Dan, a wonderful retrospective! Back in 1976, I wrote my first story for the Hartford Advocate--the first writing I was ever paid for. It was called "Hartford Went to the Movies". I wrote from my own memories, and those of family members and some elderly Hartfordites, but also by doing interviews with former movie theater employees, and doing research in the bowels of the State Library on Capitol Avenue. I also includedwhich Hollywood movie studios showed their films exclusively at particular movie theaters until the federal government put an end to that practice.. What you've done here is a gift to the people of Hartford.
I have some songs by The Five Belaires that occasionally get requested and played on my radio show. "Come On Home" "Come On To My Love House" "House Of Love" "I'm So Happy" "My Friends" and "Wedding Bells."
Interesting history. I have a journal written by my Great Grandfather, who ventured with my Great Uncle in acquiring theaters in the 1920s. He talks about buying a 1600 seat theater located in Hartford. He says (in his broken English) that the real owner was Goldberg in Hartford, but it was rented to Smith who had theatres in Boston. He says he bought that house for $50K. When he took over, the manager was a Mr. Young. It sounds like it could be the Poli Palace given the seating capacity, but he merely referred to it as the Goldberg Theater. Later on he mentions business was falling off on account a big new theatre opened up with first run pictures and some vaudeville on Saturdays and named it State Theatres. I'm not sure any of this jives with your history, but I was hoping you might have some insight. Thanks!
One missing - Cinema City - the four screen theater near the airport. Newer than some of Hartford's theaters, it struggled on past the millennium before being demolished. Known for showing independent and foreign films, it provided a change from other theaters' offerings.
Miss that Cinema City -- it was the best for foreign films! The newer cinemas just don't show them. We've entered a cultural deficit with only U.S. films in these theaters. A shame.
I remember when the civic center was built, and the Allyn being destroyed. Always remember the Strand, across from G Fox. Thanks for the blast from the past.
I saw "Ice Station Zebra" in Cineramascope at the Colonial in the early 1970's (Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Patrick McGohan as I recall). It was pretty intense for 14 or 15 year old me. A decade or so later it was mostly showing cheesy martial arts movies.
Eight of those 10 theaters in central Hartford were my stomping grounds in the late 40s and early 50s. A good place to keep cool during the summer when most had air conditioning. When I was 8 a bunch of the kids from my neighborhood in the North End went to a Saturday morning show at the Center featuring 50 cartoons. I think the admission was 15 cents. The lobby of the Loew's Poli was palatial in my memory with those two marble stair cases leading to the balconies (thanks for the photo Dan).
Saw 2001 at Cinerama, along with many other movies. Saturday afternoons at the Rivoli was for kids, but later in my teens I snuck into the Rivoli to watch my first XXX, including “I am curious yellow”
Lowe’s Poli’s flagship theatre was in New Haven . A palace which also was destroyed . Poli’s mansion and massive estate with its matching Italianate Mediterranean style guest houses still exist on Long Island Sound in the Woodmont section of Milford , Ct.
I remember seeing _The Poseidon Adventure_ with my family back while my late dad was in Vietnam in the year 1972. I cannot remember the theater, but I do remember it was advertised as "The Largest Movie Screen in New England." It was huge with excellent sound, and as a nine-year-old, I remember it felt like we were literally on that doomed ship. When we walked out into the sunlight, it felt like we had just escaped the hatch.
Looking through the Courant archives, The Poseidon Adventure opened in December 1972 in the Elm Theater in West Hartford and Cinema I in East Hartford. I didn't cover the West Hartford theaters (the Central and the Elm) in my video but they were also classic venues. The buildings survive (and their marquees!) but they've have been converted to other uses.
@@historywithdansterner263Thank you for the fast reply. Cinema I rings a bell more than the Elm Theater, although I am not positive of that fact. I am going to do some more research. Please let me know if you discover any more details. I do remember those great Christmas windows downtown during the holidays. In addition, I would like to look up the Elm Theater and Cinema I on Google Maps from here in Virginia. Can you tell me the names and addresses of the two converted buildings? Reply
@@urbanlegendsandtrivia2023 Cinema I seems to have been somewhere on Main Street in east Hartford. I don't know if that building survives. The Elm is at 924 South Quaker Lane in west Hartford.
@@historywithdansterner263, the Elm is now a corporate drugstore, a CVS or Walgreens or whatever. Having grown up in the suburbs south of Hartford I don't specifically remember seeing any movies there, but as a little kid my wife, who is a few years older than me, certainly did. When I saw that a construction crew was gutting the building a couple of decades ago I scavenged the Altec Voice of the Theater speakers from off of the stage and sold them; the cabinets were 7 feet tall and sadly I had to leave those behind (too big for one guy to move, and too big to ship) but the woofers and high frequency horns were manageable for me (barely). There's a fan base for that type of early sound equipment among wealthy audiophiles (especially in Japan) and they're worth good money to the right people; unfortunately, all of the amplifiers and even the projectors had already been dumpsterized, which would have been the fate of those speakers as well had I not rescued them.
