Author: Eric Veillette

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The Bloor Cinema: What’s in a name?

Eric Veillette

Of the numerous Toronto movie houses built before World War II which are still in operation, none have undergone as many name changes as the Bloor Cinema, the venerable Annex institution which opened as the Madison in 1913. Since then, Toronto’s biggest second-run cinema has also been known as the Midtown, Capri, Eden and since 1979, the Bloor. While photoplays, movies – whatever you want to call them – have flickered away at 506 Bloor St. for nearly a century, the current building is far different from what people visited when it premiered the Edison two-reeler Alexia’s Strategy on December … Continue reading The Bloor Cinema: What’s in a name?

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Gloria Swanson in Toronto

Eric Veillette

Perhaps not the close-up Gloria Swanson had in mind when she called out her famous line in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, the above photo was taken during the silent star’s visit to Toronto in July of 1950 —  one of the 34 stops in her publicity tour for Paramount’s Sunset Boulevard. Although the film would not premiere in Toronto until the following month, Swanson’s two-day stop was a busy one. On Monday, July 3, she met with Mayor Hiram McCallum at City Hall, inspected the construction of the Yonge St. subway, visited Paramount’s Bond St. office, had tea at Eaton’s … Continue reading Gloria Swanson in Toronto

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Kodachrome slides, technicolor screens

Eric Veillette

The above Kodachrome slide (taken in 1987 by Alfred Holden) shows the terrazzo of the Danforth’s Roxy Theatre — originally known as the Allenby when it was built by Kaplan & Sprachman in 1935. Many Toronto theatres were captured in Kodachrome, some of the best residing at the City of Toronto Archives in the F. Ellis Wiley Fonds. Toronto has long held an interesting relationship with Kodachrome, something I examine in today’s Toronto Star. Astrid Idlewild, a McGill University urban planning student, has launched Kodachrome Toronto 1935-2010, a Masters project aimed at examining Toronto’s urban and cultural development through the warm … Continue reading Kodachrome slides, technicolor screens

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Classics From the Vault presents King Kong!

Eric Veillette

The Eighth Wonder of the World returns to Toronto screens for One Nite Only! Plus shorts, cartoons and prizes from Rue Morgue Magazine! Thursday, February 24! 7PM The Fox Theatre (2236 Queen St. E at Beach Ave.) KING KONG (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot and KONG Written by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace 100 mins | 16mm Call it a love story, a horror film, a jungle adventure — KING KONG remains one of the greatest films from Hollywood’s Golden Age, still drawing awe nearly 80 years … Continue reading Classics From the Vault presents King Kong!

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Tura Satana twirls at the Victory Burlesque, 1963

Eric Veillette

Tura Satana, star of Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! died on February 4 of apparent heart failure. Before she became the tough-girl phenom of cult film, however, she was a big star on the Burlesque circuit, often swinging her tassels on Toronto stages. One such occasion was on April 19, 1963, when she peeled off at the Victory Burlesque located on the north-east corner of Spadina and Dundas. On April 18, the day the above ad was published, the Toronto Star reported the “statuesque Eurasian” was set to retire in two weeks. The Star added: “Tura Sharon Satana earns … Continue reading Tura Satana twirls at the Victory Burlesque, 1963

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Buster Keaton 1895-1966

Eric Veillette

Buster Keaton died forty-five years ago today, and Silent Toronto would like to offer posthumous thanks for all the laughter that has filled (and continues to fill) Toronto cinemas. Seven Chances premiered at the former Shea’s Hippodrome in October, 1925. Last year I was fortunate to attend a screening at Casa Loma where the film was accompanied by Clark Wilson at the helm of the mighty, rumbling Wurlitzer organ. As I wrote in the Toronto Star in March, 2010, this organ was no stranger to Keaton’s farce — it was in use at Shea’s Hippodrome when the film premiered. It … Continue reading Buster Keaton 1895-1966

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Projectionists at the Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre

Eric Veillette

From left to right: Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre projectionists and operators Earl Winslow, Phil Ristow, Charles Sturgess and Charles Hallett pose for the January, 1946 issue of Lo!, the Loew’s Inc. employee magazine, which was in its second year of publication. Winslow was the veteran of the bunch, having manned the booth on the Yonge St. theatre’s opening  night in December, 1913; “select photoplays” by Selig, Pathe and Biograph were shown. Long-lasting tenures weren’t uncommon at the time. Jules Bernstein, a veteran of the Loew’s circuit in New York, was managing director of the Yonge St. Theatre from its first … Continue reading Projectionists at the Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre

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Neon lights on Montreal’s rue Ste-Catherine

Eric Veillette

A quick break to visit our neighbours in la belle province: this Kodachrome postcard from 1952 shows the south side of Montreal’s rue Ste-Catherine in all its post-war, neon-lit glory. In the distance you can see the Loew’s, Capitol and Palace Theatres. Source: Silent Toronto Archives; postcard printed by the Photogelatine Engraving Co. Ltd., Toronto. Continue reading Neon lights on Montreal’s rue Ste-Catherine

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The Metro Theatre’s red hot opening night

Eric Veillette

At Bloor and Manning, a giant poster advertising Emmanuelle adorns the facade of the Metro, Toronto’s only surviving legitimate adult movie theatre. But long before it began showing porn in the 1970s, it served as a neighbourhood theatre for over three decades. Despite the PG-rated nature of the cinema’s opening night (April 7, 1939) double-bill, Delinquent Parents and Looking for Trouble, things got a little heated during the second showing of the programme when a fire broke out in a storage room on the ground floor near the building’s entrance. Smoke billowed into the auditorium and a minor panic ensued … Continue reading The Metro Theatre’s red hot opening night