Cinema Italia
Atwood Avenue and Plainfield Street,
Johnston,
RI
02919
Atwood Avenue and Plainfield Street,
Johnston,
RI
02919
3 people
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Johnston Theatre, Italy Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The Johnston Theatre was opened in 1941. This was a plain theatre on the second floor of a multi-shop building called Ferri’s Block. It showed double bills six days a week from the World War II era up through the 1960’s.
On February 11, 1967 it was renamed Italy Cinema. It was later leased and re-christened the Cinema Italia and offered Italian-language double bills for the ethnic community. In its final days it showed porno films. The entire block was demolished in the 1970’s.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
Item in Boxoffice magazine, November 6, 1954:
“The Johnston in nearby Thornton is giving away hand-painted ovenware to hype business.”
Item in Boxoffice magazine, December 30, 1950:
“Mario Votolato and his wife, who recently leased the Johnston Theatre in Thornton, R.I., from Sam Richmond, were in [boston] booking at Monogram.”
Start of the Johnston Theatre in 1941, as reported in Boxoffice magazine, June 7, 1941:
Boroff and Tobin Take Casino in Thornton
BOSTON – George Boroff, local book distributor, and Henry Tobin, manager for E.M. Loew in Olneyville, R.I., have taken over Ferris' Casino in Thornton, R.I. The house is now undergoing renovations.
[Note: Ferri’s Casino was located in Ferri’s Block. It became the Johnston Theatre in 1941. Before that it was referred to as Ferri’s Theatre or the Casino. Thornton is a village in Johnston at the Cranston border.]
More of same (see above entry.)
“Henry Tobin, resident manager of the Olympia, Olneyville, has leased the Casino in Johnston from Nicolina Ferri, rechristened it the New Johnston and is operating it five nights a week."
—-from Boxoffice magazine, September 20, 1941.
Item in Boxoffice magazine, May 5, 1962:
“Rhode Islanders of Italian descent were particularly interested in recent programs at the Johnston Theatre, Thornton, where "The Ten Commandments” was presented with all-Italian dialog, and at the Leroy in Pawtucket, where “Buongiorno Primo Amore” and “Guai ai Vinti” were shown for a single night.
In September 1926, this theatre was part of the eleven-theatre Celebrate Paramount Week.
Newspaper ad.
This theatre was an outgrowth of Ferri’s Casino Theatre, around the corner on Plainfield Street. That was a tavern with a fully functional movie theatre. That theatre existed from around 1929 to 1941. The Ferri family built Ferri’s Block which would house the Johnston Theatre on its second floor, and the theatre part of Ferri’s Casino would then be closed in 1941.
“Mario Votolato and his wife, who recently leased the Johnston Theatre in Thornton, R.I., from Sam Richmond, were in booking at Monogram.” —notice in Boxoffice Magazine, December 3, 1950. Booking upcoming films in Boston.
“A gala celebration on February 11, 1967, marked the opening of the Italy Cinema at 910 Atwood Avenue in Johnston, Rhode Island. The theater, which began showing films prior to the Second World War, occupied the second floor of a strip of stores known as Ferri’s Block. Rolando Petrella, in 1971, leased the theater and one of the store fronts directly beneath it. On the first floor, he established an Italian pastry shop and renamed the theater Cinema Italia. Each Sunday at 3:00 P.M. and 6:30 P.M., Cinema Italia offered the latest films from Italy as well as Italian classics…Cinema Italia continued to entertain the Italian American community until February of 1974, at which time the strip of stores was razed and the property sold. Undaunted, Petrella moved his cinema operation to the Hillside Cinema on Waterman Avenue in North Providence, offering Italian films during the same time slots as his defunct Cinema Italia.” —from “The Voices of Italy” by Alfred R. Crudale.
Google, AI summary. The Johnston Theatre, which later became the Italy Cinema, was a historic single-screen theater located in the Thornton section of Johnston, Rhode Island.The theater underwent several transformations during its lifespan:Original Johnston Theatre (1941–1967): Opened in 1941, it was located on the second floor of the Ferri Block (a multi-shop building) at the corner of Atwood Avenue and Plainfield Street. During this era, it typically showed double bills and was a popular neighborhood spot for families.Italy Cinema / Cinema Italia (1967–1974): On February 11, 1967, the venue was renamed the Italy Cinema. In 1971, it was leased and re-christened Cinema Italia, specializing in Italian-language films and classics for the local Italian-American community. It even featured an Italian pastry shop on the floor directly beneath it.Final Years & Demolition: In its final years, the theater briefly operated as a porno house. The entire Ferri Block was demolished in the late 1970s and was eventually replaced by a gas station (formerly a Mobil Mart).Note that this historic venue is distinct from the Johnston Cinema, which was located roughly two miles away and originally opened as a Jerry Lewis Cinema in the 1960s.