My grandfather came from France around 1911 to do sculpture work in NYC & he also did the carvings on several of those theaters, unfortunately I don’t know exactly which ones. I am curious if you came across his name: Lucien Vandevoir.
I looked up his name in the Courant archive and found his obituary from 1935 which mentions he "did the decorative work in the Allyn Theater, the Hungarian-Greek Church, New Britain, and the Emanuel Synagogue."
Thank you very much! BTW, I do know he did the busts over the doorways on the Mark Twain apartments on Farmington Avenue in Hartford, which are still there.
@@historywithdansterner263 Strange, since he was Italian, it seems the pronunciation should be "pole-ee". I wonder if it was mispronounced on purpose back in the day due to certain ethnic stigmas that existed back then.
Haha !! When I first discovered this channel, I watched the Dutch Point video, and then asked Dan to do a video on the old theaters in Hartford, not knowing he had already done it !!! Now, after seeing this...I distinctly remember see the premiere of " A Hard Day's Night" on Main St...at the Loew's Poli....before it was torn down later that year. I remember seeing the trailer for that movie at the end of a Haley Mills movie, we all went to see !.....the projectionist played it LOUD, and it blew us away !!
The Avery Memorial Theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art started screening movies when it opened in 1934 and still does to this day.
Dan, a wonderful retrospective! Back in 1976, I wrote my first story for the Hartford Advocate--the first writing I was ever paid for. It was called "Hartford Went to the Movies". I wrote from my own memories, and those of family members and some elderly Hartfordites, but also by doing interviews with former movie theater employees, and doing research in the bowels of the State Library on Capitol Avenue. I also includedwhich Hollywood movie studios showed their films exclusively at particular movie theaters until the federal government put an end to that practice.. What you've done here is a gift to the people of Hartford.
Thank you so much! I'm working on a video about the State Theater right now.
My group the 5bell aires. Sang at state theater proud of that.
I have some songs by The Five Belaires that occasionally get requested and played on my radio show. "Come On Home" "Come On To My Love House" "House Of Love" "I'm So Happy" "My Friends" and "Wedding Bells."
Interesting history. I have a journal written by my Great Grandfather, who ventured with my Great Uncle in acquiring theaters in the 1920s. He talks about buying a 1600 seat theater located in Hartford. He says (in his broken English) that the real owner was Goldberg in Hartford, but it was rented to Smith who had theatres in Boston. He says he bought that house for $50K. When he took over, the manager was a Mr. Young. It sounds like it could be the Poli Palace given the seating capacity, but he merely referred to it as the Goldberg Theater. Later on he mentions business was falling off on account a big new theatre opened up with first run pictures and some vaudeville on Saturdays and named it State Theatres.
I'm not sure any of this jives with your history, but I was hoping you might have some insight. Thanks!
I'm not sure. I'd have to do more research to figure that out.
One missing - Cinema City - the four screen theater near the airport. Newer than some of Hartford's theaters, it struggled on past the millennium before being demolished. Known for showing independent and foreign films, it provided a change from other theaters' offerings.
I went there many times!
Miss that Cinema City -- it was the best for foreign films! The newer cinemas just don't show them. We've entered a cultural deficit with only U.S. films in these theaters. A shame.
At 8:45 , Bill Savitt's "POMG" stood for "peace of mind guarantee"!
I remember when the civic center was built, and the Allyn being destroyed. Always remember the Strand, across from G Fox. Thanks for the blast from the past.
Art Cinema on Franklin is still open. It’s best to visit as a couple(s) and sit in the balcony.
I saw "Ice Station Zebra" in Cineramascope at the Colonial in the early 1970's (Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Patrick McGohan as I recall). It was pretty intense for 14 or 15 year old me. A decade or so later it was mostly showing cheesy martial arts movies.
Herbs Sports Shop, I went there as a kid
I remember Herbs, it was amazing to go to as a little kid! Great memory.
Eight of those 10 theaters in central Hartford were my stomping grounds in the late 40s and early 50s. A good place to keep cool during the summer when most had air conditioning. When I was 8 a bunch of the kids from my neighborhood in the North End went to a Saturday morning show at the Center featuring 50 cartoons. I think the admission was 15 cents. The lobby of the Loew's Poli was palatial in my memory with those two marble stair cases leading to the balconies (thanks for the photo Dan).
Thanks for sharing that!
Saw 2001 at Cinerama, along with many other movies. Saturday afternoons at the Rivoli was for kids, but later in my teens I snuck into the Rivoli to watch my first XXX, including “I am curious yellow”
I remember CINERAMA, and I'm certain my first movie experience was at the Webster!
