Janus Cinema
57 John F. Kennedy Street,
Cambridge,
MA
02138
57 John F. Kennedy Street,
Cambridge,
MA
02138
8 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loews
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Galeria Cinema
Nearby Theaters
A cinema in Cambridge not far from Harvard Square that was part of the Galeria (one “l” only) Mall. I believe it was called the Galeria Cinema for a time. It was opened in 1975. It was closed October 24, 1998 and converted to additional mall shops.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
I remember the Janus very well. I saw some good films there, and at one time, West Side Story was scheduled to be shown there. On the day that WSS was to be shown, I very excited got ready and ran down to the Janus, which was then only a ten minute walk from my house, because I was living in Cambridge back then, back in the 1980’s. When I got to the Janus, I saw a sign at the box office saying “West Side Story has been cancelled”. Disappointed at the film’s cancellation, and determined to find out what had caused the cancellation, I stayed and talked to the projectionists for awhile. It turned out that they’d gotten a copy of the film from a distributor that was located down in Dorchester, where the people who worked there were always stoned. It turned out that this distributor had sent the people who ran the Janus a copy of the wrong size print of WSS—and they showed me why—the print that they’d sent over from Dorchester was too big for the track in the projector’s reels, and the film would’ve been shredded if they’d tried to put a film of the wrong size in there and show it. While it certainly didn’t change the fact that I was disappointed in the cancellation of the West Side Story screening, finding out what went wrong made it easier for me to accept..and take it in stride.
I’m sorry to hear about the Janus’s closing. what a bummer.
“wrong size print"
You mean they sent a 70mm print instead of 35mm one? I mean, what other possibilities are there?
Yup. This:
“ You mean they sent a 70mm print instead of 35mm one?”
is absolutely correct, Gerald.
Here is a 1986 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cto787
I saw this building while I was in Harvard Square this weekend. The once-empty marquee frame has been used for a sign for Wagamama Nooodle Restaurant, located in the Galeria.
CinemaTour has three pictures here.
Wow. I haven’t thought of this theater in a long time. I went there once for something that wasn’t playing anywhere else, and I never went back. Hard to believe that a single-screen “theater” like this could have been profitable. The fact that it kept changing hands suggests each new owner thought they knew the secret.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck used to work here.
View link
It’s true they did … and i have the time cards to prove it! My friend Ian (who runs the Somerville now) and I had the pleasure of gutting the Theater when it finally closed in 98/99? We were working at Loews Harvard Square on Church street (Loews was running both theaters) and found their time cards as we were cleaning out the office. I also managed to get a nice wall sign that still hangs in my apartment in Somerville. And boy how many horror stories we could tell about changing that marquee! A nightmare … but the $50 was a nice incentive.
It’s true they did … and i have the time cards to prove it! My friend Ian (who runs the Somerville now) and I had the pleasure of gutting the Theater when it finally closed in 98/99? We were working at Loews Harvard Square on Church street (Loews was running both theaters) and found their time cards as we were cleaning out the office. I also managed to get a nice wall sign that still hangs in my apartment in Somerville. And boy how many horror stories we could tell about changing that marquee! A nightmare … but the $50 was a nice incentive.
A nice enough place to see a movie but too long and thin an auditorium. Looked almost like the bowling alley twins that resulted from theaters being split.