Type Non-profit Opened 30 December 1933 | Current use In Operation Phone +1 617-734-2501 | |
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Operator Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation Address 290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446, USA Similar Brattle Theatre, Roslindale Village, Central Square - Cambridge, Regal Fenway Stadium, Harvard Square Profiles | ||
The coolidge corner theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre is an independent cinema in the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts specializing in international, documentary, animated, and independent film selections and series.
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Coolidge corner theatre
History
Coolidge Corner Theatre was originally built as a Universalist church in 1906 and was redesigned as an Art Deco movie palace in 1933 as the community's first movie theatre. The theatre opened on December 30, 1933 with its first film being a Disney short film. Originally the theatre only had one screen but was later divided into two and then four.
In the 1980s, owner and operator Justin Freed thought that he could no longer compete with rising video sales and competition from other art houses. In 1986, the theatre was sold to a developer due to financial trouble and planned to be torn down or converted to commercial business. Harold Brown, a Boston real estate magnate living in Brookline, bought the whole building and leased the theatre to the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation in November 1989 for 99 years.
Coolidge Award
The Coolidge Award annually recognizes a film artist who “advances the spirit of original and challenging cinema.’’ Among recipients of this venue's annual Coolidge Award are Vittorio Storaro (2005), Meryl Streep (2006), Jonathan Demme (2010), and Viggo Mortensen (2012).