Comments about Strand Theatre in Hartford, CT

Tinseltoes on July 6, 2012 at 8:16 am

Featured in this two-page trade ad for its world premiere engagement of WB’s “Colt .45” in 1950: boxoffice

Coate on October 14, 2009 at 6:53 pm

BEN-HUR opened its Hartford roadshow run in May 1960.

mackjay on October 14, 2009 at 6:24 am

I saw BEN-HUR in this theater in 1959, will never forget it

Coate on June 17, 2009 at 11:22 am

*According to Paul LeMay, "The world premiere of 'Around The World in 80 Days' was at the Strand."*

*What a strange introduction! Paul LeMay quoting Paul LeMay. I've always thought that "Around the World in 80 Days" had its world premiere at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City, but I guess that I've been wrong all these years.*

*I'm still waiting breathlessly for "Paul LeMay" to provide more information for his introduction, which quotes none other than "Paul LeMay" himself as the source for the suspect claim. Did "Around the World in 80 Days" really have its world premiere here?I somehow doubt it.*

“Around The World In Eighty Days” world premiered at the Rivoli in New York City on Oct. 17, 1956 (and ran 103 weeks on a reserved-seat basis). The Strand in Hartford didn’t open the movie until the summer of ‘57.

Is it possible Paul LeMay is referring to a test or sneak preview screening of some sort?

shoeshoe14 on March 14, 2009 at 5:30 pm

Mentioned in the Hog River Journal at http://www.hogriver.org/issues/v01n03/palaces.htm

Warren G. Harris on October 4, 2008 at 1:14 pm

I’m still waiting breathlessly for “Paul LeMay” to provide more information for his introduction, which quotes none other than “Paul LeMay” himself as the source for the suspect claim. Did “Around the World in 80 Days” really have its world premiere here?I somehow doubt it.

lostmemory on October 4, 2008 at 9:06 am

The Strand Theater can be seen in this photo.

lostmemory on October 25, 2007 at 4:48 pm

An Austin theater organ opus 491 size 3/22 was installed in the Strand Theater in Hartford in 1914.

Warren G. Harris on July 24, 2007 at 6:09 am

What a strange introduction! Paul LeMay quoting Paul LeMay. I’ve always thought that “Around the World in 80 Days” had its world premiere at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City, but I guess that I’ve been wrong all these years.

Gerald A. DeLuca on July 23, 2007 at 9:20 am

No less than four period photos of the Strand appear in the “Images of America” volume Hartford, Volume I, on pages 74 and 75. One shows the marquee listing Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), another has Air Force (1943), and the two others show Doctor Zhivago (1965). Perhaps I should scan and post them. From the looks of its position on the map, it seems that this theatre and the adjacent area might have been demolished for the construction of I-84. Am I correct?

lostmemory on November 14, 2006 at 5:29 am

Here is a Strand photo dated 1972.

lostmemory on October 4, 2005 at 3:40 am

A Robert-Morton organ Size 3/15 was installed in the Strand Theater in 1927.

AlLarkin on May 18, 2005 at 1:46 pm

I recall attending a movie here during the late 1950’s. Very impressed by how modern the decor was compared to other theaters in Hartford at that time.

William on November 19, 2003 at 6:06 pm

The Strand Theatre was located at 1017 Main Street and it seated 1466 people.

lawrencewilliams on April 8, 2003 at 12:40 pm

This was the last of Hartford’s old downtown theaters to be demolished, in the mid-1970s.

Strand Theatre

1017 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

1017 Main Street,
Hartford, CT 06103