The roadside sign for the theatre stood for a few years after the building itself disappeared. When I finally tracked down mall management about obtaining one of the signs, they had just disposed of them. A friend did end up with some of the marquee letters…all that’s left of the cinema.
Dave Manthie left the company to work for McDonald’s (I think…it was some fast food company anyway) and the regional director, Ed Dineen, retired in the late 80s. Larry Bello, the DM, left GCC in 85 and moved the FL and lives there today. His successor, Bob Klaas went back to eastern PA when the company downsized in the early 90s.
General Cinema also had a furniture chain, Alperts, that had a store just down Northfield Road from the East Side drive in. The store was located in a renovated bowling alley and didn’t last too long at that location. The building was worn out by the time they moved in and after a few tries to fix it up, they moved to another location.
Alperts furniture left the Cleveland area in the early 1980’s and for a while, I had the keys to all 3 buildings in the market and from time to time, checked on them to ensure that there was no vandalism. All 3 buildings were sold by 1985.
About the Westgate, I managed the complex from 1985 thru 1987, having transferred from the Cleveland, OH market. I was told by upper brass that running the house was a stepping stone to senior management within the company and if this was true, then their idea of promoting must have been trial by fire. Probably one of the toughest places in the chain to operate, I found out AFTER taking over that GCC had gone thru several managers in a short span of time…most giving up when they realized that help was non-existant, despite having the largest high school east of the Mississippi just a few blocks away. At one time, I had 96 direct reports and could have hired another dozen. At that time, most of Brockton was affluent and the kids didn’t want to work. Many a night I ran the place with a skeleton crew.
On the other hand, I did enjoy some of my tenure there. I made some new friends, we got to see alot of historical Boston, and I learned that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
I understand that the neighborhood isn’t mush to write home about today and evidence of that shift was apparent just before I decided to leave the area. I left the building one night with a sizeable deposit bag under my arm and an incoming patron held the door for me as I left. That incoming fellow turned out to have a gun and he and his two buddies proceeded to rob the place…after I left with most all of the money! They managed to get a few hundred bucks and were soon caught when they tried to spend some of the wrapped coin that was stamped with our logo. Not the brightest…
Another memory…the constant parade of stolen cars that appeared in our lot. Apparently, the Brockton area is a dumping ground for stolen vehicles. Many a night I left the building only to find a car in the lot that didn’t belong to anyone in the place.
About the Mayland, I managed the theatre for GCC from 1980 until early 1982 when I left to take the manager’s job at Randall Park. The Mayland was a unique neighborhood theatre. Most nights during the week, you knew most everyone by name that came thru the door. Weekends could be alot busier, especially if a kid’s movie was running.
We also ran quite a few weekend midnite movies and kept a refrigerator behind the office for chilling the beer we confiscated from the incoming kids. Lots of variety, but it was free!
The safe in the office was an ancient unit…probably left over from the original owner…and one day when I gave the dial a spin, it came off in my hand! A quick call to a locksmith and a few hundred bucks later, we had it open and a new dial installed. I’m sure it was Rex’s doing!
Quite a cast of characters came and went under my employ, I won’t mention names but you know who you are. Projectionists who bar-b-q’d outside on the rooftop, cashiers and concession clerks who showed up when they wanted to and ushers who kept count of the beers they confiscated made the place interesting.
Yes, we had a leaky roof and basement and drafty auditoriums, but that just gave the place character. Speaking of drafts, I firmly believe that the place was (is) haunted. Many a night I caught up on paperwork only to feel the presence of someone else in the building. If it wasn’t Rex, then it must have been his stand-in!
I was part of the management team in Cleveland from 1979 until 1986 when I moved to Boston to take a position at the next level within the company. The Randall Park was indeed built to keep the competition away from the Southgate twin, however, RPC soon outgrossed Southgate, much to GCCs chagrin. I recall sellouts for Start Wars, Animal House, Stir Crazy and Poltergeist, just to name a few. Yes, the footprint of the theatre left alot to be desired, but who cared back then. I remember catching alot of flack for the non-handicap friendly entrance though!
