Kent Cinemas
495 Main Street,
East Greenwich,
RI
02818
495 Main Street,
East Greenwich,
RI
02818
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Kent Theatre
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The Kent Theatre began its life after World War II when the building that housed a USO recreational facilty was converted into a theatre. Along with the Greenwich Theatre further down Main Street, it played recent American releases. The main auditorium was eventually twinned, with a separate third cinema on the right side of the lobby also being added and it was renamed Kent Cinemas
The theatre could not compete for product with the opening of the nearby multiplex, the Showcase Warwick Cinemas, in the 1980’s and it was forced to shut down later in the decade. The theatre was razed in the early-1990’s.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
The theatre also used to program occasional foreign films in the smallest of the three cinemas. Imports were otherwise rarely screened in the area.
I grew up in Rhode Island and spent many afternoons at the Kent. It was a single cinema and at some point became a triplex and I was sad when it closed after the Showcase closed.
I remember as a kid when they must have revived “Around the World in 80 Days” and seeing it at the Kent. However, there was a car accident that knocked down a telephone pole and the power went out. The theatre went dark half-way through the movie and we had to go back the next day to see the film again.
Like the Greenwich, a few blocks away on Main Street, thank the Showcase Cinemas for the demise of this theatre. I think the last film I caught here was FLASHDANCE. I also remember seeing THE PRINCE OF THE CITY here as well as during college, the summer of ‘70, to catch THE DEER HUNTER here.
The Kent was demolished in 1995. The site is now a Centreville Bank with front parking area.
I caught a second-run showing here in July of 1982 of Francesco Rosi’s lyrical Three Brothers. At this point they were showing the occasional well-reviewed or well-performing foreign films on the smallest of their screens. The Swedish My Life as a Dog ran here also. And I just found a news blurb about a free screening in December, 1981 of François Truffaut’s 1958 The 400 Blows, part of the Kent County Mental Health Center’s series on Cinema and Mental Health: Exploring Emotional Crisis Through Film. These occasional showings of foreign-language films (there were a few others) were probably the only ones ever in the town of East Greenwich. East Greenwich currently has no movie theatres. The Showcase Warwick Cinemas effectively ended that.
The 1949 Film Daily Yearbook listed the seating capacity as 800.
My father showed the movies in cinema 2 from the early 70s until Kent closed. Sometimes I would go with him and sit up in the projection booth with him so I could watch the movies for free!! I was only a kid then, so I thought it was the greatest thing. Was cool how he worked the projectors because movies were on reels back then. He had to get the second one ready before the first one ran out, and not miss a beat in the movies. One time, the second reel didn’t start correctly, so there was about a 5 minute break in the movie until he got it going. I don’t remember what the movie was, though. I do remember seeing a Rocky and Star Wars double feature at the Hilltop Drive-In a couple of miles further down Post Road. I may live in Florida now, and my parents live in Tennessee, but we all have fond memories of little ol' RI!!
In the summer of 1970 the single-screen Kent was triplexed. Its main auditorium was split in two resulting in one cinema in the front, one in the rear. A third smaller cinema was added on the right side of the building.
Breaking news from the Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle, dated 9/18/63:
http://tinyurl.com/o3oa5r
The Kent Theatre opened to the public on December 17, 1947 with “State Fair” and “Behind Green Lights.” See announcement and opening day ads in the photo section.