State Theatre

Katz – I have seen the floor plan from when the Trans Lux first opened in the late-1930s and it definitely looks like it had a rear projection booth at the rear of the stage. But at some point they must have got rid of it in favor of a regular balcony projection booth. The Park was a live theatre for many years, then in the 1910s it became a movie house; in the 1930s it reverted to stage use as the Boston outlet for Minsky Burlesque. Then a total remodel as the Trans Lux.

In the photo section there are 2 photos taken of the Park’s fancy facade in its early days as a “motion picture” theater. This facade was part of the building which preceeded the Crabtree Building – that’s why it doesn’t look at all like the facade in the later State Theatre photos. I once saw a photo of the Park entrance taken after it was built in 1879 and the entrance was through an old house-like structure something like the old Boston Globe Corner Bookstore at the northwest corner of Washington & School streets.

Another photo:

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11898594_1110474998979960_3840942760175300174_n.jpg?oh=0175cdf8bddeb912253b54b44b46475f&oe=566DC376

If anyone has any stories about going to/ working at this threatre in its adult days, I would love to hear them. I am chronicling the histories of adult theatres in the US. Please contact me at Thanks!

The State(Translux) was showing aduly material in the late 50’s. Most of the material were films shown at Nudist Camps. This was the beginning of so called Porn. I remember walking and looking at the promo pics with black lines across many nude bodies and saying I can’t go in there because I was young and if my miother had found out I probably wouldn’t be here today.

According to various comments above, this theatre started showing adult films in 1960, and a comment dated 11/04/2004 by Gerald gives the titles of two films showing there in 1962. Just out of curiosity, I looked up “Naked Island” and “The Facts of Love” on IMDB, and neither appears to be anything resembling an “adult” film; the former is some kind of Japanese art film and the latter is a comedy dating back to 1945! This would seem to contradict the characterization of the place as an adult house…unless of course those titles just belonged to obscure x-rated junk that doesn’t get featured on IMDB.

[Some time later…] Ah, this explains it (an excerpt from a listing on a movie poster website, emovieposter.com):

“Film Description: Naked Island, the circa 1960s William Mishkin nudist colony sexploitation movie ("Bold! Daring!”; “All new”; “Today’s Garden of Eden…Vacation paradise for hundreds of Adams and Eves!”; “The land of 1001 nudes”; “Revealing! Unashamed! Uninhibited!”; “Scenes in blushing color”)."

An interesting poster (must have been considered quite salacious in its day):

View link

Additional research has failed to discover any adult version of the other movie, so perhaps that one was the 1945 film which was just shown as a filler, or else some totally obscure schlock flick…and it would have to be obscure indeed, not to appear on the internet somewhere.

There is a small 1939 photo of the auditorium of this theatre, when it was the Trans-Lux, in Boxoffice Magazine, February 11, 1939. Here is a link to that issue. For the photo, go to the ad on page 68:
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_021139

It’s true that there are only two movie theatres remaining in Boston — Regal Fenway 13 and Loews Boston Common (which was built partly on the former site of the State).

But I would not describe these two, with stadium seating and large screens, as “mini-box multiplexes”. That label would better describe the late and mostly unlamented Copley Place Cinemas.

Boston does still have a number of former movie theatres now used for live performances: the Orpheum, Opera House (originally Keith Memorial, later Savoy), Majestic (formerly Saxon), Wang (originally Metropolitan, then Music Hall), Stuart Street Playhouse (originally Cinema 57), Berklee Performance Center (originally Fenway), Boston University Theatre (originally Repertory Theatre of Boston, later Esquire), C. Walsh Theatre (originally Suffolk). and the Strand Theatre in Dorchester.

Why are you asking this question instead of looking them up on this site?

On April 27, 1921 the Harvard Crimson reported:
“The famous ‘East Lynne’ appears in photoplay form as the leading feature at the Park Theatre this week. In action and plot it closely follows the well-known theme of heroine and villain with the result that a true melodramatic production appears on the screen. Eva Novak in ‘Society Secrets’ is the other feature.”

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Trans Lux Theatre on Washington St. in Boston has an exterior photo taken in May 1941. The theatre had a very bright, garish rectangular marquee with 4 lines of black letters on a white background on its front and sides. Attractions were: John Wayne in “A Man Betrayed” and Pat O'Brien and Cesar Romero in “Public Enemy’s Wife”. There were large garish poster boards on each side of the entrance. The Report states that the Trans Lux is not showing MGM product; that it’s over 15 years old; is in Good condition; and has 390 orchestra seats and 309 balcony seats, total: 699 seats (that figure seems too low).

As the Park Theatre, the State was listed in the 1897-98 edition of Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide. The manage was Eugene Tompkins who also ran the Boston Theatre to the north. The seating capacity was given as 844, but that seems to be close to the figure for only the orchestra and the first balcony. The breakdown given is Orchestra: 591, Balcony: 249, Gallery: 600, total: 1,440, but the Gallery figure may include standees. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50. The proscenium opening was 38 feet wide x 32 feet high. The stage was 37 feet deep. The theatre was on the ground floor and there were 11 members of the orchestra.