Hardbop, you are referring to the Avon, which is doing well as far as I can tell. It is owned by Ken Dulgarian who owns the entire business block, not to mention other holdings throughout Providence’s East Side and elsewhere. The Avon has a large faithful core audience for the first-run art and independent films it programs and attracts an enormous number of students from nearby Brown University. There are four movie theatres open in Providence. Three of them are single screen: Avon, Cable Car, and the part-time multi-use Columbus. The other is the Providence Place Mall 16 Cinemas. When the Dulgarian-owned College Hill Bookstore closed a few months back, there was fear that the Avon would be next. But it seems to occupy an important niche and generates enormous prestige. Mr. Dulgarian is not likely to give that up. Too bad they don’t consider adding additional screens for versatility (not by carving up the current auditorium) but by building a second level over adjacent shops.
Yes, it has funk coming out the wazoo. What it needs is better projection. I have never seen, in the nearly 30 years I’ve been going there, a film begin in frame and in focus. They start the picture, then spend 5-10 seconds to straighten it out. I know the theatre very well because, as I pointed out above, I used to rent the place for showings of Italian films over a period of 16 years. Last week I got asked by manager/owner Eric Bilodeau about some film and whether I recommended that he show it. (The six-hour Italian “The Best of Youth.” I said yes.) I told him that I had seen “The Chorus” there, a CinemaScope ratio film. It was projected with the right and left side substantially cut off, as is their custom with anamorphic films. I’ve been trying to get them to outfit the theatre with correct lenses, aperture plates, screen to accomodate the various aspect ratios.
His response was “CinemaScope, Schminascope.” He doesn’t care, won’t invest money in that. In all fairness, they do get some nice films here, often move-overs from the Avon but also first-run art house and independent films and they do some nice festivals in conjunction with Brown University and others. Brown uses the Cable Car because, shamefully, they have no 35mm capability or permanent facility! (Harvard has the fabulous state-of-the-art facility at Carpenter Center.)
There was a complete Todd Haynes retrospective a while ago, with the director, a Brown University graduate, on hand. (“I love the Cable Car Cinema,” he said.) But aspect ratio they don’t get or care about. Years ago director Lindsay Anderson visited the theatre to speak and show some of his early short films which were in old Academy ratio. He was appalled when they couldn’t show them properly.
No, the theatre survived…or else was damaged and rebuilt. I remember seeing it in the late 1940s or early 1950s when I went with my parents to Oakland Beach. That’s why I filed away a distinct memory of it and exactly where it was located. I seem to remember newspaper ads too for their programs during that period. Whether the place was gone or not by Hurricane Carol in 1954, I cannot say. But I saw the theatre’s exterior, and I was not yet born in 1938.
I went to a good number of very pleasant single-screen theatres in San Antonio in the latter half of 1966 when I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base. I know I went to the Laurel a couple of times. I can’t remember what I saw, but “The Moment of Truth” is one possibility, and “The Bible” is another. I can’t be sure.
Here is a photo of the Cinema Augusteo which I took in the summer of 1989. I believe I was more interested in getting a shot of the flower shop bearing my name than in capturing the cinema. The theatre was probably closed for the summer as most movie theatres were and, to a great extent, still are. Italians prefer open air cinemas during the summer, and a number of Italian cinemas, in addition to an indoor auditorium, have an open-air space for the warmer months with separate seating and a separate screen.
TWO PHOTOS HERE! Here is an exterior shot I took of the Pavone in 1971 when taking courses at the Università per Stranieri. To the left is the office of the local Italian Communist Party. To the right is an anti-communist graffito on the wall. It says “Prague teaches us, you red murderers!” It’s a reference, of course, to the Soviet crackdown on the liberal movement in Czechoslovakia. This second picture is a web shot of the interior. As you can see, it’s quite a beautiful theatre. I saw a movie here in August of 1971 called “Una città chiamata bastarda” which is the western “A Town Called Hell,” with Telly Savalas, Robert Shaw, and Stella Stevens. Movies from abroad that are shown in Italy are universally dubbed into Italian. In the bigger cities there has been a movement in recent years to show some movies, especially American and French ones, in their original languages on certain days, sometimes with, sometimes without subtitles. This is not motivated by purism but by the opportunity to add to the boxoffice receipts because there is a large number of Anglophones and Francophones in Rome and other big cities who would go enjoy the oportunity to see films spoken in their own languages.
Do you know exactly when it closed? I know it opened as the Art in 1958 because I went to the first film under that policy, “Gervaise.” How about when the theatre first opened as the Liberty? World War I era, I would guess.
I wonder if Lyric and Central were successive names for the same theatre. The recorded addresses for both are Broad Street, a very short street, I believe.
I wonder if Lyric and Central were successive names for the same theatre. The recorded addresses for both are Broad Street, a very short street, I believe.
Here is a link to the CT page for the Lyric Theatre, about a block from the Capitol. More precise information on both these Warren theatres and their histories would be appreciated.
