Here it is again in an earlier shot, probably taken in the 1950s, where the Johnston Theatre sign can be seen, not yet replaced by “Italy Cinema.” Another Saint Rocco’s parade. Thornton Spa was named after the village of Thornton, which straddled the border of Johnston and Cranston at Atwood Avenue and Plainfield Street. View link
Here’s a photo of the Johnston Theatre when it was called Italy Cinema in the early 1970s. It was taken during a Saint Rocco’s Feast parade associated with Saint Rocco’s Church across the street from the former theatre. The theatre was located on the second floor of the building block, a wooden structure known as Ferri’s Block. The name “Johnston Theatre” can be seen behind the newer Italy Cinema sign. View link
Hardbop (love that name!)
Yes, there were other Jerry Lewis Cinemas also in Middletown (later Starcase Cinemas), Cumberland, Westerly. Are you sure about North Kingstown? I don’t remember one. Where would that have been located?
Bill,
Yes, and I presume others can’t find it either. I recently went to see “Amore in città ” here during my trip to Rome, and I was the only person in the audience! At another film there were about twenty. The entrance never should have been put on that back street but rather on the main street where the Mondadori Bookstore is and where the entrance to the original Cinema Trevi was. A million people a day probably walk down that street! They do, however, publish a nice descriptive calendar and are listed in the papers. They must attract a good faithful little audience for many of their shows.
Here is a recent photo of the Cinema Farnese. It is currently shuttered, and a sign on the front tells of the conflicting interests of developers who wasnt to convert it to ther uses and those who want to maintain this now historic venue as an entertainment site. The Rome newspaper still lists the theatre daily with the phrase “prossima riapertura” or “soon to re-open.” But it doesn’t seem so. View link
Here are some recent shots of the exterior and interior of the Sala Trevi…a cinema built in the middle of Roman archeological ruins. View link View link View link View link
Ron, a lovely parking lot replaced this most beautiful of theatres! Nothing has replaced the parking lot.
The theatre had TWO balconies. Memory: In early 1954 as a child of 12, I sat in the second balcony watching an odd double bill of “Hondo” (in 3-D) with John Wayne and “Volcano” with Anna Magnani.
On May 9, 1967 the Beacon Theatre did a gala tribute to actress Gloria Swanson. Swanson addressed the fervent packed house. Two of her films were shown: Von Stroheim’s “Queen Kelly” (including unseen out-takes fron Swanson’s collection) and Edmund Goulding’s 1929 “The Trespasser.” For the silent “Queen Kelly,” organ accompaniment was provided by Lee Erwin. Here are two photos I took. View link View link
On July 31, 1959, according to my diary entry, I saw a revival of Chaplin’s “Modern Times” at the Capri (formerly Copley) Theatre. It was the only time I ever went there.
Just to the right of the word “Society” in that photo would have been the theatre that was or would become the Fine Arts. That is Norway Street, and the Fine Arts was in the same building as Loew’s.
Some of you have misunderstaood the topic! This is about “black and W-I-D-E” films, i.e. black and white films made in CinemaScope or other wide-screen ratios. “Citizen Kane” does not qualify. Nor do any of the ones you mention, Ron.
I would contribute the following black-and-white anamorphic (CinemaScope) wide-screen films:
“The 400 Blows"
"Jules and Jim"
"Schindler’s List"
"La Dolce Vita"
"In Cold Blood"
"Is Paris Burning?"
"Compulsion"
"Hud"
"The Outrage"
"Blue Denim"
"Advise and Consent"
"In Harm’s Way"
"The Three Faces of Eve"
"Flood Tide"
"The Tarnished Angels"
"The Condemned of Altona"
"Love and Larceny"
"Love at Twenty"
"The Innocents"
"High and Low"
"Yojimbo"
"Sanjuro"
"The Bad Sleep Well"
"The Hidden Fortress"
"Andrei Roublev”
Newspaper ads don’t refer to the theatre any more as the Sala Trevi Alberto Sordi, but simply as Sala Trevi, perhaps to avoid confusing folks who might think the place is located in the Galleria Alberto Sordi, the nearby 19th Century galleria/mall formerly called the Galleria Colonna. The former Cinema Trevi is actually occcupied by the Mondadori Trevi bookstore. The Sala Trevi Cinema is below ground, to the rear of the former Cinema Trevi, amid rediscovered ruins (you can see them from the cinema before the show begins, when a curtain closes on them.) The fact that the entrance to the cinema is from an obscure rear alley means that there are never any passers-by as with the bookstore which is practically adjacent to the busy Fountain of Trevi.
