Art Cinema

Photo from the Roger Katz collection

255 Franklin Ave Hartford CT (860) 296-1134

Information for this tour was contributed by Roger Katz.

The Art Cinema, which is Hartford's last remaining old moviehouse, is a very clean, well-kept theatre. It is called the Art Cinema because, when its name changed from Rialto in the 1950s or 1960s, it showed exclusively foreign films.

The Art seats 601, with 350 on the main floor and 251 on the balcony. It has a 35mm projector, but all of the X-rated films currently playing are from video.

The Art has been run by the Grecula family for 40 years. As the Rialto, it was part of a chain that included the Colonial, Lenox and Lyric in Hartford, and the Central in West Hartford.

Currently, the balcony and back few rows are closed off to patrons to prevent illicit activities. Along the same line, the restroom has a motion detector to sound an alarm if more than one person occupies it. The original proscenium still exists behind the current screen.

The owner, Ernest Grecula, Jr., says he keeps the theater open despite the fact that it loses money, because he does not want the building to become abandoned and a blight on the neighborhood. On occasion, he has shown revival and Indian movies, but feels that Hartford is not large enough to support a theater dedicated to that fare. Other future possibilities for the property include Spanish films or a cinema cafe. But, for now, the adult fare continues.

Photos from the Roger Katz collection.

38 KB · 450x338	30 KB · 450x338	39 KB · 450x338	33 KB · 450x338 A column at the back...	35 KB · 450x338 Half of the auditori...
39 KB · 450x338 The adult movies are...	36 KB · 450x338	28 KB · 450x338 A couple of rows of ...	45 KB · 450x338 Looking toward the b...	22 KB · 450x338 A Voice of the Theat...
31 KB · 450x338 Along the balcony ed...	27 KB · 450x338	41 KB · 450x338 Looking back from th...	34 KB · 450x338 The screen is almost...	26 KB · 450x338 The balcony is close...
35 KB · 450x338 Looking from just ou...	31 KB · 450x338 The 35mm projector i...	35 KB · 450x338 The lamphouse is an ...	32 KB · 450x338 Balcony light fixtur...	34 KB · 450x338 The Balcony, looking...
38 KB · 450x338 A few rows of balcon...	35 KB · 450x338 Looking from the bal...	25 KB · 450x338 This frieze goes aro...	33 KB · 450x338 Between the lobby an...

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Last featured 2002-12-27. Last edited 3/23/2008.

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