The former theatre, no longer an antique store, is now a retail outlet called Lyric Twist. It has been given a new exterior look and specializes in china, giftware, children’s items, and other stuff. Here is a photo. The Lyric was located about a block from the Capitol Theatre on Market Street and replaced it as the sole town movie theatre by the time the sound era rolled in. More precise and detailed information on this and the Capitol Theatre of Warren would be appreciated.
I happened to visit this theatre once when touring Ottawa in August of 1983. That’s why I decided to post it. I went to see Eric Rohmer’s “Pauline at the Beach.” Sorry to hear the place is gone, but this is not a new story.
Here is a photo of the former Cercle Jacques Cartier which used to house the Capitol Theatre on the second floor many decades ago. The building is now owned by 2nd Story Theatre.
This photo shows Ingmar Bergman (right) with other officials at the opening of the Smultronstället Cinema. I’m guessing it was in the late 60s or early 70s. The film “Hets” on the poster was a 1944 film that was directed by Alf Sjöberg and written by Bergman. It played the U.S. as “Torment.”
Other cinemas I thought of that were named after movies are Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) in Stockholm, named after the Ingmar Bergman movie, and Cinema Paradiso in Fort Lauderdale, named after the Italian movie or else the theatre portrayed in it.
Nice to read about a cinema named after a great movie classic, in this case Jean Renoir’s 1937 masterpiece. There is a cinema in Paris called Accattone in honor of the Pasolini film. Is there a “Citizen Kane Cinema” somewhere, a “Psycho Theatre” or a “Ben Hur Multiplex”? I think it’s a wonderful idea. Anyone know of others?
I visited the drive-in and took these four photos. The address of the Ponta del Gada is 70 Shove Street, which is at the corner of Walnut Street. It is a block away from the center of North Tiverton, a neighborhood in the town of Tiverton. North Tiverton’s main street is Main Street, which is also Route 138. The drive-in, in its heyday, must have attracted lots of filmgoers from the Tiverton/Fall River area. The screen is no longer there, only the projection/concession building and the entry sign and marquee. Photo of entrance marquee Marquee and concession and projection booth Projection booth exterior Projection booth interior
Hardbop, you are referring to the Avon, which is doing well as far as I can tell. It is owned by Ken Dulgarian who owns the entire business block, not to mention other holdings throughout Providence’s East Side and elsewhere. The Avon has a large faithful core audience for the first-run art and independent films it programs and attracts an enormous number of students from nearby Brown University. There are four movie theatres open in Providence. Three of them are single screen: Avon, Cable Car, and the part-time multi-use Columbus. The other is the Providence Place Mall 16 Cinemas. When the Dulgarian-owned College Hill Bookstore closed a few months back, there was fear that the Avon would be next. But it seems to occupy an important niche and generates enormous prestige. Mr. Dulgarian is not likely to give that up. Too bad they don’t consider adding additional screens for versatility (not by carving up the current auditorium) but by building a second level over adjacent shops.
Hardbop, yes, still there, vacant, but a real unique eye-opener.
Hardbop, www.drive-ins.com says it closed in 1968 with the construction of Route 295.
Yes, it has funk coming out the wazoo. What it needs is better projection. I have never seen, in the nearly 30 years I’ve been going there, a film begin in frame and in focus. They start the picture, then spend 5-10 seconds to straighten it out. I know the theatre very well because, as I pointed out above, I used to rent the place for showings of Italian films over a period of 16 years. Last week I got asked by manager/owner Eric Bilodeau about some film and whether I recommended that he show it. (The six-hour Italian “The Best of Youth.” I said yes.) I told him that I had seen “The Chorus” there, a CinemaScope ratio film. It was projected with the right and left side substantially cut off, as is their custom with anamorphic films. I’ve been trying to get them to outfit the theatre with correct lenses, aperture plates, screen to accomodate the various aspect ratios.
His response was “CinemaScope, Schminascope.” He doesn’t care, won’t invest money in that. In all fairness, they do get some nice films here, often move-overs from the Avon but also first-run art house and independent films and they do some nice festivals in conjunction with Brown University and others. Brown uses the Cable Car because, shamefully, they have no 35mm capability or permanent facility! (Harvard has the fabulous state-of-the-art facility at Carpenter Center.)
There was a complete Todd Haynes retrospective a while ago, with the director, a Brown University graduate, on hand. (“I love the Cable Car Cinema,” he said.) But aspect ratio they don’t get or care about. Years ago director Lindsay Anderson visited the theatre to speak and show some of his early short films which were in old Academy ratio. He was appalled when they couldn’t show them properly.
The bulk of their profits comes from the café, which is open all day and draws RISD students as faithful customers all the time. Bagels, roll-up sandwiches, espresso: yes, they care. Projection: they don’t care. So frustrating. I will only see movies here if I can’t see them anywhere else. And they don’t have matinée prices or senior discounts. And I can get into the Avon, with its better projection, for free.