Looking at movie titles at 4:52 , I never heard of "Rock Baby, Rock It" or Guerilla Girl". I'll have to look those films up!
I haven't heard of them either!
Lowe’s Poli’s flagship theatre was in New Haven . A palace which also was destroyed . Poli’s mansion and massive estate with its matching Italianate Mediterranean style guest houses still exist on Long Island Sound in the Woodmont section of Milford , Ct.
Dan is on a roll…
I remember seeing _The Poseidon Adventure_ with my family back while my late dad was in Vietnam in the year 1972. I cannot remember the theater, but I do remember it was advertised as "The Largest Movie Screen in New England." It was huge with excellent sound, and as a nine-year-old, I remember it felt like we were literally on that doomed ship. When we walked out into the sunlight, it felt like we had just escaped the hatch.
Looking through the Courant archives, The Poseidon Adventure opened in December 1972 in the Elm Theater in West Hartford and Cinema I in East Hartford. I didn't cover the West Hartford theaters (the Central and the Elm) in my video but they were also classic venues. The buildings survive (and their marquees!) but they've have been converted to other uses.
@@historywithdansterner263Thank you for the fast reply. Cinema I rings a bell more than the Elm Theater, although I am not positive of that fact. I am going to do some more research. Please let me know if you discover any more details. I do remember those great Christmas windows downtown during the holidays. In addition, I would like to look up the Elm Theater and Cinema I on Google Maps from here in Virginia. Can you tell me the names and addresses of the two converted buildings?
Reply
@@urbanlegendsandtrivia2023 Cinema I seems to have been somewhere on Main Street in east Hartford. I don't know if that building survives. The Elm is at 924 South Quaker Lane in west Hartford.
@@historywithdansterner263 Thank you again.
@@historywithdansterner263, the Elm is now a corporate drugstore, a CVS or Walgreens or whatever. Having grown up in the suburbs south of Hartford I don't specifically remember seeing any movies there, but as a little kid my wife, who is a few years older than me, certainly did. When I saw that a construction crew was gutting the building a couple of decades ago I scavenged the Altec Voice of the Theater speakers from off of the stage and sold them; the cabinets were 7 feet tall and sadly I had to leave those behind (too big for one guy to move, and too big to ship) but the woofers and high frequency horns were manageable for me (barely). There's a fan base for that type of early sound equipment among wealthy audiophiles (especially in Japan) and they're worth good money to the right people; unfortunately, all of the amplifiers and even the projectors had already been dumpsterized, which would have been the fate of those speakers as well had I not rescued them.
Fascinating, I am very interested in movie theater history
I grew up a few blocks from the Lyric theater and went to movies there! I enjoy your videos very much! Thank you!
Thanks!
great history !! thanks for compiling
My grandfather came from France around 1911 to do sculpture work in NYC & he also did the carvings on several of those theaters, unfortunately I don’t know exactly which ones.
I am curious if you came across his name: Lucien Vandevoir.
I looked up his name in the Courant archive and found his obituary from 1935 which mentions he "did the decorative work in the Allyn Theater, the Hungarian-Greek Church, New Britain, and the Emanuel Synagogue."
Thank you very much! BTW, I do know he did the busts over the doorways on the Mark Twain apartments on Farmington Avenue in Hartford, which are still there.
Lowe's Poli was a real movie palace.
In the old days the Star was nicknamed rats. Star spelled backwards.
Wow seemed Hartford tore everything down leaving nothing from the past.
Those old buildings were fire traps...
At 14:00 the highly sexist ad copy for "the Talker" reads, "the story of a wife who forgot that silence is golden".
Which one was the Scratch House?
I heard about that from my uncle. Something about fleas or bugs? I may be mistaken.
@@dgfazzina same stories I heard, mice/rats
When I was 7 or 8 1944 or 1945 it was called the DAley theater they had talent shows I came in second place. They called it the scratch house lol.
Are you sure "Poli" is pronounced "pole-eye" and not "pole-ee"?
Yes. I pronounced it ee in another video but I was corrected on that! Also check out: vimeo.com/ondemand/misterwonderland
@@historywithdansterner263 Strange, since he was Italian, it seems the pronunciation should be "pole-ee". I wonder if it was mispronounced on purpose back in the day due to certain ethnic stigmas that existed back then.
pole- eye. His daughters owned a house which is now the West Haven historical society’s headquarters. I knew them.
ZZZZZZ
Haha !! When I first discovered this channel, I watched the Dutch Point video, and then asked Dan to do a video on the old theaters in Hartford, not knowing he had already done it !!! Now, after seeing this...I distinctly remember see the premiere of " A Hard Day's Night" on Main St...at the Loew's Poli....before it was torn down later that year. I remember seeing the trailer for that movie at the end of a Haley Mills movie, we all went to see !.....the projectionist played it LOUD, and it blew us away !!