that followed the Witch Theatre included safety improvements such as a fireproof stage curtain and water standpipes. But despite the innovations, the building still burned down! On the other hand, I do recall a little detail in smaller letters on the original marquee reading “New” Plaza Theater. It was the word “new” that implied that there had been an earlier Plaza Theater on that site. It seemed that the word “new” was to distinguish between two Plaza Theaters. My paternal grandfather was a lieutenant on the Salem Fire Department roster until his death in 1964. I’m sure that as a kid had I asked him about the fire(s)he would have known all about it. But… I never asked.
David
The original Plaza Theatre was built in 1913. The site had previously been occupied by a house called the Witch Theatre which had burned down earlier that year. The Plaza was to have been fireproof, but apparently wasn’t if it burned again in 1917. This is an item from the November 29, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World:
Destruction of the Witch Theatre had been reported in the April 16, 1913, issue of Fire and Water Engineering:A later issue of MPW said that the Plaza Theatre opened on December 31, 1913. I’ve been unable to find anything in the trade publications about the later fire and rebuilding in 1917.Hi camera,
Yes, the Plaza was old and dusty and musty, and it seemed that it was never maintained well from the day it was built. Thus that “distinct odor”. I found that even the last row in the orchestra section was too close to the screen, so always went up in the balcony to get further back, as it extended back over the lobby and entrance. The Plaza was always in need of refurbishment, but never saw it. E.M. Loew’s Salem was one of the early nondescript shoebox theaters, although with a capacity of 1,000 was larger than today’s standard the reclining seats were nice, I must admit. But the crown jewel in Salem was the Paramount designed by Rapp & Rapp. Now that was class!
It’s great to see a photo of the Plaza frontage. If that was 1950, it must have run for about six years or so and then closed again. I think it reopened around ‘57. I saw “Forbidden Planet” there but it was second run. Then, the marquee said “Always Two Big Hits”. Since very little money was spent to update it, it was like walking into the past. I’m now not sure if it ever was run by E.M.Loew. I might have confused that round Loew insignia with the centerpoint of the Salem Theatre marquee, similarly shaped but larger. The Plaza was old and dusty with its own distinct odor but I loved it. We got our quarters’ worth on many a Saturday afternoon.
Hi Bill,
Yeah, the horror and outer space movies at the Plaza… Sometimes we’d start hooting at the primitive special effects of the day. In the 1950’s the kids' matinee ticket prices were 25 cents at both the Paramount and Plaza as I recall. Salem was a great place to grow up in during that era.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for contributing that information! We had been wondering what had previously stood in that parking lot next to E. M. Loew’s Salem Theater. It was the Empire Theater! That makes sense to me, because I clearly recall all three theaters (including the Paramount) coexisting for quite awhile, although the Empire had long been closed. And I did watch the demolition of the Empire for awhile. So the demolition didn’t create a lot for E. M. Loew’s Salem, simply the parking lot next to it. And when I visualize it in my mind’s eye now, yes, I can see those two marquees adjoining one another there. I should have remembered that, because my dentist was directly across the street on a second floor with the waiting room windows looking out at the two theaters. Back in the 50s what I most remember seeing at the Plaza were old WWII movies. And yes, it could get raucous in there!
The Empire Theatre was where the Salem Theatre’s parking lot was, corner of Crombie and Essex. It had an overhand but no marquee showing titles. The legend was that E.M. Loew tried vainly to buy the Empire, finally building his new Salem Theatre virtually beside it in spite. The Empire sat idle for a few years after the Salem opened before falling to the lot, which was city-owned. Back to the Plaza, I recall almost all the films I saw there, including a double bill of “King Kong” and “Mighty Joe Young”. The best was a matinee of “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein”. Filled with kid, it was absolute bedlam. Oh, to see 35mm prints of these today.
