New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Here is the second installment of the “New Bedford’s Forgotten Theaters” series. In the inaugural article we covered the series introduction and Allen’s Theater on Acushnet Avenue the street that was simply jam packed with theaters. What made the Avenue financially strong was its showcase-style layout. One didn’t need to go down the side streets to any depth since all the businesses were along the length of the “strip.”
If this wasn’t the case and the theaters that were spread out along the length of Acushnet Avenue were placed in a smaller area, it would have been dubbed a Theater District. There are records of no less than 25 theaters throughout the city’s rich theatrical history going back 1824 with Cole’s Tavern.
Capitol Theatre
Built/Opened: Nov. 29, 1920
Location: 1418 Acushnet Avenue
Seating Capacity: 1,000-1,200
Demolished:
The Capitol Theatre opened in the “heyday” of cinema in 1920. At this period in theater history Vaudeville – the style that launched greats like George Burns, Buster Keaton, The Marx Brothers, Judy Garland, Jack Benny, etc. – was incredibly popular, but beginning to wane. With the advent of radio and television, the industry’s best started to jump ship. As the Great Depression approached and people tightened their purses and wallets, they went out on the town less.
After World War II, plays put theater into a revival that lasted a few decades. Playwrights like Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie), Eugene O’Neill (Long Day’s Night), Edward Albee (Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?) and Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) changed the landscape of of theatrical entertainment and the Capitol Theatre thrived.
The standard at the Capitol Theatre through the 1950s and 1960s would be to showcase two back-to-back movies (often Spaghetti Westerns) and five Looney Tunes cartoons making it extremely popular with the neighborhood youth. Admission was a whopping 12 cents on Saturday and a whole quarter on Sundays. Today it is $8.50 for a ticket to the movies. To further lend perspective, popcorn was 10 cents – today it averages $5! Yeah, yeah…”When I was your age I walked 5 miles in the snow to get to Kindergarten class, whippersnapper!”
At some point there was a fire at the Capitol Theatre. I had some trouble confirming the date and the extent of the damage – in spite of the fact that images of the fire exist. Perhaps a more knowledgeable reader could fill in this void!
What are your memories of Capitol Theatre? What shows did you see there?
Photo Guide
1. Capitol Theatre in the 1950s (Spinner Publications)
2. Unknown date of fire at Capitol Theater (Spinner Publications)
3. “Capitol Theatre” today
I grew up in the North End near the Capitol so that was the only cinema I ever went to after the Rialto at Weld Square was torn down by the highway.
My brothers and I went every Saturday for the double feature plus cartoons starting at 1 pm. We saw everything that played, from kids’ movies to westerns to romances to horror (they were my favorite). That’s why I can still watch them today; nothing was scarier than “The Tingler” with Vincent Price. We bought penny candy at the candy store next door and the cheap popcorn, not the expensive one with real butter. We used to make paper glasses for our eyes out of the box, which I bet I can still make today if you gave me that kind of box. When I was in the 8th grade, the time to go to the movies was Sunday afternoon with the rest of the teenagers. By then the admission price was 25 cents. At one point we lived next door to the Capitol and I remember hearing the soundtrack of A Hard Day’s Night a million times when it was the main feature. Also the T.A.M.I. Show with the Rolling Stones. I don’t ever remember going there at night. Perhaps I just outgrew it by the time I could or I started to go downtown. The Capitol gave me an inexpensive introduction to films and a great foundation for my love of movies which I still have today, more than 50 years later.
I went to see Jaws and Earthquake there at the Capitol when they came out in the 70’s . We lived down on Bullard St.
Spent many Saturday afternoons at the Capital in the 50’s.
This is the theatre I went to as a child in the 50’s. At that time, the cost to get in was 12 cents. Saw my first 3D movie there. Lots of memories.
I went there many times, seeing everything from james bond movies to Fellini’s “Amacord” to watching Rudy Valli playing there live! Not to mention an occasional kung fu movie!
The movies on the marquee may hold a clue of when the fire occurred. They were Sophia Loren in “The Black Orchid” which came out in September of 1958 and “The Hanging Tree” which was released in February 1959.
On Saturday, there were racing movies. You were given numbered tickets. If your car won, you received prizes. There were also continuing serials that you could “follow” each week.
I realize this is an old post, but I just came across it. I was raised on Tinkham St. till I was 12, then moved to E.Freetown. My memories of the Capitol theatre are many. I went to St. Killians school,(no longer there), on the corner of Earle & Ashley Blvd. We use to go to the Capitol on weekends, back then 47 thru 50, we would get cartoons, newsreel, coming attractions, and TWO full-length movies!! All for 10 cents on Saturdays and 12 cents on Sundays. And the full-length movies were all current and popular movies of the day…The Dolly Sisters with Betty Grable and June Haver, all the war movies made about WW2, my favorite, Frankenstein !! Met my first boyfriend there, I still remember his name, Donald Beaulieu, haha! I was 10, we would be kissing all through the movies, lol!!. I am now 81 and live in West Virginia, I try to go home at least once a year and get so upset at the sight of my hometown. I remember Arlans on Deane St, my sister worked there for a lot of years out of high school, in the office. I worked at Hemingway Trucking, where Stop & Shop is now on Dartmouth, in the mid-’50s. Also at Sowle The Florist on Ashley Blve in 1989 for 7 yrs. There are so many things I miss, especially the Chinese, restaurants, can’t get chow mein in the rest of the country as you do at home!! Fried clams and linguica also, haha!!
WOW.. you just brought back so many memories. My Mom worked at Arlans as well as Hemingway Trucking, in Accounting. Janine Paulino.
The first movie I was ever allowed to go to alone with my friends was “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” at the Capital Theater. It wasn’t new when I saw it.. probably played again in the early 70s and I was about 10 years old. My grandparents lived on Tallman Street… so my friends and I walked to the theatre from there. Most of us went to St. Anthony School. I smile every time I think of feeling so grown up getting our popcorn and sitting with no adults. ?❤️
Saw the scary movie Dr. Sardonicous and a live concert by Canned Heat.