Ron: I’m pretty sure I saw the Olympia, judging by the photo you posted. The curtain was still hanging and the proscenium arch was of similar proportions. I can see it in color in my mind’s eye almost like a slide on a screen. I recall kind of looking over a mound of rubble just as in your photo. We lost a lot of the richness of the city when they demolished these buildings. They needed rehabilitation and tidying up, yet they’d be far better than the desolate Government Center plaza. At least the existing, curved Center Plaza building has a mixed use of office and retail.
Ron: Thanks for these great photos—a real study in urban history. Dwodeyla: I recall seeing the National Screen Service building when I made a pilgrimmage to look for the plaque for the Cocoanut Grove. It’s an interesting, isolated, slightly off-beat section of the city which has avoided getting demolished for high rises…so far.
When I was in my early teens in the early sixties, my father took me in to the original Radio Shack located near (or possibly on) Scollay Square. They were tearing down a theater that day. You could see the proscenium arch and curtain of the stage. I always thought it was the Old Howard, but it might have been the Olympia, also listed in Cinema Treasures. What I saw didn’t look like it had burned, and the Old Howard had.
Jaded: Thanks for the links. I guess I’m getting senile. I thought the altercation was in PBC, and it was actually in Broward County. Pretty soon I’ll be talking too much in the movies and taking a swing at anyone who threatens my wife. T.
Jaded: I agree, the exterior of this theater is basically an arcaded box from street level (though the arcade does provide shade) and has a poorly defined, oblique entrance at the plaza level. The plaza itself is okay, and the theater building has sort of a balcony above that provides. The details of the interior are sort of a cartoon version of the opulent theaters of the twenties and thirties (Let alone the real “Place de L'Opera” in Paris) which is why I used the term “evokes” above. But at least they made the effort to make something different and festive which it is in its way. It’s seldom you see a three story lobby with a fairly grand staircase anymore, and the ceiling painted like sky and clouds is nice. As for the staff, better pay and benefits would probably lead to improvement, but then we’d be paying two dollars more per ticket. As you say, generally, the sound and projection are decent. Some of the screens might be a little too big. It beats most every other theater in the eastern section of Palm Beach County (I’ve never been to the new one in Wellington, too far west) though the Boca Muvico is decent (you can only get there by car). The Sunrise Mizner in Boca is okay, helped by the upscale clientele and environs, as is the case with the Parisian. For the opposite theater experience, visit Movies of Lake Worth. The films can be good (many foreign and indies)and the prices are right, but the theater is old and depressing, and the patrons from the nearby, gated, seniors communities talk too much during the film. Beware of those seniors. A few years ago, at one of the theaters in PB county (I forget which), one old dude thought another old dude had made a pass at his wife in the ticket line, punched the guy in the mouth, and he fell to the pavement dead. I’ve forgotten his sentence. He avoided the death penalty anyway, a sentence I’d hand out just for talking during a film.
Ron: In your research, did you note if the Globe architecture critic, Robert Campbell, ever weighed in on this subject? He should have, if he did not. Tom
lostmemory: Thanks for these comments. It brings out again the Gayety/Publix paradox: a first rate auditorium hidden in a building dominated by small business rentals. Interesting the relatively recent variance for the food store. Ironically, if the theater survives, having that retail/office rental space would be good source of income and encourage smaller businesses that would serve the area. This is what city planners should encourage.
Ron: Thanks for this update. Will this pending appeal prevent demolition until March 29 or when the ZBA makes their decision, whichever comes later (I hope)?
Ron: You make good points. Also, from what I could see, it lacked much of a lobby. It was the auditorium itself that made it worth saving—acoustics, sight lines, overall architecture—and that was a tougher sell. No one had been inside for a couple decades. Your excellent research is telling about its years as a movie house that was below the radar.
Ron: Sad to hear of the interior demolition. Isn’t there an appeal still pending on the Publix? The city officials should be utterly ashamed of themselves for allowing this act of civic vandalism. t
Growing up in the Boston area, I do recall Lauriats. The owners lived in my neighborhood and also owned a good deal of land in town which is now dotted—shoe-horned is a better term—with McMansions I guess Brentano’s has changed from the one I knew. It’s sure a sign of the times that a movie theater is turning into a Barney’s.
Ron: Really interesting comments. I imagine they’ll eventually sell the seats. The projectors and audio equipment will be sold or moved, for sure. General Cinema used to move their equipment around. So Boston is getting a Barneys. I’m glad Brentano’s is still around. I thought they’d gone.