About Laurel Rans, she was an ex-women’s prison warden who drove a black 1970 Cadillac like she was a NASCAR champ. I rode with her to many a meeting and ALWAYS wore my seat belt. She was a shrewd business person with a poker face and kept her eye on the bottom line. CAPEX expenditures were scrutinized and nothing was purcahsed unless it had to be.
Around 1981-82 the company decided to stray from it’s usual blue and red wall theme and had 3 different the theatre designs mocked up. I recall that the ‘earth tone’ look was a popular choice of District Managers, however, in the end, not too many houses were facelifted.
Incidentally, most folks forget that GCC also owned a few radio stations. In Cleveland, it was WGCL 98.5. We tied in with them many times to promote the theatre.
About Bob Klaas, he had about as much charisma as a wet washcloth. I left the Cleveland market soon after he took over from Larry Bello and I don’t know of too many folks that liked his management style. Larry, on the other hand, made working in the business fun. He left GCC in 1985 and moved to Florida where he and his brother bought a couple of GCC houses and opened their own small chain. I think he’s still in FL but no longer in the theatre business.
Interesting reading! From 1977 thru 1986 I was employed by GCC Theatres (General Cinema) and ran theatres in both the Cleveland/Akron, OH and Boston/Brockton, Mass markets. As a regular vistor to the Home Office, I was surprised at how few people who actually worked there. I think the staff was something less than 150. I was there during the Richard Smith/Paul DelRossi transition. I also was involved with some of the other assets that the company had (worked for a bit with Pepsi in Cleveland) so I got to see how the rest of the company ran.
It was too bad that more focus wasn’t placed on the theatre division. While film exhibition isn’t as profitable as it used to be, I think the company could have done a better job at staying in it and could still be around today.
The Regional VPs and Division Managers all worked in the field, as did film buyers. The buyers, however, didn’t start doing this until around ‘82 or '83. The company also had auditors and other support folks who had offices outside of Chestnut Hill.
I have fond memories of working in the business. The hours were, for sure, long, but the rewards were many. I still see a few of my coworkers and inevitably, the conversation usually turns to the days spent inside those blue and red walled buildings!
The roadside sign for the theatre stood for a few years after the building itself disappeared. When I finally tracked down mall management about obtaining one of the signs, they had just disposed of them. A friend did end up with some of the marquee letters…all that’s left of the cinema.
Dave Manthie left the company to work for McDonald’s (I think…it was some fast food company anyway) and the regional director, Ed Dineen, retired in the late 80s. Larry Bello, the DM, left GCC in 85 and moved the FL and lives there today. His successor, Bob Klaas went back to eastern PA when the company downsized in the early 90s.
Mike went to Southgate, the Parmatown and then to Mentor Mall. I last talk to him about a year before the theatre closed.
General Cinema also had a furniture chain, Alperts, that had a store just down Northfield Road from the East Side drive in. The store was located in a renovated bowling alley and didn’t last too long at that location. The building was worn out by the time they moved in and after a few tries to fix it up, they moved to another location.
Alperts furniture left the Cleveland area in the early 1980’s and for a while, I had the keys to all 3 buildings in the market and from time to time, checked on them to ensure that there was no vandalism. All 3 buildings were sold by 1985.
About the Westgate, I managed the complex from 1985 thru 1987, having transferred from the Cleveland, OH market. I was told by upper brass that running the house was a stepping stone to senior management within the company and if this was true, then their idea of promoting must have been trial by fire. Probably one of the toughest places in the chain to operate, I found out AFTER taking over that GCC had gone thru several managers in a short span of time…most giving up when they realized that help was non-existant, despite having the largest high school east of the Mississippi just a few blocks away. At one time, I had 96 direct reports and could have hired another dozen. At that time, most of Brockton was affluent and the kids didn’t want to work. Many a night I ran the place with a skeleton crew.
On the other hand, I did enjoy some of my tenure there. I made some new friends, we got to see alot of historical Boston, and I learned that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
I understand that the neighborhood isn’t mush to write home about today and evidence of that shift was apparent just before I decided to leave the area. I left the building one night with a sizeable deposit bag under my arm and an incoming patron held the door for me as I left. That incoming fellow turned out to have a gun and he and his two buddies proceeded to rob the place…after I left with most all of the money! They managed to get a few hundred bucks and were soon caught when they tried to spend some of the wrapped coin that was stamped with our logo. Not the brightest…
Another memory…the constant parade of stolen cars that appeared in our lot. Apparently, the Brockton area is a dumping ground for stolen vehicles. Many a night I left the building only to find a car in the lot that didn’t belong to anyone in the place.
