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The Boyd Theatre was a 1920s era movie palace in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It operated as a movie theater for 74 years, operating under the name Sameric as part of the United Artists theater chain, before closing in 2002. The theater was the last of its kind in downtown Philadelphia, a remnant of an era of theaters and movie palaces that stretched along Market and Chestnut Streets. The Boyd's auditorium was demolished in the Spring of 2015 by its current owner Pearl Properties, which plans to replace it with a 27 story residential tower. ==History== The Boyd was designed by Philadelphia architecture firm Hoffman-Henon and built for Alexander R. Boyd.〔Cinema Treasures website〕 It opened on Christmas Day 1928. Boasting an opulent Art Deco lobby, extravagant marquee and ticket booth and a 2,450 seat auditorium that featured a screen advertised as 'the largest in Philadelphia', the theater became well known among several others along Chestnut Street. It was home to several notable first run films such as ''The Wizard of Oz'' in 1939 and ''Gone with the Wind'' in 1940. Grace Kelly was present for the premiere of ''High Noon'' in 1952, in which she appeared. The theater is located at 1908 Chestnut Street. The theater, which had been owned by Warner Bros. since shortly after its opening, was sold to The SamEric Corporation in 1971 and renamed The Sameric. The following decade, three smaller screens were added to the theater on a parcel immediately west and was renamed Sameric 4. Shortly thereafter, in 1988, the theater was sold to the United Artists Circuit. In 1993, the theater hosted its final gala event - the world premiere of Jonathan Demme's ''Philadelphia'', which he and film co-stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington attended. Tom Hanks was reportedly amazed by the theater, exclaiming "Wow, a real movie palace!" In the subsequent years the theater became a shadow of its former self, falling into great disrepair both inside and out. By the mid 1990s, the theater became the only first-run multiplex and last non-art house movie theater in Center City. The property was purchased from United Artists in 1998 by the Philadelphia development firm The Goldenberg Group and the theater continued showing films until its last day of operation on May 2, 2002. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boyd Theatre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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