According to a Village Voice ad the 8th Street Playhouse presented an interesting “Sleaze Festival” in March of 1983. A line in the ad read: “FILMS NOT SEEN OUTSIDE OF DRIVE-INS IN THE DEEP SOUTH.” The program:
March 9: Night of the Bloody Apes & The Last Survivor (imported horror)
March 10: Good Morning – and Goodbye! & Common Law Cabin (early Russ Meyer films)
March 11 & 12: I Spit on Your Grave & Axe (female revenge)
March 13: Bloodthirsty Butchers & The Man With Two Heads (Andy Milligan horror)
March 14: Africa Addio & Mondo Cane (Mondo gross-outs)
March 15: The Big Bird Cage & The Girl in Room 2A (women in chains)
Ron, I got that piece of info from Warren’s posting on the Loew’s State Theatre (q.v.) I don’t know the history of Jewett Repertory. Perhaps the venues were not used simultaneously but during different periods. I don’t know.
re: “Where did they show films before Remis opened?"
There was another auditorium that was accessed by walking in directly from the main entrance which was then on Huntington Avenue. (The entrance is still there but not used.) The auditorium , as I recall, was straight ahead once you walked in. I have a feeling you had to walk up a flight of stairs first. The gift shop was on the right of that Huntington entrance. The auditorium was fitted with ancient cast-iron frame seats which were about as comfortable as medieval torture racks. It was a nice space, however, and the screen-to-audience angle was better than the weird one in Remis. There was excellent programming even back in the 1960s when I started going, generally 16mm rentals from the standard distributors, although there wasn’t the length and breadth of offerings that you have now, and they weren’t every day. Later on the programs became more extensive. I remember a nice series of rarities from George Eastman House that included a 35mm print of the German version of Garbo’s "Anna Christie.” Does anyone know when the new auditorium opened?
At last night’s Town Council meeting, the Council voted unanimously to support the Bristol Pastime Theatre Foundation in its endeavors to keep the theatre as a valued part of the downtown Bristol area. The Board of Directors of the Bristol Pastime Theatre Foundation wants to thank every one of you for his or her support, especially during this past week. Whether it was through phone calls, personal meetings, letters of support, coming out to last night’s meeting, or just positive thoughts and good wishes, we want you to know that you are an essential part of the plan “…to revitalize and sustain the historic Pastime Theatre as a community-based center for the performing arts and cinema”. We thank you greatly and look forward to your continued support.
That section of Norway Street doesn’t exist any longer, having been replaced, along with the Loew’s State Theatre and other buildings, by what seems like a mile-long concrete monstrosity. The Fine Arts was part of the Loew’s State building, with its entrance on Norway Street, but very close to Massachusetts Avenue.
Here it is again in an earlier shot, probably taken in the 1950s, where the Johnston Theatre sign can be seen, not yet replaced by “Italy Cinema.” Another Saint Rocco’s parade. Thornton Spa was named after the village of Thornton, which straddled the border of Johnston and Cranston at Atwood Avenue and Plainfield Street.
View link
Here’s a photo of the Johnston Theatre when it was called Italy Cinema in the early 1970s. It was taken during a Saint Rocco’s Feast parade associated with Saint Rocco’s Church across the street from the former theatre. The theatre was located on the second floor of the building block, a wooden structure known as Ferri’s Block. The name “Johnston Theatre” can be seen behind the newer Italy Cinema sign.
View link
Hardbop (love that name!)
Yes, there were other Jerry Lewis Cinemas also in Middletown (later Starcase Cinemas), Cumberland, Westerly. Are you sure about North Kingstown? I don’t remember one. Where would that have been located?
Bill,
Yes, and I presume others can’t find it either. I recently went to see “Amore in città ” here during my trip to Rome, and I was the only person in the audience! At another film there were about twenty. The entrance never should have been put on that back street but rather on the main street where the Mondadori Bookstore is and where the entrance to the original Cinema Trevi was. A million people a day probably walk down that street! They do, however, publish a nice descriptive calendar and are listed in the papers. They must attract a good faithful little audience for many of their shows.
Bill-
Yes, a few more as I dig through my photos.
Here is a recent photo of the Cinema Farnese. It is currently shuttered, and a sign on the front tells of the conflicting interests of developers who wasnt to convert it to ther uses and those who want to maintain this now historic venue as an entertainment site. The Rome newspaper still lists the theatre daily with the phrase “prossima riapertura” or “soon to re-open.” But it doesn’t seem so.
View link
Here are some recent shots of the exterior and interior of the Sala Trevi…a cinema built in the middle of Roman archeological ruins.
View link
View link
View link
View link
Here’s a photo of the interior in 1988.
View link
Ron, a lovely parking lot replaced this most beautiful of theatres! Nothing has replaced the parking lot.
The theatre had TWO balconies. Memory: In early 1954 as a child of 12, I sat in the second balcony watching an odd double bill of “Hondo” (in 3-D) with John Wayne and “Volcano” with Anna Magnani.
On May 9, 1967 the Beacon Theatre did a gala tribute to actress Gloria Swanson. Swanson addressed the fervent packed house. Two of her films were shown: Von Stroheim’s “Queen Kelly” (including unseen out-takes fron Swanson’s collection) and Edmund Goulding’s 1929 “The Trespasser.” For the silent “Queen Kelly,” organ accompaniment was provided by Lee Erwin. Here are two photos I took.
View link
View link
Here is a photo of the theatre in 1967 when I went to see “The War Wagon."
View link
Here is a photo of the former theatre as it appears today.
