Village Cinema
647 VFW Parkway,
Boston,
MA
02467
647 VFW Parkway,
Boston,
MA
02467
4 people
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Grand opening was May 18, 1949 with Jennifer Jones starring in “Portrait of Jennie.” It closed at the end of lease with John Cusack at the end of a second 20-year leasing period shortly after its 40th Anniversary on July 1, 1989 with John Cusack in “Say Anything.”
When Hancock Village was remodeled, may of the leases were not renewed. They wanted stores that would generate high traffic numbers. The remodeling was extensive and it’s hard to picture where the older stores would have been. The Cinema entrance was to the right of where CVS is now. A few years back CVS expanded to the right into the spaces that were Boston Market and Village Photo. Not sure if the full depth of the theatre is being used by CVS. I remember it from my one and only visit as being a rather large theatre for a suburban location like that, rather austere with no balcony.
My father purchased The Village Cinema in 1974. The first movie we played was Blazing Saddles and the last movie that we played was Say Anything. My dad closed the theatre in 1992 because the building was sold and the new owners would not renew the lease. The Village Cinema was a real treasure to our family. If you want anymore information I can probably dig some up.
Hi, Betty. Do you happen to remember when the theatre closed? Was it still open when you took this photo?
I have posted a scan of a photo I took of the Village Cinema’s sign in 1988:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/modbetty/5348043480/
I remember seeing The AristoCats for my birthday at this theater – some time between 1973-75.My great aunt lived in the Hancock Village apartments behind the shopping center where the Village Cinema was, from the time it opened as returning vets housing, until she passed in her 90’s.
An article with photo, on the opening of the Hancock Village Theatre, published May 28, 1949 in Boxoffice Magazine:
View link
Lot’s of info above, my recolection is that the Village Cinema was in West Roxbury, run by ATC, when I worked at the West Newton Theatre(then ATC) I would call the Village to get the daily numbers and along with West Newton and the Embassy I would call the Pilgrim Theatre to reportthe day’s take.
There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Hancock Village Theatre. It includes an undated photo, with autombiles in front of it which appear to be of post-War vintage. The theatre is listed as being in Brookline.(see comments above). The photo shows that the entrance was at the corner of an L-shaped structure in what today is called a “strip mall”. To the left is a (First) National Store; to the right is a store with signage in script letters which says (I think) “Youth Corner”. The theatre has a tower with the name and the ATC logo. Above the entrance is the attraction board indicating matinee at 145P and Evening at 745P; Childrens mat. Sat. at 2P. Attractions appear to be “Chain Lighning” and “High Fury”. There is a set of 5 wide steps leading up from the parking lot to the entrance. Unfortunately, no one filled out the form itself, so there is no info about the cinema. I seem to recall that the Village in W. Rox. lasted well into the 1980s.
Here’s a page from Historic Boston, Inc. about the Everett Hall Theatre. Since you seem to be familiar with its history, please submit it as a separate entry here at CinemaTreasures.
The Everett Hall’s address is 23 Fairmount Ave in Hyde Park, while the still-in-use French’s Opera House is at 45 Fairmount Ave.
I believe The whole building was called French’s block. The “Pixie” is within the same block of that building just a few doors down. The Pixie used to be called Everett Hall Theatre. You can do a search on it that way. I found a bit on it that way. I’m looking at an old book about Hyde Park “the first Hundred Years” right now and it shows a rendering of the building The sign on the building Says French’s Block 1897 and it shows signs on the doors that say Opera House. I drive by this building every day and it looks pretty much the same. You are right about it not being demolished. The new owners hope to restore it. At the time I went in there it looked like it was in the prosses of being demolished, but found out about later that it wasn’t.
I don’t believe that French’s Opera House in Hyde Park has been demolished. It is the home of Riverside Theatre Works. I’m not sure movies were ever shown there.
I’m also interested in the Faimount Theatre, A.K.A: Nu Pixie, Pixie,Everett Hall Theatre, French’s Opera House, Arts and French’s Opera House, or the Way Building. I too went there almost every weekend as a child in the mid 70’s. I walked through the demolished theatre last night. It was opened during the Hyde Park Art Scene within the same block of Fairmount Ave. The actual theatre you remember is partially demolished and is not the section where the dance studio is. I have pictures of the demo from last night and have been trying to find any info on the Pixie especially any pictures of how it used to be. Contact me if you are interested in my pics.I also have some more info on it as well.
My recollection is that the Village was part of the Walter Reade chain for a period of time in the 1970s. I only visited the Village once, for a second-run screening of “48 Hrs.” in the early 1980s. At that time, the theater was independently owned.
Please add it (and the Rialto) to this site.
What about the Fairmount Theater on Fairmount Ave in Hyde Park? It had one screen and a balcony. I went there almost every weekend throughout the 60’s. They usually screened second run genre films mostly science fiction, horror, westerns, Elvis, beach party movies and the like. It became the Nu Pixie Cinema in the early 70’s and then simply the Pixie Cinema. I believed it closed in the late 70’s and is now the home of a dance school.
the Rialto sometimes ran special promotions with employees moving up and down the aisles,scaring the kids and passing out something related to the show, for instance “barf bags” during The Exorcist.
Oh yes the Rialto. Do you rember the Bellevue theatre on Center street in West Roxbury. In the 40s you could watch westerns cartoons and serials all day long. Very fond memorys I have.
Please add the Rialto to this site, with any information that you know about it.
Can you tell us when the Village opened, and when it closed?
The Rialto theatre in Roslindale was a classic. A one screen,old time theatre with a balcony and an orchestra pit located right in Roslindale Square.You could spend a saturday afternoon watching movie shorts,cartoons,and a feature.It was a big part of the community.When it finally closed the Village Cinema in West Roxbury filled some of the void.It was owned and operated by a gentleman from West Roxbury.Like the Rialto,it too had a lot of character.But I guess big movie chains made it impossible to compete.But imagine all the memories through the years,the WWII era ,etc.It was a great run.
By the time I knew this theatre in the 1980s, “Westbrook” was no longer part of its name.
After the theatre was demolished, the strip mall’s name was changed again, to “The Village at Chestnut Hill”.
The Village Cinema and the Park Cinemas in Dorchester were the final two of what used to be many independent or small-chain neighborhood movie theatres all around Boston. I don’t remember whether the Village or the Park was the last to go dark.
Does anyone know anything about the Rialto Theater in Roslindale Square? I do know that it was demoslished in the 1970’s. I remember going there on a Saturday and seeing 15 cartoons for twenty five cents. That was in the 1950’s.
It was indeed first called the Hancock Village Theater. It was the last theater ever built in Boston to have a stage. I believe it was constructed in the 1950’s. It was in a strip mall called “Hancock Village”, the name of the mall was later changed to “Westbrook Village”, subsequently the theater name was changed to “Westbrook Village Cinema”. While it had a postal address of Chestnut Hill (Brookline), it was in the West Roxbury section of the city of Boston. If you walk one half a block behind the strip mall, you will be in the town of Brookline. I saw such films as “Run Silent, Run Deep” and “It’s a Mad. Mad, Mad, Mad World” there.
I have some idea that it was not always called “Village Cinema”, and that it may have originally been part of a chain, but I haven’t been able to find more information.