BoxOfficeBill: Thanks for the background on the theaters. I was a teenager in the sixties and vaguely remember seeing one of the last of the beach blanket films at the Art and possibly Hercules. Kids matinees at the Strand were awful. They threw stuff at the screen; if kids did that today, they’d call the police. It was like a riot on simmer. It’s possible the Regent was that vaudville house. I recall the QuinTree, but never went there.
Ron: The Quincy Fair building is the site of the old Sears which was the site of that vaudeville house. When I can, I’ll do the research at the Quincy Historical Society on this and the other theaters. The auditoriums are small—not competitive with the newer ‘plexes. I just never cared for the place.
Ron: When I get a chance to do the research, I have three theaters I want to add to this site: the Braintree Theater in that town, a single screen local that got converted to offices in the early sixties; the Strand Theater in Quincy which closed, possibly around 1980 and was demolished maybe ten years later; and the Art theater, also in Quincy which was demolished for an office building in the seventies, I think. IIRC, the Art was somewhat Art Deco in style and the nicest of these three architecturally. Quincy may have had at least one other theater because I recall the Sears store had been a vaudeville house, and they often got converted to movies.
Cinemaboy wrote: “He had also developed a soundproofing system for cinemas which had been first used in a mutiplex he had designed in the Bronx.” Just curious. Was Mr. Federman’s sound-proofing system more effective than others? Did he patent it? Did he design the Sack 57? That venue had stereo. Sack/Loews was slower to adopt better sound than General Cinema which had some of the best.
Ron: You make a good point. The ‘plexes often just multi-screen a mainstream blockbuster. A stand-alone art house theater would maintain art/indy/foreign programming. Just from an urban planning point of view, the city becomes far less diverse if we “mega-structure” everything with huge complexes like Copley Place or the Lowes Boston Common/Millenium Place/Ritz Carlton Towers. Even the Kendall is squirreled off in a desolate location more oriented to cars than a pedestrian streetscape.
Ron: I’m pretty sure I saw the Olympia, judging by the photo you posted. The curtain was still hanging and the proscenium arch was of similar proportions. I can see it in color in my mind’s eye almost like a slide on a screen. I recall kind of looking over a mound of rubble just as in your photo. We lost a lot of the richness of the city when they demolished these buildings. They needed rehabilitation and tidying up, yet they’d be far better than the desolate Government Center plaza. At least the existing, curved Center Plaza building has a mixed use of office and retail.
Ron: I think just above “Noel Coward’s” it says “J Arthur Rank Film.” The style of the “Beacon Hill” lettering is classic fifties. Great photo.
Ron: Thanks for these great photos—a real study in urban history. Dwodeyla: I recall seeing the National Screen Service building when I made a pilgrimmage to look for the plaque for the Cocoanut Grove. It’s an interesting, isolated, slightly off-beat section of the city which has avoided getting demolished for high rises…so far.
When I was in my early teens in the early sixties, my father took me in to the original Radio Shack located near (or possibly on) Scollay Square. They were tearing down a theater that day. You could see the proscenium arch and curtain of the stage. I always thought it was the Old Howard, but it might have been the Olympia, also listed in Cinema Treasures. What I saw didn’t look like it had burned, and the Old Howard had.
Thanks for these photos. I’d forgot what Washington Street looked like then.
Ron: Woops, sorry. I failed to see that the word “here” in your message above is in blue and a clickable link.
I found this article from the Globe,
and this from the Herald
It all sounds somewhat less than encouraging.
Jaded: Thanks for the links. I guess I’m getting senile. I thought the altercation was in PBC, and it was actually in Broward County. Pretty soon I’ll be talking too much in the movies and taking a swing at anyone who threatens my wife. T.
The Parisian has a better lobby than the Palace, though the Palace has some nice, poster-sized, black and white photos of early Hollywood.