View link
Here is the theatre as it appears today.
View link
Here’s a photo I took of the theatre in 1967. The pedestrian mall has gone back to being a street open to motor traffic.
View link
Photo of the exterior.
View link
On July 31, 1959, according to my diary entry, I saw a revival of Chaplin’s “Modern Times” at the Capri (formerly Copley) Theatre. It was the only time I ever went there.
Fine Arts!!!
Just to the right of the word “Society” in that photo would have been the theatre that was or would become the Fine Arts. That is Norway Street, and the Fine Arts was in the same building as Loew’s.
Some of you have misunderstaood the topic! This is about “black and W-I-D-E” films, i.e. black and white films made in CinemaScope or other wide-screen ratios. “Citizen Kane” does not qualify. Nor do any of the ones you mention, Ron.
I would contribute the following black-and-white anamorphic (CinemaScope) wide-screen films:
“The 400 Blows"
"Jules and Jim"
"Schindler’s List"
"La Dolce Vita"
"In Cold Blood"
"Is Paris Burning?"
"Compulsion"
"Hud"
"The Outrage"
"Blue Denim"
"Advise and Consent"
"In Harm’s Way"
"The Three Faces of Eve"
"Flood Tide"
"The Tarnished Angels"
"The Condemned of Altona"
"Love and Larceny"
"Love at Twenty"
"The Innocents"
"High and Low"
"Yojimbo"
"Sanjuro"
"The Bad Sleep Well"
"The Hidden Fortress"
"Andrei Roublev”
Newspaper ads don’t refer to the theatre any more as the Sala Trevi Alberto Sordi, but simply as Sala Trevi, perhaps to avoid confusing folks who might think the place is located in the Galleria Alberto Sordi, the nearby 19th Century galleria/mall formerly called the Galleria Colonna. The former Cinema Trevi is actually occcupied by the Mondadori Trevi bookstore. The Sala Trevi Cinema is below ground, to the rear of the former Cinema Trevi, amid rediscovered ruins (you can see them from the cinema before the show begins, when a curtain closes on them.) The fact that the entrance to the cinema is from an obscure rear alley means that there are never any passers-by as with the bookstore which is practically adjacent to the busy Fountain of Trevi.
According to a Village Voice ad the 8th Street Playhouse presented an interesting “Sleaze Festival” in March of 1983. A line in the ad read: “FILMS NOT SEEN OUTSIDE OF DRIVE-INS IN THE DEEP SOUTH.” The program:
March 9: Night of the Bloody Apes & The Last Survivor (imported horror)
March 10: Good Morning – and Goodbye! & Common Law Cabin (early Russ Meyer films)
March 11 & 12: I Spit on Your Grave & Axe (female revenge)
March 13: Bloodthirsty Butchers & The Man With Two Heads (Andy Milligan horror)
March 14: Africa Addio & Mondo Cane (Mondo gross-outs)
March 15: The Big Bird Cage & The Girl in Room 2A (women in chains)
Ron, I got that piece of info from Warren’s posting on the Loew’s State Theatre (q.v.) I don’t know the history of Jewett Repertory. Perhaps the venues were not used simultaneously but during different periods. I don’t know.
re: “Where did they show films before Remis opened?"
There was another auditorium that was accessed by walking in directly from the main entrance which was then on Huntington Avenue. (The entrance is still there but not used.) The auditorium , as I recall, was straight ahead once you walked in. I have a feeling you had to walk up a flight of stairs first. The gift shop was on the right of that Huntington entrance. The auditorium was fitted with ancient cast-iron frame seats which were about as comfortable as medieval torture racks. It was a nice space, however, and the screen-to-audience angle was better than the weird one in Remis. There was excellent programming even back in the 1960s when I started going, generally 16mm rentals from the standard distributors, although there wasn’t the length and breadth of offerings that you have now, and they weren’t every day. Later on the programs became more extensive. I remember a nice series of rarities from George Eastman House that included a 35mm print of the German version of Garbo’s "Anna Christie.” Does anyone know when the new auditorium opened?
Copy of an e-mail sent out today:
Dear Supporters of the Pastime Theatre,
At last night’s Town Council meeting, the Council voted unanimously to support the Bristol Pastime Theatre Foundation in its endeavors to keep the theatre as a valued part of the downtown Bristol area. The Board of Directors of the Bristol Pastime Theatre Foundation wants to thank every one of you for his or her support, especially during this past week. Whether it was through phone calls, personal meetings, letters of support, coming out to last night’s meeting, or just positive thoughts and good wishes, we want you to know that you are an essential part of the plan “…to revitalize and sustain the historic Pastime Theatre as a community-based center for the performing arts and cinema”. We thank you greatly and look forward to your continued support.
With deepest appreciation,
The Board of Directors
Bristol Pastime Theatre Foundation
That section of Norway Street doesn’t exist any longer, having been replaced, along with the Loew’s State Theatre and other buildings, by what seems like a mile-long concrete monstrosity. The Fine Arts was part of the Loew’s State building, with its entrance on Norway Street, but very close to Massachusetts Avenue.