Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

The beautification of lower Broadway in East Somerville is … beautiful. I passed by the old Broadway Theater building and started thinking about its history. The following is reprinted from The East Somerville Main Streets webpage. “…it used to be a magnificent theater which at one time was a great attraction for East Somerville. It was built in 1915 as part of an elaborate stock scheme but went bankrupt and was quickly sold to Arthur Viano in 1929. The Viano family ran the theater, which sat 1040 people, for the next fifty years until they closed its doors in 1982.”

Flat top Ice cream cones, cheap matinees, popcorn and a drink for 25 cents on a Saturday afternoon. A young couple sneaking a kiss in the balcony. A little girl’s first movie with her dad to see The Lady and The Tramp in 1955. These are some of the memories shared by the people who attended The Broadway Theater in its heyday.

We never said, “We’re going to the movie theater!” We said, “We’re going to the show.” Or simply “The movies.” It was the place to go on a Saturday. A lot of kids also had jobs at the Broadway Theater cleaning up after a movie, selling tickets, or working the concessions stand. Someone recalls a boss nicknamed “Joe the Show.” Do you remember playing a game called “Banko” in between movies?

Don shares this gem: “I remember Monsignor Hogan telling us at church we couldn’t see this movie or that movie because it wasn’t good for us. Later after Mass it seemed like all the kids from church went to the forbidden movie just to see why we shouldn’t go. It was a great place to have 25c for the movies and candy, and on Saturday you could stay there all afternoon watching several movies and cartoons. Once in a while Major Mudd would come out.” Major Mudd had a kids show on Boston TV. I bet there are still some of those free dishes around your house that they gave away each week at the theater.

Rick recalls: “Hells Angels on Wheels, 1967, with Jack Nicholson. I wasn’t supposed to see it but I snuck in and never got caught! The 1930’s Batman serial ran there too.”

Jody tells us: “One of the ice creams was called Tabbies.” Another memory: “I saw A Hard Day’s Night (1964) there and I remember paying for it with a fairly new Franklin half dollar piece that I wanted to save, but the Beatles were worth it!”

Here are some of the movies some former Broadway Theater patrons remember seeing: Godzilla, 1954, The Blob, 1958, The Pirates of Blood River, 1962, The Cardinal, 1963, Beach Blanket Bingo, 1964, Wait Until Dark, 1967, Bonnie and Clyde, 1967, The Love Bug, 1968, Love Story, 1970, The Excorcist, 1973, The Towering Inferno, 1974, Jaws, 1975, Rocky, 1976, Carrie, 1976, Saturday Night Fever, 1977, Smoky and the Bandit, 1977, Clash of The Titans, 1978, and Grease in 1978.

Shirley: “I remember going there to see Blazing Saddles (1974) and The Groove Tube, also ‘74. It cost 32 cents for the matinee. I remember the large man who always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the guy who looked like Alan Funt (Candid Camera) with a cigar, who worked there (Joe the Show?).”

An unknown patrons says, “Near the time it was closing they started playing questionable movies. It was a double feature of The Van and The Pom Pom Girls.”

It’s hard to drive by the site of the old Broadway Theater and not be bombarded with those marvelous old movie memories. Saturdays were sure special when you got to spend the afternoon with the smell of fresh popped popcorn, a wide variety of candy, and throngs of your excited friends waiting for the coming attractions. We loved the cartoon of the singing, dancing refreshments advertising the concession stand. “Let’s all go to the lobby…”

Many present and past Somerville people have great stories to share about the enjoyable times spent at The Broadway Theater. Another past patron recalls walking outside after spending an afternoon in the theater and having to shield her eyes from the blinding sun. Remember that? I do.