THANK YOU ALL FOR THE MEMORIES!!!! Especially those of you who included photos and the movie sheets!
I first went to the Strand in late summer early autumn ‘78. My father did not allow me to listen to rock n roll…..so my dear stoner friend Larry took me to the Strand to see Tommy. I was 15. From then until; my mid 20s I lived for the grindhouse scene on Market Street. The Strand was always my favorite…..especially weekends! Triple bills of Clint Eastwood westerns////science fiction such as Rollerball<>Logan’s Run<>Laserblast///horror movies, etc. I used to love the quadruple bills of Russ Meyer flicks and Ilsa movies. Every so often I would wander in to the wrong movie for me such as Score or Fortune and Men’s Eyes but it was all good. I remember the sneak preview of The Road Warrior was at a midnight showing there.
My friends and I always sat mid-balcony. You could smoke what you wanted and nobody harassed you. When somebody came up the stairs their heads would block part of the screen…..so a few carefully aimed M&Ms or other candy would get them seated quickly. The occasional pedophile popped up but you were safe in groups. Never had the guts to venture into the back of the balcony as it was dark and emitted strange sounds you did not want to investigate.
I keep seeing mention of a bingo nights there. Unless this was before ’78 I don’t remember any such thing. There was the Ten-O-Win wheel of fortune game and the Embassy Theater next door and that might be what everyone is mentioning.
30 something years later a lot of the movie “classics†I saw there I now own on DVD. I have grown accustomed to multi-plexes and my home theater system is second to none. Still I miss that wonderful smelly place. Someone should get Quentin Tarantino to buy the place and restore it. Something tells me he would understand.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE MEMORIES!!!! Especially those of you who included photos and the movie sheets!
I first went to the Strand in late summer early autumn ‘78. My father did not allow me to listen to rock n roll…..so my dear stoner friend Larry took me to the Strand to see Tommy. I was 15. From then until; my mid 20s I lived for the grindhouse scene on Market Street. The Strand was always my favorite…..especially weekends! Triple bills of Clint Eastwood westerns////science fiction such as Rollerball<>Logan’s Run<>Laserblast///horror movies, etc. I used to love the quadruple bills of Russ Meyer flicks and Ilsa movies. Every so often I would wander in to the wrong movie for me such as Score or Fortune and Men’s Eyes but it was all good. I remember the sneak preview of The Road Warrior was at a midnight showing there.
My friends and I always sat mid-balcony. You could smoke what you wanted and nobody harassed you. When somebody came up the stairs their heads would block part of the screen…..so a few carefully aimed M&Ms or other candy would get them seated quickly. The occasional pedophile popped up but you were safe in groups. Never had the guts to venture into the back of the balcony as it was dark and emitted strange sounds you did not want to investigate.
I keep seeing mention of a bingo nights there. Unless this was before ’78 I don’t remember any such thing. There was the Ten-O-Win wheel of fortune game and the Embassy Theater next door and that might be what everyone is mentioning.
30 something years later a lot of the movie “classics†I saw there I now own on DVD. I have grown accustomed to multi-plexes and my home theater system is second to none. Still I miss that wonderful smelly place. Someone should get Quentin Tarantino to buy the place and restore it. Something tells me he would understand.