The Trans Lux in 1960 when I 1st came to D.C. was a 1st theatre for Columbia & Universal pics. Saw several Doris Day films there including Oillow Talk. Also saw The Wackiest Ship in The Army thete 1st run plus many other films. I was stationed at NAS Anacostia(the Photo Center) from 1960 -1962 and 1964 -1966. Always 1st run while I was there.
Since everyone else is saying where and how they Saw SOM, I decided to put in my 2 cents worth. I 1st saw it at the Ontario in Wash, D.C. The Capri in San Diego, and the Gary in Boston. All in real Todd AO. I then saw it on its non reserved engagements later in 35mm stereo at the Strand in Quincy, Mass and the Playhouse in Scituate, Mass. Then many yrs later saw it in 35mm stereo at The Boston Music Hall on an old scratchy Cyan faded print with many splices. Not enjoyable for me at all.
Sorry, Tremont &Stuart. YOu are wrong. The Gary never had sensurround. The General Cinema was the 1st area theatre to show Earthquake. Battlestar Gallactica played at the Saxon Then Rollercoastr and Midway played at the General Cinemas in Braintree. They may have also played at rhe Saxon, I don’t recall, but never at the Gary.
To Sharkbites. I have just read your long ago blurb. Having been a projectionist of 35mm with 2000" reels and carbon Arc. I don’t know where you are but we never had Projectomaticin any place I worked. We never had an Ice Cream lady' we had to get up and go to the concession stand. Finall, where dis idea of waxing th`e prints come from, we just made sure we had clean aperatures and the rest took care of it self But I never heard of waxing. I am in Boston' Mass and did all my projection work 16mm, 35mm and interlock systems.
The OmniMax in Boston at the museum of Science has been there for years and is still going strong. It plays nothing but Imax educational films. Has never played a commercial film tyo my knowledge where the Imax at the aquarium did play commercial films at one time but no longer.
Why were the engagements of Cinerama in Baltimore so short compared to other major cities? Was it because Baltimore was nestled between Wash & Philadelphia and had been running Cinerama for t least 4 yrs before it came to the Town Theatre?
When the Charles opened by Reade. It had a big screen.. The only 2 bigger were the Metropolitan(Music Hall/Wang ctr). When Ryans Daughter opened there the screen was huge. After Ryans daughter the screen was changed.
You complain about the Loews name compared to AMC. They are the same since AMC bought Loews or merged. You should have been in the Boston area in the 40’s-60’s when we had both the Loews State & Loews Orpheum along with all the downtown, West End and other suburban E.M. Lowes theatres. They were not related. Then at one time Loews bought out USA(SACK) cinemas and most of the E.M. Lowes theatres became Indies or were torn down or just closed and left to rot.
Why were the original presentations of Cinerama at the Strand in Vancouver shown for such short durations? Most cities had them for up to a year or longer. Was it the fact that Seattle wasn’t that far away and people had already seen them?
P.S. The Morton was an N.E.T. not an E.M. Lowes. The N.E.T. theatres were kept in good shape but the E.M. Lowes were left to minimum Maint. You saw Gabby Hayew in 1955 was most likely at the Fields Corner. The only live acts at the Dot were the RATS. The Dot and the Adams had dish nites. I remember my mother making sure she went to the Dot I believe every Mon night to get her dish. She very seldom went to the Adams. It was too far to walk. We lived next to Cosgroves Milk Plant. It was between Gibson & Park St. Technically we lived on Christopher Ct a dirt road which was not an accepted St then. They paved it a bout 1-2 yrs after we moved. Our mailing address was 310 Adams St. The 3 family cold water building was torn down down years later.
Jim. Are you sure that the Fields Corner & the Adams theatres were only 10cents. I had been going to both since 1948 and they were 25 cents the whole time I went there. The Dorchester (Park) on Dot Ave & Park St was only 10cents. The Dot was 3rd or 4th run and the Fields Corner and Adams were 2nd run after leaving Downtown Boston. I moved from the area in Feb 1952 and went to Scituate where the Playhouse was 1st run and 25 cents.
The soap box racers and bike race pre movie events were on Sat matinees along with a 3 sStooges short and a couple of cartoons plus a western and some other movie. Probably a Sci-Fi only at the Dorchester and other E.M. Lowes theatres not at the N.E.T. theatres. Those theatres were the Strand, Uphams Corner, the Oriental. I believe that the other Lowes were the Morton? and Eggleston.
Correction. The picture shown is correct. The Keiths was eventually dropped and it became the RKO Boston then the Boston Cinerama. The RKO Keiths became The RKO Keiths became the RKO Keiths Memorial at some point. Then it became the Savoy under Sack which let it rot.
To King Biscuit. 7 Wonders of the world played here in Boston for a totalof 76 weeks also. 64 on its 1st time and then on a return visit of 12 more weeks. What I am surprised at is Windjammer. iT OPENED HERE IN bOSTON 2 weeks after St Louis. It only played there for 11 weeks. Here in Boston its 1st run was for 33 weeks and its 2nd week was for 23 weeks for a total of 56 weeks. The Boston Cinerama(our only Cinerama theatre) showed Cinerama both 3 strip & 70mm for 20 yrs with only a short break to show the road show version of Far from the maddening Crowd in 70mm blowup for a few weeks. I believe that Boston was the only city that had Cinerama in one theatre for that long.
