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Art Cinema


Photo from the Roger Katz collection.
255 Franklin Ave
Hartford CT
(860) 296-1134

Visit Website Adult Theatre
Record #452  
 Opened: 1919
Capacity: 601 seats
Architect(s): Edward T Wiley
Architectural Style(s):
National Register:
Current Organ: none
 Also Known As: Rialto

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 over 50 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.

The Art Cinema closed down for renovations in January of 2019. It reopened on December 19, 2020.

 Photos
 Photos remain the property of the Member and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Member.

2002 photos from the Roger Katz collection.


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 External Links

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Last featured 2002-12-27. Last edited 12/17/2020.


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