The Plaza did have the E.M. Loew’s name on the center point of the marquee. It stood idle during the early fifties until purchased by James Solovicos who operated the Martha’s Sweets soda fountain and lunch counter at the corner of Summer and Essex streets, diagonally across from the Plaza. They ran largely second-run double features and found a good trade in spooling all the Allied Artists cheapie horror/sci-fi films. They then became a showcase for some, not all, AIP horror films. They had the first-run of “House Of Usher” and in 1958 ran the first run of William Castle’s “Macabre”. I was in a Saturday matinee of this.
Hi Jon,
I’ll bet you’re right about the AMC-Loews Cineplex at the Liberty Tree Mall. When my wife and I lived in Danvers in the 70s, that complex was doing a brisk business. But from what you describe, it sounds like it’s in decline. Reminds me of the now demolished Cinemas I and II (built and operated by General Cinema) at the North Shore Mall in Peabody. The Cinema I and the smaller II were built in the mid-60s, but by the 70s it was clear that patronage was already dropping off, and times were changing. They later twinned the Cinema I (thereby creating a Cinema III). That probably enabled the exhibitor to lower their film rental fees based on a lesser number of seats in each theater thereby buying time. But in the end it was futile, and the complex was demolished in the late 90s. In this steady decline of the movie palaces, we blamed TV. Then when the shoebox theaters started to go under it was Blockbuster and the other film rental stores. And now there’s Netflix and pay-per-view on cable etc. So it only gets worse for the exhibitors. Here in Bangor, ME we have the Bangor Cinema 10 Complex, but on the edge of the city is Movie Magic, another complex which offers low admission for second run pictures. The latter provides plenty of competition similar to the scenario you describe in the Liberty Tree Mall environs.
Regarding that parking lot next to E. M. Loew’s Salem, it might be that when when the theater was built around 1953, Loew’s might have bought the abutting property at the same time. It might have already been a vacant lot, or perhaps they tore down a structure there to create a bit of parking.
Hi Dave,
I really don’t know what was there before, I just always remember that parking lot being there. I used to park there at night if I went to see a movie at the Salem in the 1970’s or if I was going to Jerry’s Army and Navy store. The Salem charged $1.00 admission on monday nights back then and they attracted a pretty good crowd. I’ll make a prediction for you. I went to see a film at Loews (now AMC-Loews Cineplex) at Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, MA this past weekend. I don’t go there very often but every time I have gone there recently it was “no waiting” at the box office in the Mall. That wasn’t always the case. When it first opened about 10 years ago, it was always packed and I always called ahead to see if the film I wanted to see was sold out or not. The Cineplex is a BIG movie house with about 20 screens, stadium seating and very elaborate 1930’s style themed theater with a huge lobby area. If business doesn’t pick up I’m afraid it will end up soon as just another memory. I also don’t think Liberty Tree Mall is doing that well these days which may be part of the problem. The Hollywood Hits theater across the street (Route 128) not elaborate in any sense of the word, is a big brick oblong box cut up into a lot of very small theaters and their movies are all second run features but yet they always seem very busy judging by the cars I see parked there. Also, its very easy access into those theaters, just park and go in. At the AMC Loews Cineplex, you have to park and then physically walk through the Mall which can be kind of a pain in the neck.
Hi Jon,
Any recollection as to what exactly was demolished to create that parking lot? I always assumed it was the destruction of the Plaza. You’re right though, because once the small parking lot was created, you could see the entire concrete east wall of the Salem Theater abutting that lot. In my mind’s eye, it seemed to me that the two marquees of the Salem and Plaza were fairly close together, but I could be mistaken, as it’s been many many years.
Hi Dave,
No, I am familiar with the parking lot that you mean though. If you were standing on Essex St. looking down Crombie St. towards Holyoke Square (Norman St.), CF Tompkins Furniture would be on the left corner of Essex and Crombie St. and the parking lot that you are referring to would be on the right corner. The Plaza Theater was the next building down Essex St. on that left directly after CF Tompkins Furniture. The Salem Theater building was to the right directly after the parking lot your thinking of.