To Hank Sykes. The sound Scanner as you referred to it is wrong. In my days as a projectionist it was always called an EXCITER LAMP. You always had to have spares because if it burnt out you could just take it out and put in a new one. Then when Cinemascope came along with 4 track stereo on the film there was a magnetic reader like a tape player installed to read the magnetic stripe. If your theatre did not have stereo the film was played optically from a track on the film.
I guess you aren’t following the presidential race. The Manchester Unio Leader is the most influential leader in presidential race for many years. I do believe that somebody should have put New Hampshire in the text.
To Shirley Marquez. The Cinema 57 was never split. It was built as a twin. When you walkwed in there was one auditorium on the right and one on the left. The lobby was in between which by the was was very large. The theatres were not long and narrow. You are mixing this up with some other theatre you have been in.
The Boston Cinerama played 3strip/70mm Cinerama fro 12/30/53 until 4/30/69. Montereal played Cinerama 3 strip/70mm from 4/5/56 until 6/1/70. This makes The Boston Theatre one of the longest running Cinerama theatres in the world by far.
For Airway 1: I live here in a small town south of Boston, Mass. and when I heard about the screaming of packed. Everytime Elvis came on the girls would start the Beatles we had something similar happen here in our 1000 seat theatre only it happened years before. It was in 1956 and our theatre was 1st run with Boston.. Love Me Tender with Elvis was playing. The theatre was packed with screaming girls(of course us boys were encouraging them. Bud K. the ass’t manager at that time would signal the projectionist to turn off the sound and he would stand up back telling everyone to shut up or he would shut down the movie and clear the theatre with no refunds. The price was I believe 35cents at that time. This reminded me so much of your story I just had to reply. It sounds real funny now. By the way the movie finished with screaming and crying and we all went home only to come back the next day and do it all over again. Thanks for the memory.
Saw Men In Black in 1997 here. Nice , comfortable theatre. Probably 150-200 seats per screen I think. Stayed at the hotel next door.
I do not see any mention of this theatre having shown any Cinerama films in Cinerama at any time.
The Trans Lux in 1960 when I 1st came to D.C. was a 1st theatre for Columbia & Universal pics. Saw several Doris Day films there including Oillow Talk. Also saw The Wackiest Ship in The Army thete 1st run plus many other films. I was stationed at NAS Anacostia(the Photo Center) from 1960 -1962 and 1964 -1966. Always 1st run while I was there.
Didn’t Sound Of Music play in Warwick on its original long run and not at the Elmwood?
Since everyone else is saying where and how they Saw SOM, I decided to put in my 2 cents worth. I 1st saw it at the Ontario in Wash, D.C. The Capri in San Diego, and the Gary in Boston. All in real Todd AO. I then saw it on its non reserved engagements later in 35mm stereo at the Strand in Quincy, Mass and the Playhouse in Scituate, Mass. Then many yrs later saw it in 35mm stereo at The Boston Music Hall on an old scratchy Cyan faded print with many splices. Not enjoyable for me at all.
Sorry, Tremont &Stuart. YOu are wrong. The Gary never had sensurround. The General Cinema was the 1st area theatre to show Earthquake. Battlestar Gallactica played at the Saxon Then Rollercoastr and Midway played at the General Cinemas in Braintree. They may have also played at rhe Saxon, I don’t recall, but never at the Gary.
To Sharkbites. I have just read your long ago blurb. Having been a projectionist of 35mm with 2000" reels and carbon Arc. I don’t know where you are but we never had Projectomaticin any place I worked. We never had an Ice Cream lady' we had to get up and go to the concession stand. Finall, where dis idea of waxing th`e prints come from, we just made sure we had clean aperatures and the rest took care of it self But I never heard of waxing. I am in Boston' Mass and did all my projection work 16mm, 35mm and interlock systems.
The OmniMax in Boston at the museum of Science has been there for years and is still going strong. It plays nothing but Imax educational films. Has never played a commercial film tyo my knowledge where the Imax at the aquarium did play commercial films at one time but no longer.
Why were the engagements of Cinerama in Baltimore so short compared to other major cities? Was it because Baltimore was nestled between Wash & Philadelphia and had been running Cinerama for t least 4 yrs before it came to the Town Theatre?
When the Charles opened by Reade. It had a big screen.. The only 2 bigger were the Metropolitan(Music Hall/Wang ctr). When Ryans Daughter opened there the screen was huge. After Ryans daughter the screen was changed.
Movie Buff 82. I saw Mad Max on HBO. They must be showing 2 versions because the one I saw was full width & hgt. It looked great.
