Holiday Cinema
756 Broad Street,
Central Falls,
RI
02863
756 Broad Street,
Central Falls,
RI
02863
4 people
favorited this theater
The Holiday Cinema, formerly the Lafayette Theatre, was the main venue in the city of Central Falls, adjacent to Pawtucket, RI. The small theatre closed decades ago, but the building is entirely intact and used as a church.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
Roland L; Cinema Treasures policy is usually to name the theatre by its most recent, or last name, with an aka above, which can also be searched on the site. Thanks for your input, and the above photo is much appreciated.
KenRoe, thank you for guidance. I’ve not been that active lately and I guess I forgot my way!
Roland, in that photo the theatre marquee says C.Scope (CinemaScope), Interrupted Melody, Glenn Ford, and Run for Cover, James Cagney. Those films came out in the spring of 1955. So this may be a bit later in 1955, perhaps summer.
Item in Boxoffice magazine, October 9, 1954:
“Melvin Safner of the Safner circuit has taken over the Bellevue Theatre, Central Falls, R.I. on a long term lease. This theatre has been operated for many years by the late Phil Marget and now makes the second house in that city to be operated by the Safners, who have the Lafayette Theatre there.”
Lafayette becomes Holiday in 1967, Boxoffice magazine piece, August 28, 1967:
Central Falls Lafayette Open Under New Lessees
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. —– The former Lafayette, under the new name of Holiday Cinema, was reopened Saturday (12) by Andre Papineau and Donald Rocheleau, newcomers to motion picture exhibition.
Papineau and Rocheleau installed a new marquee, remodeled and redecorated the interior and carried out needed repair jobs prior to reopening the theatre with “Hotel.” They wil play second run, seven days after Providence. Gerry Goven will continue to book for the theatre.
This was one of the few (if not only) cinemas to show the controversial SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT in Rhode Island.
When I was a little girl I used to walk by that theatre everyday on my way to Notre Dame elementary. I remember the Jaws poster being in the display and begging my mom and dad to take me. I used to love the big drama masks and the black and white pictures of the movie stars on the walls. They don’t make theatres like they used too.
I went to many weekend matinee shows at the Lafayette as a young boy in the 1960’s, and saw the classic Disney films at evening shows. My mother grew up on Ledge St, where her parents lived in the same building as the Rocheleau family. (Ledge St, is the adjacent side street in the photo showing the place as a church). I helped with odd chores as a way to earn a free pass into shows at the Holiday Cinema. The projection booth is the small, square brick room seen above the front marquee. The fire escape hanging over the Ledge St. sidewalk is at the side of a small (rarely used) balcony in front of the projection room. I recall the large projectors that always needed the carbon arc rods changed (projector light was blinding because it used rods similar to welding rods for cutting metal), and the way a projectionist needed to watch from the small window for the cue markers in the corner of the screen which signaled to swap between the two projectors. The leader for the cue on some 2nd run and older films sometimes got damaged, so film studios tried making projector swap coincide with ‘fade-in/out’ to avoid cutting a chunk of action or dialogue.
Saw a James Cagney double feature with my late father there in its 1950s “Lafayette” days. One was “Angels with Dirty Faces” which made me a lifelong James Cagney fan. Later on, all grown up, I was proud and delighted to have worked with him and co-star Pat O'Brien in their final film appearance, “Ragtime.” I still review “Angels with Dirty Faces” which I bought on DVD years ago.
To M_R_G: I found and posted in the photo section a scan of a movie ad for the Lafayette from July 1950 of “The Big Hangover” with “Angels with Dirty Faces.”