A series of dances, known as "The Brattle Halls" presented Cambridge debutantes to society.
Community theater often showcased Harvard students, including the young T.S. Eliot '14 who appeared as Lord Bantock in The New Lady Bantock; or, Fanny and the Servant Problem. Paul Robeson, appeared at the Brattle in his premiere performance of Othello in 1942.
Like the A.R.T. today, Brattle Hall was also home to Harvard student theater. And in 1946, a small advertisement was placed by Jerome Kilty '51 in The Harvard Crimson. "Any veteran who would like to start a new theater group come to see me at Eliot House, C31."
The ad, placed by Kilty to create an alternative to the "exessively clubby" Harvard dramatic societies, resulted in the Brattle Theater Company which propelled Brattle Hall into its dramatical heyday.
Jessica Tandy, Zero Mostel and Sara Algood all appeared during the 1940s and 50s on the Brattle stage, which showcased plays from Shakespeare to Chekhov in the Queen Anne-style shingled house.
But in 1952, the theater company folded and the Brattle began the move toward film.
Sunday Movies
Like all Massachusetts theaters, though, the Brattle closed on Sundays, subject to a 'blue law' that prohibited the screening of films on the Sabbath.
But the decision to showMiss Julie on a Sunday, brought the Brattle to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which eventually ruled in favor of the theater in 1955. From then on, state commissioners would no longer be able to ban Sunday movie screenings.
A time-honored tradition among Harvard alums of the 50s through 70s was the Bogart Film Festival which ran during Harvard reading period.
"Students set aside their studies and would watch Bogart films," says White.
The festival inspired a nation-wide cult among college students, who would shout "I want my Bogie" in cinemas across the countries.
The phenomenon was even covered by Newsweek in the sixties.
"It was a Harvard activity and was nationally known that Harvard had a Bogart revival," says White."And it started all at Harvard."
"My most vivid memory [at the Brattle] is standing up to sing when Victor Laslow conducts the orchestra at Ricks in the 'Marseilles' [in Casablanca]," says Dr. Thomas S.
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