Memorial Hall Theater
51 Bridge St.,
Shelburne Falls,
MA
51 Bridge St.,
Shelburne Falls,
MA
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In the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, there are 2 movie venues listed for Shelburne Falls- the Mills Theater with 300 seats and the Opera House with 536 seats.
Their website is now http://www.shelburnefallsmemorialhall.org/
In 1963, this theater was listed as the Memorial in the motion picture almanac. The operator was Carl H. Nilman Theaters of Shelburne Falls. Other Nilman theaters at the time were the Community Drive-In in Charlemont, the Dalton in Dalton, the Northfield Community Drive-In in Winchester, New Hampshire, the Memorial Theater in Wilmington, Vermont and the Valatie in Valatie, NY.
I have been told by Someone Who Was There that the classic film shows are still going on as of Summer 2007, using very vintage projection equipment, and taking place every other weekend. The theatre is a “gem” with about 400 seats, a balcony, and what appears to be an old-fashioned pressed-tin ceiling.
Newspaper ads list Pothole Pictures, not Memorial Hall, as the venue. I started the Pothole thread for that reason. I did’t notice the Memorial Hall thread until I was reminded of it in the Pothole thread.
They probably should delete the Pothole Pictures thread, since from what I gather is only a promotional series that is held AT the Memorial Hall.
Bumping this up due to the Pothole Pictures post.
The best thing about this theater is that movies are shown with a vintage 1920s arc light projector. You just can’t get whiter whites. Seeing “The General” there for the umpteenth time, this was a revelation.
Pothole Pictures (named for an interesting local geological feature) runs film series in the spring & the fall, Friday and Saturday nights.