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Source: Andy Gray
In 1940 my grandfather's Johnson Construction Company remodeled the Strand Theatre at 145 W. Chicago Blvd. in Tecumseh, Michigan. Al Johnson's July 1948 photo, from eight years later, shows a building that appears to have had many iterations. A modest modern theater entrance, including signage and a marquee, has been built onto the front of a brick structure that itself appears to have been added to an older gabled building behind it. What we can see of the front of that building includes some very ornate brick work. It would be interesting to know more about that original structure.
The cream and red color scheme of the Strand Theatre entrance was characteristic of Johnson theaters, and the three "art deco" style doors with round glass on top are similar to those in other 1940s Johnson theaters. On the marquee is Frank Capra's 1948 film "State of the Union," starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.
There's little information on the Strand Theatre available online, including what year the theater opened, or when the original building was constructed. One person posting on the Cinema Treasures website states: *"The last movie I saw there was The "Flim Flam Man" in 1967. Sadly, it was demolished shortly after." *They also noted that before it was a movie theater it was an opera house, adding: "I do recall hearing that during the vaudeville days, many acts came through little Tecumseh and performed there, including the Marx Brothers. When I was a kid I’d heard that there was still a Marx Bros. poster on a wall backstage from that era, but don’t recall ever confirming that. I remember looking for it during the demolition but, of course, I had limited access."