No, the theatre survived…or else was damaged and rebuilt. I remember seeing it in the late 1940s or early 1950s when I went with my parents to Oakland Beach. That’s why I filed away a distinct memory of it and exactly where it was located. I seem to remember newspaper ads too for their programs during that period. Whether the place was gone or not by Hurricane Carol in 1954, I cannot say. But I saw the theatre’s exterior, and I was not yet born in 1938.
I went to a good number of very pleasant single-screen theatres in San Antonio in the latter half of 1966 when I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base. I know I went to the Laurel a couple of times. I can’t remember what I saw, but “The Moment of Truth” is one possibility, and “The Bible” is another. I can’t be sure.
Here is a photo of the Cinema Augusteo which I took in the summer of 1989. I believe I was more interested in getting a shot of the flower shop bearing my name than in capturing the cinema. The theatre was probably closed for the summer as most movie theatres were and, to a great extent, still are. Italians prefer open air cinemas during the summer, and a number of Italian cinemas, in addition to an indoor auditorium, have an open-air space for the warmer months with separate seating and a separate screen.
TWO PHOTOS HERE! Here is an exterior shot I took of the Pavone in 1971 when taking courses at the Università per Stranieri. To the left is the office of the local Italian Communist Party. To the right is an anti-communist graffito on the wall. It says “Prague teaches us, you red murderers!” It’s a reference, of course, to the Soviet crackdown on the liberal movement in Czechoslovakia. This second picture is a web shot of the interior. As you can see, it’s quite a beautiful theatre. I saw a movie here in August of 1971 called “Una città chiamata bastarda” which is the western “A Town Called Hell,” with Telly Savalas, Robert Shaw, and Stella Stevens. Movies from abroad that are shown in Italy are universally dubbed into Italian. In the bigger cities there has been a movement in recent years to show some movies, especially American and French ones, in their original languages on certain days, sometimes with, sometimes without subtitles. This is not motivated by purism but by the opportunity to add to the boxoffice receipts because there is a large number of Anglophones and Francophones in Rome and other big cities who would go enjoy the oportunity to see films spoken in their own languages.
Both those photos are of the interior and identical.
Do you know exactly when it closed? I know it opened as the Art in 1958 because I went to the first film under that policy, “Gervaise.” How about when the theatre first opened as the Liberty? World War I era, I would guess.
I wonder if Lyric and Central were successive names for the same theatre. The recorded addresses for both are Broad Street, a very short street, I believe.
I wonder if Lyric and Central were successive names for the same theatre. The recorded addresses for both are Broad Street, a very short street, I believe.
Finally. Hallelujah!
Here is a link to the CT page for the Lyric Theatre, about a block from the Capitol. More precise information on both these Warren theatres and their histories would be appreciated.
The former theatre, no longer an antique store, is now a retail outlet called Lyric Twist. It has been given a new exterior look and specializes in china, giftware, children’s items, and other stuff. Here is a photo. The Lyric was located about a block from the Capitol Theatre on Market Street and replaced it as the sole town movie theatre by the time the sound era rolled in. More precise and detailed information on this and the Capitol Theatre of Warren would be appreciated.
I happened to visit this theatre once when touring Ottawa in August of 1983. That’s why I decided to post it. I went to see Eric Rohmer’s “Pauline at the Beach.” Sorry to hear the place is gone, but this is not a new story.
Funny, but I too saw “Desperate Characters” there in December of 1970, according to my film-viewing log.
Here is a photo of the former Cercle Jacques Cartier which used to house the Capitol Theatre on the second floor many decades ago. The building is now owned by 2nd Story Theatre.
This photo shows Ingmar Bergman (right) with other officials at the opening of the Smultronstället Cinema. I’m guessing it was in the late 60s or early 70s. The film “Hets” on the poster was a 1944 film that was directed by Alf Sjöberg and written by Bergman. It played the U.S. as “Torment.”
Other cinemas I thought of that were named after movies are Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) in Stockholm, named after the Ingmar Bergman movie, and Cinema Paradiso in Fort Lauderdale, named after the Italian movie or else the theatre portrayed in it.
Here’s an excellent article with photos on the cinema, published in The Seattle Times.
Nice to read about a cinema named after a great movie classic, in this case Jean Renoir’s 1937 masterpiece. There is a cinema in Paris called Accattone in honor of the Pasolini film. Is there a “Citizen Kane Cinema” somewhere, a “Psycho Theatre” or a “Ben Hur Multiplex”? I think it’s a wonderful idea. Anyone know of others?
Here is a photo of the auditorium exterior. For a time the theatre was a bowling alley.
I visited the drive-in and took these four photos. The address of the Ponta del Gada is 70 Shove Street, which is at the corner of Walnut Street. It is a block away from the center of North Tiverton, a neighborhood in the town of Tiverton. North Tiverton’s main street is Main Street, which is also Route 138. The drive-in, in its heyday, must have attracted lots of filmgoers from the Tiverton/Fall River area. The screen is no longer there, only the projection/concession building and the entry sign and marquee.
Photo of entrance marquee
Marquee and concession and projection booth
Projection booth exterior
Projection booth interior
Hardbop, you must be thinking of the Boro Drive-In in North Attleboro on Route 1.