Jaded: I agree, the exterior of this theater is basically an arcaded box from street level (though the arcade does provide shade) and has a poorly defined, oblique entrance at the plaza level. The plaza itself is okay, and the theater building has sort of a balcony above that provides. The details of the interior are sort of a cartoon version of the opulent theaters of the twenties and thirties (Let alone the real “Place de L'Opera” in Paris) which is why I used the term “evokes” above. But at least they made the effort to make something different and festive which it is in its way. It’s seldom you see a three story lobby with a fairly grand staircase anymore, and the ceiling painted like sky and clouds is nice. As for the staff, better pay and benefits would probably lead to improvement, but then we’d be paying two dollars more per ticket. As you say, generally, the sound and projection are decent. Some of the screens might be a little too big. It beats most every other theater in the eastern section of Palm Beach County (I’ve never been to the new one in Wellington, too far west) though the Boca Muvico is decent (you can only get there by car). The Sunrise Mizner in Boca is okay, helped by the upscale clientele and environs, as is the case with the Parisian. For the opposite theater experience, visit Movies of Lake Worth. The films can be good (many foreign and indies)and the prices are right, but the theater is old and depressing, and the patrons from the nearby, gated, seniors communities talk too much during the film. Beware of those seniors. A few years ago, at one of the theaters in PB county (I forget which), one old dude thought another old dude had made a pass at his wife in the ticket line, punched the guy in the mouth, and he fell to the pavement dead. I’ve forgotten his sentence. He avoided the death penalty anyway, a sentence I’d hand out just for talking during a film.
Ron: In your research, did you note if the Globe architecture critic, Robert Campbell, ever weighed in on this subject? He should have, if he did not. Tom
Ron: A very dark day for the City of Boston. Has the Globe noted the theater’s demise? Tom
lostmemory: Thanks for these comments. It brings out again the Gayety/Publix paradox: a first rate auditorium hidden in a building dominated by small business rentals. Interesting the relatively recent variance for the food store. Ironically, if the theater survives, having that retail/office rental space would be good source of income and encourage smaller businesses that would serve the area. This is what city planners should encourage.
Ron: Thanks for this update. Will this pending appeal prevent demolition until March 29 or when the ZBA makes their decision, whichever comes later (I hope)?
Ron: You make good points. Also, from what I could see, it lacked much of a lobby. It was the auditorium itself that made it worth saving—acoustics, sight lines, overall architecture—and that was a tougher sell. No one had been inside for a couple decades. Your excellent research is telling about its years as a movie house that was below the radar.
Ron: Thanks for the update, depressing as it is. t
Ron: Sad to hear of the interior demolition. Isn’t there an appeal still pending on the Publix? The city officials should be utterly ashamed of themselves for allowing this act of civic vandalism. t
Growing up in the Boston area, I do recall Lauriats. The owners lived in my neighborhood and also owned a good deal of land in town which is now dotted—shoe-horned is a better term—with McMansions I guess Brentano’s has changed from the one I knew. It’s sure a sign of the times that a movie theater is turning into a Barney’s.
Ron: Really interesting comments. I imagine they’ll eventually sell the seats. The projectors and audio equipment will be sold or moved, for sure. General Cinema used to move their equipment around. So Boston is getting a Barneys. I’m glad Brentano’s is still around. I thought they’d gone.
BoxOfficeBill: Thanks for the background on the theaters. I was a teenager in the sixties and vaguely remember seeing one of the last of the beach blanket films at the Art and possibly Hercules. Kids matinees at the Strand were awful. They threw stuff at the screen; if kids did that today, they’d call the police. It was like a riot on simmer. It’s possible the Regent was that vaudville house. I recall the QuinTree, but never went there.
Ron: The Quincy Fair building is the site of the old Sears which was the site of that vaudeville house. When I can, I’ll do the research at the Quincy Historical Society on this and the other theaters. The auditoriums are small—not competitive with the newer ‘plexes. I just never cared for the place.
Ron: When I get a chance to do the research, I have three theaters I want to add to this site: the Braintree Theater in that town, a single screen local that got converted to offices in the early sixties; the Strand Theater in Quincy which closed, possibly around 1980 and was demolished maybe ten years later; and the Art theater, also in Quincy which was demolished for an office building in the seventies, I think. IIRC, the Art was somewhat Art Deco in style and the nicest of these three architecturally. Quincy may have had at least one other theater because I recall the Sears store had been a vaudeville house, and they often got converted to movies.
Cinemaboy wrote: “He had also developed a soundproofing system for cinemas which had been first used in a mutiplex he had designed in the Bronx.” Just curious. Was Mr. Federman’s sound-proofing system more effective than others? Did he patent it? Did he design the Sack 57? That venue had stereo. Sack/Loews was slower to adopt better sound than General Cinema which had some of the best.
Ron: The screen count has had its ups and downs. Thanks for doing the research.
Ron: You make a good point. The ‘plexes often just multi-screen a mainstream blockbuster. A stand-alone art house theater would maintain art/indy/foreign programming. Just from an urban planning point of view, the city becomes far less diverse if we “mega-structure” everything with huge complexes like Copley Place or the Lowes Boston Common/Millenium Place/Ritz Carlton Towers. Even the Kendall is squirreled off in a desolate location more oriented to cars than a pedestrian streetscape.