I’ve had the privilege of presenting and accompanying a silent film show at the historic Strand Theater in Schroon Lake NY every summer since 2017.
The Strand Theater in Schroon Lake NY is a vintage, single-screen movie house in the Adirondacks. It originally opened 1921, and is still open today. The theater and its interior got a makeover in 1937 when its ownership changed hands, and has a warm, late-deco look to it. For the last few decades it’s been operating as a seasonal venue, showing first-run films from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend with seasonal events at Halloween and Christmas time.
Although the theater does not have a website, the Strand’s Facebook page posts its schedule of first-run films as well as its address and a phone number to call. The theater’s movies and showtimes can also be found on sites like Fandango etc.
The shows that I’ve presented at the Strand Theater have been funded by grants through the Adirondack Film Society. Working with Larry and Liz McNamara, who are the owners and operators of this theater, has been an absolute delight. We’ve built up a following for silents with these annual programs. Here’s what we’ve shown:
- 2017: restored Chaplin Mutual shorts
- 2018: Laurel & Hardy shorts from 1928-29
- 2019: Keaton shorts
- 2022: Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- 2023: Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last
- 2024: Restored 1927 Laurel & Hardy shorts
We’ll be presenting another program of Chaplin Mutual comedies at the Strand on Monday, July 7, 2025.
The Strand Theater faced closing in the early 2010s when all movie theaters had to convert to digital projection when 35mm exhibition for all cinemas in the USA ended. Fortunately, the theater was saved from having to close in 2014 when a fundraising campaign raised money from local fans to match a grant that was received from the New York State Council on the Arts. The NYSCA grant was one of many given to smaller cinemas state-wide for a “go digital or go dark” campaign. The local paper Press-Republican posted this article about the theater and fundraising in August 2014.
Below are two photo galleries of pictures I’ve taken of the Strand Theater over the past few years.
Here is a full page ad in the January 14, 1922 issue of Motion Picture News for the Universal-Jewel film Conflict (1921) starring Priscilla Dean, which features a review from Arthur Richardson of the Strand Theater. I have also found similar “reviews” from August, September and December 1921 submitted by Arthur Richardson to “what the picture did for me” sections of the paper, where theater owners or managers from around the country would submit their 1-2 sentence reviews about how well a picture played at their theater. You can find them here.
I am aware that some of the details I’ve posted here about the theater may be incorrect, and I invite anyone with proper and correct info to email me so that I can update this post. Thanks!