Plaza Theatre

451 Main Street,
Stamford, CT 6902

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Brandt Theaters

Architects: Thomas White Lamb

Previous Names: Family Theatre

Nearby Theaters

PLAZA Theatre, Stamford, Connecticut as seen in 'Boomerang' (1947)

The Plaza Theatre was opened on May 29, 1936 with Francis Lederer in “One Rainy Afternoon”. The seating layout inside the Plaza Theatre was on a stadium plan, with all seating on a single level, and a raised stepped section at the rear. This theatre appears in the 1947 movie “Boomerang”, which was filmed in Stamford! The best shots of the Plaza Theatre appear in the beginning of the movie.

The Plaza Theatre spent it’s last few years as an adult movie house.

Contributed by Roger Smith

Recent comments (view all 12 comments)

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on April 7, 2004 at 5:26 pm

The Plaza was also known as the Family Theatre at one point.

ACooke108
ACooke108 on July 17, 2007 at 1:12 pm

I remember this being the “Darkest” of all the Stamford Movie Theaters' back in the 60’s. Impossible to adjust your eyes to find a seat when you first walked in. Remember seeing “The Time Machine” here in 1962. Also saw either “A Hard Days Night' or "Help” there.
One debuted at the Plaza and one at the Palace. Near the end the paint was peeling badly from the ceiling. The old girl had to go for the Town Center Mall. That was progress?

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on November 19, 2007 at 4:38 pm

This theater was first listed in the Stamford City Directory in 1906 and was called The Stamford Family Theatre.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on November 19, 2007 at 4:40 pm

Closed in 1976. Great. City Directory lists it in 1968 but not 1978, microfilm would have confirmed the gap but I had no time to check.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on November 21, 2007 at 9:22 am

The 1937 Stamford City Directory mentions it as the Plaza at 451 Main Street.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on December 15, 2009 at 8:48 pm

Just watched “Boomerang” and there were some nice shots of the night-time marquee, showing “Smoky” in Technicolor.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on December 15, 2009 at 8:53 pm

I’d like to hear more about its final days as an adult theater. 1138 sets! That’s some porno palace.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 8, 2012 at 6:40 am

Two small interior photos of the Plaza Theatre illustrate this brief article in Boxoffice of October 17, 1936.

Another view of the Plaza’s auditorium illustrates an ad for Heywood-Wakefield theater seats on this page of the same issue of Boxoffice.

byanik14
byanik14 on February 8, 2014 at 4:35 pm

My grandfather, Archibald McNeil Erskine was an ornamental plasterer. His last job was during the depression when he worked on the ornamental plastering on the ceiling (or maybe it was up by the ceiling)in the Plaza theatre before it opened.

rivest266
rivest266 on April 26, 2021 at 12:29 pm

The Plaza Theatre opened on May 29th, 1936. Grand opening ad posted.

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