About the Mayland, I managed the theatre for GCC from 1980 until early 1982 when I left to take the manager’s job at Randall Park. The Mayland was a unique neighborhood theatre. Most nights during the week, you knew most everyone by name that came thru the door. Weekends could be alot busier, especially if a kid’s movie was running.
We also ran quite a few weekend midnite movies and kept a refrigerator behind the office for chilling the beer we confiscated from the incoming kids. Lots of variety, but it was free!
The safe in the office was an ancient unit…probably left over from the original owner…and one day when I gave the dial a spin, it came off in my hand! A quick call to a locksmith and a few hundred bucks later, we had it open and a new dial installed. I’m sure it was Rex’s doing!
Quite a cast of characters came and went under my employ, I won’t mention names but you know who you are. Projectionists who bar-b-q’d outside on the rooftop, cashiers and concession clerks who showed up when they wanted to and ushers who kept count of the beers they confiscated made the place interesting.
Yes, we had a leaky roof and basement and drafty auditoriums, but that just gave the place character. Speaking of drafts, I firmly believe that the place was (is) haunted. Many a night I caught up on paperwork only to feel the presence of someone else in the building. If it wasn’t Rex, then it must have been his stand-in!
I was part of the management team in Cleveland from 1979 until 1986 when I moved to Boston to take a position at the next level within the company. The Randall Park was indeed built to keep the competition away from the Southgate twin, however, RPC soon outgrossed Southgate, much to GCCs chagrin. I recall sellouts for Start Wars, Animal House, Stir Crazy and Poltergeist, just to name a few. Yes, the footprint of the theatre left alot to be desired, but who cared back then. I remember catching alot of flack for the non-handicap friendly entrance though!
About Laurel Rans, she was an ex-women’s prison warden who drove a black 1970 Cadillac like she was a NASCAR champ. I rode with her to many a meeting and ALWAYS wore my seat belt. She was a shrewd business person with a poker face and kept her eye on the bottom line. CAPEX expenditures were scrutinized and nothing was purcahsed unless it had to be.
Around 1981-82 the company decided to stray from it’s usual blue and red wall theme and had 3 different the theatre designs mocked up. I recall that the ‘earth tone’ look was a popular choice of District Managers, however, in the end, not too many houses were facelifted.
Incidentally, most folks forget that GCC also owned a few radio stations. In Cleveland, it was WGCL 98.5. We tied in with them many times to promote the theatre.
About Bob Klaas, he had about as much charisma as a wet washcloth. I left the Cleveland market soon after he took over from Larry Bello and I don’t know of too many folks that liked his management style. Larry, on the other hand, made working in the business fun. He left GCC in 1985 and moved to Florida where he and his brother bought a couple of GCC houses and opened their own small chain. I think he’s still in FL but no longer in the theatre business.
Interesting reading! From 1977 thru 1986 I was employed by GCC Theatres (General Cinema) and ran theatres in both the Cleveland/Akron, OH and Boston/Brockton, Mass markets. As a regular vistor to the Home Office, I was surprised at how few people who actually worked there. I think the staff was something less than 150. I was there during the Richard Smith/Paul DelRossi transition. I also was involved with some of the other assets that the company had (worked for a bit with Pepsi in Cleveland) so I got to see how the rest of the company ran.
It was too bad that more focus wasn’t placed on the theatre division. While film exhibition isn’t as profitable as it used to be, I think the company could have done a better job at staying in it and could still be around today.
The Regional VPs and Division Managers all worked in the field, as did film buyers. The buyers, however, didn’t start doing this until around ‘82 or '83. The company also had auditors and other support folks who had offices outside of Chestnut Hill.
I have fond memories of working in the business. The hours were, for sure, long, but the rewards were many. I still see a few of my coworkers and inevitably, the conversation usually turns to the days spent inside those blue and red walled buildings!