Darlton Theatre

There are TWO reports for the Darlton Theatre in the MGM Theatre Report project. Each report has a slightly different photo of the facade. Both reports are in the Theatre Historical Society archive. Card # 90 has almost no info and has the incorrect city, stating that the Darlton is in the town of"Darlington, Mass.“ which does not exist. Card # 533 is correct. It lists the address as 807 Newport Avenue in Pawtucket. The photo of the exterior was taken in April 1941. The Report says that it has 901 seats, apparently all on one floor, and that it was built in 1940 and is in excellent condition. It exhibits MGM product. The photo has Frederick March in "Victory” posted on the marquee.

I worked at this theater as a candygirl and in the box office as a cashier during high school and college.It was not owned by Joe Jarvis,but by the Pinault family,They also owned the drugstore on the corner across from Kip’s and the Beef Hearth. In the 60’s they showed many first run movies.

Here are a few photos from about 1941:
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I rememebr KIps being on the same block as the Dalton while across the stree was The Beef hearth then later Harrys beef hearth now iam not sure probably a parkling lot lol

Gerald,
I would think there would be other pictures of the Darlton around perhaps taken by people in the neighborhood, but unitl they surface, if ever, thanks for sharing the Journal one. It’s a treasure.
I never knew before hand that the Darlton was closing. I live in southeastern Mass. but use to venture across the state line for movies. I often didn’t have access to a R.I. paper (there were no computers) to see film listings so I’d drive down Newport Ave, check out what was playing on the beautiful Darlton marquee, drive another mile down the road to the 4 Seasons to see what they were offering and then decide what I wanted to see.
The night I drove up to a vacant dirt lot where that beautiful theater use to be, I was devastated. It was like a bomb had fallen and obliterated it. There was a sign on the property announcing that the next attraction on the site would be a new bank “coming soon”. I was heartbroken and still miss the Darlton.

One of my favorites. Right on the sidewalk of Newport Avenue with classic illuminated V-shaped marquee. The parking lot was to the left of the theater and wrapped around the back of the building. As I recall the box office was inside the foyer doors with the concession stand beyond. The very comfortable auditorium was raked and moderately fan-shaped and I believe there was some ornamentation on the sidewalls.
Despite being a neighborhood theater, it did occasionally offer first run features to R.I. at least in the late 60’s early 70’s. As mentioned above “A Man For All Seasons”; “Anne Of the Thousand Days”; in addition to “Is Paris Burning?”; “The Sugarland Express”
First film seen at the Darlton: “Walk, Don’t Run” Summer 1966. Last movie seen there: Slasher film “Ruby” in 1977.
Priceless picture Gerald. Thanks

A cultural presentation on October 21 & 22 of 1965 was La Bohème, a filming of a La Scala opera production of Puccini’s popular masterpiece.

In September of 1975 the Darlton was a discount house showing Bite the Bullet for $1.00.

…and I don’t know about Anne of a Thousanad Days, but Taming of the Shrew played at the R.K.O. Albee, although that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been a move-over. In fact I photographed the theatre when the marquee showed that title. Here it is. The loss of the R.K.O. Albee was the greatest theatre-tragedy in Providence, in my opinion, akin to the demolition of the Durfee in Fall River.

Your memory serves you right. “A Man for All Seasons” played at this theater and I and my Dad drove from Somerset to see it. I had the same curiosity as to why this film opened here instead of the Elmwood Theater. Maybe the “Sound of Music” playing down at the Warwick Cinema was the first to start this trend. I am not sure, but did “Anne of a Thousand Days” play here as well and also the Burton-Taylor “Taming of the Shrew”? 1966, almost 40 years ago!

I truly enjoyed going to this theatre from the time I was in high school in the late 1950s until the years before it was closed in the 1970s. The first film I ever saw here, I believe, was Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments.” If memory does not fail, the film “A Man for all Seasons” had its R.I. area premiere here in 1966, unusual for a suburban movie house known for playing second-run programs after they had shown in Providence.