Jon
Hi Jon,
When the Plaza was demolished, what was left was a small parking lot where it had stood. Wasn’t that parking lot directly to the left side of E. M. Loew’s Salem? (The Plaza was also an E. M. Loew’s property.)
David
Hi Dave,
The Salem and The Plaza never abutted one another. The Salem and The Empire may have been next to one another or in basically the same location but the Plaza was abutted by the CF Tompkins furniture store in fact, it was a block over from the locations of The Salem and The Empire on the other side of Crombie st. I never remember a fire occuring at The Salem, only that they finally tore it down after it had been vacant for a long while.
H Jon,
The Empire at 285 Essex Street and Salem down the street at 295 Essex coexisted for sure. The Salem abutted to its immediate left the smaller Plaza at 293 Essex. So the Empire wasn’t demolished to make room for the Salem. I saw the Empire demolished as a kid. Standing on the sidewalk, I could see the elaborate interior of the Empire. The Salem opened around 1950. It only had plain wallpapered walls. After the Plaza and Paramount were gone, the Salem eventually closed in 1985 and later burned around 2000.
Hi Dave,
I checked with my mother who grew up in Salem. She says the Empire and Salem Theaters were practically in the same location (directly across from the YMCA) in fact she believes that the Empire was torn down to make way for the Salem. The Plaza was further down Essex St. next to the old CF Tompkins Furniture store. I watched them tear down The Plaza in the 1970’s, you could smell the musty air from across the street. The few times I was in there watching horror films I swear you could see mice running around. They didn’t take very good care of it. I never remember the Plaza’s marquee saying “New Plaza”. It only said Plaza in yellow neon letters and the “Always 2 Big Hits” on the letter board below. It was a very small triangular marquee.
Sorry, second sentence above should read: The Empire Theater was farther down Essex Street…. at 285 Essex.
Because the Salem Theatre was at 295 and abutted by the Plaza, it stands to reason then that the Plaza was at 293.
Hmmm, as I think about the information in my prior post, supposedly from old city directories, I’m wondering if perhaps the address was actually 293, not 273 Essex Street. The Salem Theater was farther down Essex Street (if one were walking east) at 285 Essex. My recollection is that the Plaza Theater directly abutted the Salem Theater (sharing a common wall). It would make much more sense then if the Plaza would have been at 293 Essex. I must believe that was the case.
The address of the Plaza Theater was 273 Essex Street in Salem, MA. The marquee called the theater the New Plaza Theater, as the predecessor Plaza Theater had stood on the exact same lot.
I was able to locate a picture of a Robert-Morton 2/4 Style 75 theater organ on the Internet, formerly installed in a theater and now in a funeral chapel. The 2/4 means two keyboards and 4 ranks—a rather small theater organ, but recall that the Plaza seated only 750
patrons. So a smaller organ would make sense. Here is the link:
View link
No doubt the information on the organ at the Plaza is correct. In the years I went there as a kid in the 1950s though, I never heard it played, nor did I see it on the stage. By then I suppose it could have been behind the movie screen or the stage proscenium, or even sold and removed. I do clearly recall that there were no faux boxes or recessed alcoves in the interior walls for organ pipe chambers. So it would be interesting to know where the organ pipes were installed.
I did get to hear an organ recital once on the big Wurlitzer at the Paramount in Salem in the early 1960s. The last name of the organist was Simpson. When the Paramount was demolished, the Wurlitzer and organ pipes went to a pizza parlor out West which no longer exists. What a fate for such a great instrument!
Hi Jon,
I forgot to mention in my earlier post—you had mentioned the YMCA. At least into the early 1960s, there was a theater of sorts right in the Y. It was called Ames Memorial Hall. If you went into the main entrance on Essex Street, went up the marble staircase to the main level, and turned left at the top landing, you entered the hall. It had a stage and a wrap-around shallow balcony. When I was a kid the hall was used as the venue for the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claude Philips, dances (there was a ballroom dance school held there for years run by Harriet James as well as Teen Town for the high school kids), lectures, piano recitals, and other uses. I believe that the hall was later converted into squash courts.