Morton Theatre
1165 Blue Hill Avenue,
Dorchester,
MA
02124
1165 Blue Hill Avenue,
Dorchester,
MA
02124
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: M & P Theaters
Architects: Louis Chiaramonte
Styles: Neo-Classical
Nearby Theaters
Another of the many theatres operated by Boston movie pioneer Jacob Lourie and his partners, including Sam Pinanski (later to head ATC Theatres). Opened in 1920s and demolished in around 1980. One of the more outstanding of the many movie theatres in the Mattapan, Roxbury, Dorchester area. See Oriental Theatre in Boston (Mattapan) as well.
Contributed by
John Toto
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Hi Everyone,
The site is just great and you’re all doing a nice job…Thankyou!
The Boston Police Dept. has a station at that site/location now.
(Area B) District 3 Mattapan-Dorchester
The address; 1165 Blue Hill Ave. Dorchester (Mattapan) Massachusetts.
The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Morton Theatre lists the address as 1161 Blue Hill Avenue. Someone had typed in “Mattapan” and then crossed it out and typed “Dorchester”. The facade photo was taken in May 1941. The marquee had white lettes on a black background with a big vertical sign above. The photo quality is too poor to make out the movie titles. The Report states that the Morton has been a MGM customer for over 10 years, that it is in Good condition; and that it has 1308 seats on the main floor and 656 seats in the balcony, total: 1964 seats. During the 1960s I drove by the Morton Theatre often while en route to Army Reserve meetings in Roslindale. I seem to recall that the rear and side walls were of light-gray concrete or stucco finish, like the Oriental in Mattapan Square.
I am very anxious to get a picture of the Morton Theatre for geneology project I am working on. Does anyone know where to locate a photo?
marysparklie- if you haven’t located a photo of the Morton yet, go to the website for the Theatre Historical Society, www.historictheatres.org, and find their e-mail address. Tell them you want to buy a copy of the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Morton Theatre, Dorchester MA, taken in May 1941. They may have other photos of the Morton, as well. But they are expensive; they charge over $50 for a photo !
The Morton is on the left in this 1941 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2boat7
Mattapan was carved out of the town of Dorchester, so there are no hard boundary lines, but Morton street was long considered the ‘border’ between Dorchester and Mattapan in that area. So that would put the theatre just inside Dorchester, but I doubt people thought of it that way – you could call it either one depending on your mood.
The Fields Corner, Strand, Franklin Park, Codman Square, Oriental, the Morton were all pretty similiar in style. The major difference wass in capacity size. No more than about 100-200 seats. They all ended up a ATC/net theatres along with theatres in Quincy and a summer only theatre in Hull and several other suburbab towns. Does anyone have any info on the old E.M. Lowes Eggleston in Eggleston Square. The DEot theatre was also E.M. Lowes theatres and they were all dumpsw. No Maintenancs and 2nd-3rd run including the Pub;ix in downtown Boston.
dickneeds111- There is an “Egleston” Theatre, with one “g”, listed here in Cinema Treasure; theater # 18829, in Egleston Square, Jamaica Plain.
I got a chance recently to look at a very nice set of b&W photos which purport to be of the Morton. The exterior shot is definitley the Morton, so I feel confident that the interior shots are, as well. It had a spacious, high-ceilinged auditorium in a classical design, with chandeliers. There was no balcony, but a raised, stadium-style rear section. 4 aisles. Elegant foyer and passageways. A very nice, classy theater.
Louis Chiaramonte was responsible for the major renovation in 1959 changing the interior and exterior look of the Morton Theatre.