You complain about the Loews name compared to AMC. They are the same since AMC bought Loews or merged. You should have been in the Boston area in the 40’s-60’s when we had both the Loews State & Loews Orpheum along with all the downtown, West End and other suburban E.M. Lowes theatres. They were not related. Then at one time Loews bought out USA(SACK) cinemas and most of the E.M. Lowes theatres became Indies or were torn down or just closed and left to rot.
Why were the original presentations of Cinerama at the Strand in Vancouver shown for such short durations? Most cities had them for up to a year or longer. Was it the fact that Seattle wasn’t that far away and people had already seen them?
P.S. The Morton was an N.E.T. not an E.M. Lowes. The N.E.T. theatres were kept in good shape but the E.M. Lowes were left to minimum Maint. You saw Gabby Hayew in 1955 was most likely at the Fields Corner. The only live acts at the Dot were the RATS. The Dot and the Adams had dish nites. I remember my mother making sure she went to the Dot I believe every Mon night to get her dish. She very seldom went to the Adams. It was too far to walk. We lived next to Cosgroves Milk Plant. It was between Gibson & Park St. Technically we lived on Christopher Ct a dirt road which was not an accepted St then. They paved it a bout 1-2 yrs after we moved. Our mailing address was 310 Adams St. The 3 family cold water building was torn down down years later.
Jim. Are you sure that the Fields Corner & the Adams theatres were only 10cents. I had been going to both since 1948 and they were 25 cents the whole time I went there. The Dorchester (Park) on Dot Ave & Park St was only 10cents. The Dot was 3rd or 4th run and the Fields Corner and Adams were 2nd run after leaving Downtown Boston. I moved from the area in Feb 1952 and went to Scituate where the Playhouse was 1st run and 25 cents. The soap box racers and bike race pre movie events were on Sat matinees along with a 3 sStooges short and a couple of cartoons plus a western and some other movie. Probably a Sci-Fi only at the Dorchester and other E.M. Lowes theatres not at the N.E.T. theatres. Those theatres were the Strand, Uphams Corner, the Oriental. I believe that the other Lowes were the Morton? and Eggleston.
Correction. The picture shown is correct. The Keiths was eventually dropped and it became the RKO Boston then the Boston Cinerama. The RKO Keiths became The RKO Keiths became the RKO Keiths Memorial at some point. Then it became the Savoy under Sack which let it rot.
To King Biscuit. 7 Wonders of the world played here in Boston for a totalof 76 weeks also. 64 on its 1st time and then on a return visit of 12 more weeks. What I am surprised at is Windjammer. iT OPENED HERE IN bOSTON 2 weeks after St Louis. It only played there for 11 weeks. Here in Boston its 1st run was for 33 weeks and its 2nd week was for 23 weeks for a total of 56 weeks. The Boston Cinerama(our only Cinerama theatre) showed Cinerama both 3 strip & 70mm for 20 yrs with only a short break to show the road show version of Far from the maddening Crowd in 70mm blowup for a few weeks. I believe that Boston was the only city that had Cinerama in one theatre for that long.
To Hank Sykes. The sound Scanner as you referred to it is wrong. In my days as a projectionist it was always called an EXCITER LAMP. You always had to have spares because if it burnt out you could just take it out and put in a new one. Then when Cinemascope came along with 4 track stereo on the film there was a magnetic reader like a tape player installed to read the magnetic stripe. If your theatre did not have stereo the film was played optically from a track on the film.
I guess you aren’t following the presidential race. The Manchester Unio Leader is the most influential leader in presidential race for many years. I do believe that somebody should have put New Hampshire in the text.
To Shirley Marquez. The Cinema 57 was never split. It was built as a twin. When you walkwed in there was one auditorium on the right and one on the left. The lobby was in between which by the was was very large. The theatres were not long and narrow. You are mixing this up with some other theatre you have been in.
I don’t ever remember Flower Drum Song being a Roadshow here in Boston or anywhere else.
The Boston Cinerama played 3strip/70mm Cinerama fro 12/30/53 until 4/30/69. Montereal played Cinerama 3 strip/70mm from 4/5/56 until 6/1/70. This makes The Boston Theatre one of the longest running Cinerama theatres in the world by far.
Hey Zookie Freddie. Read Dingoman’s note again. He said he saw the movie 2001 not in the year 2001. Put your glasses on if you can find them and read.
For Airway 1: I live here in a small town south of Boston, Mass. and when I heard about the screaming of packed. Everytime Elvis came on the girls would start the Beatles we had something similar happen here in our 1000 seat theatre only it happened years before. It was in 1956 and our theatre was 1st run with Boston.. Love Me Tender with Elvis was playing. The theatre was packed with screaming girls(of course us boys were encouraging them. Bud K. the ass’t manager at that time would signal the projectionist to turn off the sound and he would stand up back telling everyone to shut up or he would shut down the movie and clear the theatre with no refunds. The price was I believe 35cents at that time. This reminded me so much of your story I just had to reply. It sounds real funny now. By the way the movie finished with screaming and crying and we all went home only to come back the next day and do it all over again. Thanks for the memory.
Cinemascope was installed in 1953. A huge screen was added to the front.