E.M. Loew's Theatre
174 Asylum Street,
Hartford,
CT
06103
174 Asylum Street,
Hartford,
CT
06103
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Whole page article at
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Circa 1965 photo added courtesy of the Hemmings Motor News Facebook page.
Constructed within the four walls of a commercial building that had been gutted by fire, the Majestic opened on February 8th, 1915, with photoplays only. The cinema operated as the Majestic for nearly fifteen years, but the conversion to sound bankrupted the owners, who sold the operating lease to E.M.Loew. After some renovations, the theatre re-opened as E. M. Loew’s on March 22nd, 1930. “Majestic” was scrapped, and never attached to the new branding.
From 1929 a postcard view of downtown Hartford along with the MajesticTheater.
Elias M. Loew 1898-1984 once owned 70 theatres and 17 drive-ins, a chain of hotels and motels,one being the Gulfstream Drive-in that had a motel built on both sides of the screen it has its own page on C.T.
An unusual booking for E.M. Loew’s in April 1950 was the Italian film The Bicycle Thief. The house did not normally show foreign-language films.
Nice shot of the marquee and vertical, what about the address Asylum Street.
Mentioned in http://www.hogriver.org/issues/v01n03/palaces.htm
In the “Images of America” book Hartford, Volume II, on page 52, appears a 1960 photo of the theatre along with the nearby Allyn. Hard to read what was on the marquee at the time. The E.M. Loew’s would be be razed in 1970, along with its neighbor the Allyn, in preparation for the construction of the huge Hartford Civic Center.
To add to Mr. Katz’s and Mr. Rossetti’s descripion of this theater, the construction was unique in that both the main entrance and backstage faced Asylum St. This meant, not only did one have to go upstairs, but they also had to walk the total length of the theater in order to enter the auditorium. Of course, the balcony was another flight of stairs.
It was at 174 Asylum Street.
The E.M. Loews Theatre was on Asylum Street and it seated 1217 people.