Eddie Watson and his mother were the entrepreneurs and dreamers who built and operated a modern, first-class movie theatre that opened on Main Street in Montevallo in 1935. Eddie became president of the Southeastern Theatre Association, which gave him considerable clout and influence with the major Hollywood movie studios that enabled him to attract all the major, first-run films to Montevallo, sometimes even before they came to Birmingham and Montgomery.
The Strand did not have a concession stand due to space limitations, so a portable popcorn popping machine, which is visible here, was rolled out of a storage room and operated in the entrance to the theatre.
Probably the most memorable movie showing in the Strand’s many years of operation was a four consecutive day engagement of Cecil B. DeMille’s Ten Commandments. It sold out two shows daily for all four days.
Thank you Clay Nordan, Vice President of the Montevallo Historical Society, for contributing this image and information!
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