Author: Eric Veillette

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Silent Toronto at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival

Eric Veillette

I arrived in Pordenone, Italy last night for the giornate del cinema muto, the world’s most important silent film festival, where I’ll be part of this year’s collegium. I’ll be tweeting from @SilentToronto about all the goings-on! Festival highlights include a lengthy programme examining the pre-Hollywood work of Michael Curtiz, the treasures of the west (featuring Canuck-centric flicks like Mantrap starring Clara Bow and William Beaudine’s The Canadian), several Disney Laugh-O-Gram cartoons, the recently-discovered The White Shadow, Chaplin’s The Circus and plenty of Sjostrom. Continue reading Silent Toronto at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Curves, cussing and beer: Ontario film censorship in the 1940s

Eric Veillette

Many of the obituaries published in the wake of Hollywood star Jane Russell’s death in February mentioned the heated censorship debate over her sultry appearance in The Outlaw. Produced in 1943, the film began a two-week run at Toronto’s Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre on December 5, 1946. It was also among the first films in Ontario to receive the new “Adult Entertainment” designation, restricting admittance to anyone under the age of 16. O.J. Silverthorne, Ontario’s chief censor since 1934, had certified The Outlaw in May, claiming that “with the cuts that have already been made in the U.S. and some … Continue reading Curves, cussing and beer: Ontario film censorship in the 1940s

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

One hundred years of film censorship in Ontario

Eric Veillette

Since 2011 marks the centenary of the creation of the Ontario Board of Censors, we present the first in a series of articles examining film censorship in Ontario. There was a time in Ontario when film versions of Shakespeare’s greatest plays were too violent or too racy for the public good. In February 1910, one Staff Insp. Kennedy seized a print of Hamlet. The Daily Star quoted this arbiter of public morals about how how he “witnessed a moving picture show of Hamlet, written I think by Shakespeare, this week. . . .That’s all very well to say it’s a … Continue reading One hundred years of film censorship in Ontario

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre signage

Eric Veillette

This week, I’m looking at vintage and iconic signs for OpenFile Toronto. Discussed are the neon spinning records at the former Sam the Record Man (including comments from its designer, Sam Markle), the Vesta Lunch, the former Suspect Video on Queen St. West, as well as the radioactive palm tree that is the El Mocambo at Spadina and College. But there are plenty more. Toronto’s cinemas — whether still active, downtrodden or re-purposed — also offer a few gems, from art deco marquees to faded, ghostly signs. Among them is the painted signage (shown above) claiming “Loew’s leads in Toronto!” … Continue reading Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre signage

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Toronto’s oldest cinema survives as The Projection Booth

Eric Veillette

Reporting for OpenFile Toronto back in April, I covered a meeting of east-end residents wanting to breathe new life into the Gerrard Cinema, which until recently had shown Tamil-language films. This weekend, Leslieville residents will get their wish as the former Bonita is re-christened The Projection Booth. Yesterday, TPB manager Jonathan Hlibka told OpenFile that an integration between the film industry and the film-going community will make this new theatre stand out among the city’s other rep and independent movie houses. The building — Toronto’s oldest surviving movie house — opened as The Bonita sometime between 1910 and 1911. Along … Continue reading Toronto’s oldest cinema survives as The Projection Booth

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

The Unholy Three visits TIFF Bell Lightbox

Eric Veillette

An archival 35mm print of Tod Browning’s The Unholy Three (1925), an early mingling of the underworld with the macabre, visits TIFF Bell Lightbox on Saturday, June 25 at 8pm, with piano accompaniment by Laura Silberberg. The film, which stars Lon Chaney, premiered in Toronto on August 4, 1925, at Shea’s Hippodrome. It was preceded by a travelogue showing a “bevy of bathing beauties” at Coney Island and a short comedy starring Harry Langdon. Shea’s Hippodrome was the largest theatre the city had to offer when it opened in 1914, but was demolished in the late 1950s to make way … Continue reading The Unholy Three visits TIFF Bell Lightbox

Toronto Cinemas3 Comments

A Victory Bond rally at the Midtown Theatre

Eric Veillette

Cinemas were often a choice neighbourhood site for Victory Bond rallies during both World Wars. In the above photo, members of an unidentified regiment are lined up in front of the Midtown Theatre (now the Bloor Cinema), then owned by 20th Century Theatres. Although I haven’t been able to properly date the photo, it was taken some time after the all-star flick Stage Door Canteen ended its two-month run at the Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre in September, 1943. Big thanks goes to Christina Stewart of the CNE Archives for unearthing this photo, which is also one of the rare shots … Continue reading A Victory Bond rally at the Midtown Theatre