Waterford Cinema

The Waterford Theatre was located in the Waterford Shopping Center that was conceptualized in 1970 coming online in 1971 anchored by a Stop ’n’ Shop and a Barker’s discount store. Also on board was a United General (UG) Theatres, this one operated by franchisee Louis Goldberg. The mini-theatre seated 216 patrons and was created during the suburban luxury theater era in which movie theaters were being built often near or in in strip shopping centers and malls outside of central business districts to take advantage of population shifts and free parking close to the theatre’s front doors.

The UG concept was virtually identical to that of the Jerry Lewis Cinemas concept by Network Cinemas. Run advertisements in newspapers around the country looking for people to buy franchises of automated, turnkey projection equipment and one button would be punched followed by profits from the movie industry. Without Lewis, UG relied on veteran movie stars Agnes Morehead, Glenn Ford, and Debbie Reynolds for endorsements. You got even less with UG’s franchise than Lewis’. For the $15,000 franchise fee, you got lower-priced 16mm film projectors which, in turn, limited feature film selection as not all first-run films were distributed in that format.

At the grand opening on October 28, 1971, Ann Blyth was the star trotted out to welcome cinema patrons to the UG’s new Waterford Theatre. The opening film was Burt Lancaster in “Airport". A congratulatory note appeared from Joseph Kosseff who, along with Joseph Warshauer, operated the UG circuit. The theatre was the first of 30 purported New England UG locations. In California, one opened in Southern California - the first of 20 purported locations. Few were forthcoming.

Despite 200 inked deals across the county, just 20 theaters reportedly opened as UG-branded venues and 69 others were in various states of construction when the fraud was exposed. Disgruntled investors filed lawsuits against the competing Network Cinema / Jerry Lewis in 1972 leading to its bankruptcy filing in March of 1973. Another group of lawsuits hit United General concurrently with UG’s bankruptcy filing just a month later in April of 1973. And, unofficially, the Waterford held the “United General” moniker the longest not removing it until May 22, 1973.

In 1975, the only welcome letter from UG CEO Joseph Kosseff would have to come from the pokey as Kosseff received a five-year prison term for his part of the UG scheme. The venue would be renamed as the Waterford Cinema and it would continue to April 2, 1983 closing with The Rolling Stones in “Let’s Spend the Night Together".

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