Regent Theatre
440 Hancock Street,
Quincy,
MA
02171
440 Hancock Street,
Quincy,
MA
02171
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: M & P Theaters, Paramount Pictures Inc.
Styles: Colonial Revival
Nearby Theaters
This was a theatre located on Hancock Street in North Quincy’s Norfolk Downs neighborhood. The Regent Theatre was opened on December 14, 1925 with Tom Meighan in “Irish Luck” & Norma Shearer in “Slave of Fashion”. It was closed on December 10, 1950 with Ann Blyth in “Our Very Own” & Joan Caulfield in “The Petty Girl”.
Since demolished, a bank and a dentist’s office now stand on the site.
Contributed by
mb848
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I remember the Regent but never went into it, it was a bit too far out of my way. It was in the Norfolk Downs section of Quincy, on the east side of Hancock Street about halfway between Wollaston center and the North Quincy High School. It may or may not have had a balcony. It was a typical double-feature 2nd-run Nabe. It was included in the MGM 1941 Theatre Photograph and Report project. The data in these Reports is not always accurate! MGM lists the address as 440 Hancock St. They indicate that the Regent is an MGM customer.
They list 800 seats, all on one floor. The photo (mine is a Xerox copy, somewhat washed-out) was apparently taken in May 1941. The entrance was in the center of the brick facade, with a center box-office, and a double door on each side. Movies listed on the marquee are “Western Union” and “High Sierra”. My memory is that the Regent closed sometime in mid- or late-1950s. The building was still there the last time I drove by.
The Regent in Norfolk Downs (Quincy) is listed in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac as being part of M&P Theatres (Mullins & Pinanski), a Paramount affiliate.
“Norfolk Downs” is just a name of a neighborhood, like “Flatbush” is part of Brooklyn. This theater was located in Quincy, MA.
The Regent in the Norfolk Downs section of Quincy is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as being open 7 days per week, although they don’t list the seating capacity. They also show a Norfolk Theatre in that area with 400 seats, open 2 days per week (probably Fri-Sat)– that’s a new one to me, never heard of it before.
Knowing of the errors in the theater lists in the Film Daily yearbooks, I wonder if the Norfolk Theatre was actually in the town of Norfolk MA (near Walpole and Franklin) and not in the Norfolk Downs section of Quincy at all. The town of Norfolk MA is not listed in the 1927 FDY.
dwodeyla says that in the 1934 FDY only the Regent is listed for Norfolk Downs, although there is a notation that it’s “closed”. 800 seats.
There was indeed a Norfolk Theatre in North Quincy. It was located at 17 Billings Road as of 1918.
Upcoming aution photos: http://tinyurl.com/68oezay
In the auction photos of the Regent, there is a shot of the inner foyer which shows a staircase at the end. Since the theater had no balcony, the staircase could have led up to, in addition to the projection booth, perhaps restrooms and lounge ??
The Regent Theatre was at 440 Hancock Street in North Quincy’s Norfolk Downs neighborhood and opened by New England Theatre Corp. (aka NETOCO). Its Colonial style architecture wowed on December 14, 1925 launching with Tom Meighan in “Irish Luck” and Norma Shearer in “Slave of Fashion” supported by a newsreel and comedy short on the big screen.
Per the comment above, the men’s lounge was on that flight of stairs as well as the projection booth. The all reserved seating gave way over time. Late in 1929, NETOCO installed Vitaphone sound on disc to keep the venue viable. In April of 1930, NETOCO was subsumed as Public NETOCO and then Paramount.
In 1948, the Paramount decree was entered into with Paramount unspooling a lot of of its subsidiaries and O&O theater. In 1949, the venue was taken on by American Theatres Corporation (ATC). On January 4, 1950, the venue announced a weekends only policy. It closed permanently on December 10, 1950 at the end of a 25-year leasing term with Ann Blyth in “Our Very Own” and Joan Caulfield in “Petty Girl.”
In 1953, the Seymour Stadfeld law group acquired the venue with plans to reshape it. The venue reopened as a bank and a local public library branch.