Brattle Theatre facts for kids
Brattle Hall. The theatre entrance is at the bottom of the stairs on the left
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| Address | 40 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138 USA |
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| Owner | Brattle Film Foundation |
| Type | Movie theater |
| Opened | 1953 |
The Brattle Theatre is a special movie theater found inside Brattle Hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's located near Harvard Square at 40 Brattle Street. This theater is a small place with just one screen. It's also one of the few movie theaters that uses a unique rear-projection system. This means the movie projector is behind the screen, not behind the audience!
The Brattle Theatre mostly shows a mix of movies from other countries, independent films, and old classic movies. It started showing these types of films in February 1953. Even though many small, independent movie theaters have closed, the Brattle has kept its dedicated fans and still runs on its own.
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The Brattle Theatre's History
The Brattle Theatre's story began with the Cambridge Social Union. This group was started in January 1871 by Reverend Samuel Longfellow, who was the brother of the famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1889, the union bought the land for $9,000. They hired a local architecture firm to design Brattle Hall.
Opening and Early Shows
The grand opening of Brattle Hall happened on January 27, 1890. Many local and traveling theater groups used the hall. It also hosted a ballet school, lectures, and even police exercise classes. Sometimes, the theater had disagreements with the city. For example, in 1928, the city tried to stop a play called Fiesta, which was a political drama. But they couldn't close the show. In 1942, the famous African-American actor Paul Robeson performed in Othello at the Brattle. This helped the theater become known as a place that supported new ideas.
A New Theater Company
In 1948, a group of World War II veterans who were studying at Harvard started the Brattle Theatre Company. This company put on classic and modern serious plays. They had a group of actors and directors. Some famous people who started their careers here include Jerome Kilty and Hermione Gingold. The actor Zero Mostel, who faced difficulties because of his political beliefs, performed his first national stage role here in a play called The Imaginary Invalid.
Becoming an Art House Cinema
In the 1950s, Cyrus Harvey Jr. and Bryant Haliday, both Harvard graduates, turned the Brattle into one of the first art house movie theaters. They brought back old American classic films and showed new foreign films. Many of these foreign films became famous, like those by Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, and François Truffaut. Harvey and Haliday later used their ideas from the Brattle to create Janus Films. This company bought and shared movies from around the world, influencing how companies like The Criterion Collection work today.
The "Bogie Cult" Tradition
Starting in the late 1950s, the Brattle began a fun tradition. They would show Humphrey Bogart films during the week of final exams at Harvard University. Movies like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon were watched again and again. This led to the creation of the "Bogie Cult" at the Brattle. It was common for fans to come dressed up as characters and say the movie lines along with the actors. Even today, many people still come to see a Bogart film, especially the traditional Valentine's Day showing of Casablanca.
The Brattle Theatre Today
Today, the Brattle is run by the Brattle Film Foundation as a non-profit organization. It is the only independent movie theater still operating in Cambridge. The Brattle continues to show a wide variety of foreign films, art house movies, and popular new films. They also have ongoing events like the Schlock Around the Clock series, the Bugs Bunny Film Festival, and an Oscar Party.
In October 2005, the Brattle announced its biggest fundraising effort in its history. The goal was to raise $500,000 over two years to help pay for past rent and improve its community programs. On February 16, 2008, the Brattle Theatre celebrated its 55th anniversary as a movie theater in Harvard Square. In early 2013, the Brattle Theatre successfully raised money through a Kickstarter campaign. This money helped them get a new digital projection system and upgrade their heating and cooling system. In 2024, the Brattle Theatre celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Million Year Picnic. They showed a documentary film about New England's oldest comic book store for the first time in Boston.
See also
