The Exeter Street Theatre is a

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

building at the corner of Exeter and

Newbury Street Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entran ...

s, in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

section of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It was built as the First Spiritual Temple, 1884–85, by architects

Hartwell and Richardson Hartwell and Richardson was a Boston, Massachusetts architectural firm established in 1881, by Henry Walker Hartwell (1833–1919) and William Cummings Richardson (1854–1935). The firm contributed significantly to the current building stock and ...

. For seventy years, from 1914 to 1984, it operated as a movie house. It now houses the Kingsley Montessori School.

History

"Wealthy socialite Mrs. arcellus Ayer(Hattie M. Ayer) and her friends" organized the conversion in 1914 of church into cinema;

Clarence Blackall Clarence Howard Blackall (February 3, 1857 – March 5, 1942) was an American architect who is estimated to have designed 300 theatres. Life and career Blackall was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1857. He attended college at the University of Ill ...

designed the renovation.

Jane Holtz Kay Jane Holtz Kay (born Jane Holtz; July 7, 1938, Boston – died November 4, 2012) was an American urban design and architecture critic. A columnist for ''The Nation'', ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The New York Times'', she authored three books on the ...

. "The Last Picture Show at the Exeter." ''Boston Globe'', April 3, 1984 It "could accommodate 900 patrons." Proprietors and overseers included Viola and Florence Berlin, and Neil St. John Raymond. The Working Union of Progressive Spiritualists continued to meet in the building's lower auditorium until 1974, when the congregation relocated to neighboring

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

(and subsequently to

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

, on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

), and they and/or Hattie Ayer sold the theater operation and building. After the theatre closed in 1984 amidst popular cultural anguish and bottom-line real-estate concerns, the building has been deployed for a variety of mostly commercial purposes. It was occupied by

Conran's Habitat (a trading name of Argos Limited), is a brand of household furnishings in the United Kingdom and the main homewares brand within the Sainsbury's group. Founded in 1964 by Sir Terence Conran, it merged with a number of other retailers ...

housewares retailer and

Waterstones Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

booksellers. By 1988 "the Exeter Street Theatre building TGI.html" ;"title="TGI_Fridays.html" ;"title="oused TGI Fridays">TGI">TGI_Fridays.html" ;"title="oused TGI Fridays">TGIFriday's Restaurant and an office complex." Business consultants Idealab leased space in the building from 2000 to 2003. In 2005 it became the Kingsley Montessori School. One of the cinema's electric signs, scrapped in 1985, was acquired by collector Dave Waller.

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...

's short story "The President of the Argentine" mentions the Exeter Street Theatre.

Gregory Mcdonald Gregory Mcdonald (February 15, 1937 – September 7, 2008) was an American mystery writer whose most famous character is the comedy investigative reporter Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher. Two of the Fletch books earned Edgar Awards from the Mys ...

's second book in the Fletch series

Confess, Fletch ''Confess, Fletch'' is a 2022 American crime comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zev Borow. Based on Gregory Mcdonald's 1976 novel of the same name, the film stars Jon Hamm, Lorenza Izzo, Marcia Gay Harde ...

(1976) mentions an

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

Saturday matinee double feature of

The Lavender Hill Mob ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavender Hil ...

and

The Man in the White Suit ''The Man in the White Suit'' is a 1951 British satirical science fiction comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. The film was nominated for an A ...

at the Exeter Street Theatre.

Screenings

1910s

* '' The Foundling''"Mary Pickford Week." ''Moving Picture World'', February 12, 1916 * '' Tess of the Storm Country''

1920s

* ''A Virtuous Vamp''''Boston Globe'', February 10, 1920 * ''Haunting Shadows'' *

Robert Z. Leonard Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 – August 27, 1968) was an American film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to silent star Mae Murray with the two formin ...

's ''Stronger Than Death'' * ''Live Sparks'' * ''Passion Flower''''Boston Globe'', June 7, 1921 * ''Just Out of College'' * ''Sowing the Wind'' * ''

Haunted Spooks ''Haunted Spooks'' is a 1920 American silent Southern Gothic comedy film produced and co-directed by Hal Roach, starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis. Plot The action in ''Haunted Spooks'' centres around Harold's romantic problems. It is se ...

'' * ''Pink Gods''''Boston Globe'', December 12, 1922 * ''The Man Who Saw Tomorrow'' * ''East is West''

1960s

* ''

The Endless Summer ''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterranea ...

1970s

* ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...

1980s

* Lynne Littman's '' Testament'' * ''

The Leopard ''The Leopard'' ( it, Il Gattopardo ) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...

'' * " The Man Who Skied Down Everest"indelible personal memory of contributor