Category: Toronto Cinemas

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Farina in Toronto

Eric Veillette

Jamie Bradburn, that bon vivant over at Torontoist, uncovers a swell gem in today’s Historicist column. In 1932, four years after a gaggle of Toronto kids got to dress up like their favourite Our Gang characters on the stage of the Loew’s Yonge St. theatre,  the real Farina (and his sister Mango, says the ad) paid a visit to our fair city. Also, be sure to check out Jamie’s great blog, the Silent Toronto-approved  JB’s Warehouse and Curio Emporium. Continue reading Farina in Toronto

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The Rio in 1985

Eric Veillette

The above image is the cover for a 12″ record I dug out of the archives to share with you all. A benefit recording for the Evergreen Mission, behind these tough-looking chaps is the former Rio Cinema on Yonge St., which in 1985, when this photo was taken, was showing Chuck Norris in Missing In Action II, Cat People, and a selection of other films which ran continuously until 5am. The Rio was a 500-seat cinema located at 375 Yonge St. which now houses an adult video and toy store. One of the oldest flicker-houses in the city, it first opened … Continue reading The Rio in 1985

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The Great Candy Bar Uprising of 1947

Eric Veillette

The thought of modern-day kids protesting the price of candy bars — let alone anything — seems inconceivable. No matter how pricey multiplex food courts get, people just keep gobbling and sipping away. But years before concessions became common-place, independently owned cigar stores and candy stores such as Laura Secord or Jenny Lind often flanked downtown or neighbourhood theatres and they continued to do so long after snack bars came to vogue in Toronto in the mid-1940s. The Tivoli Cigar store was located on the left-hand side of the grand Tivoli, at Victoria and Richmond Sts.  The Tivoli was the … Continue reading The Great Candy Bar Uprising of 1947

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Letters to the Manager

Eric Veillette

A great little ditty uncovered by Colin Geddes while leafing through my copy of Famous Players Canada’s What’s New? employee newsletter from July, 1973. Sure, you can still expect to be treated this way by your fellow movie-goer, but gosh, those ushers knew a thing or two about customer service! And as evidenced by the photo to the right, they either used a really tough starch, or those jackets were full on bulletproof: Dear Sir, My boyfriend and I visited your theatre at the Skyline Hotel on Tuesday July 3rd. We were sitting in Cinema 2 watching Class of ’44, when … Continue reading Letters to the Manager

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The Evolution of Cool

Eric Veillette

Early cinemas were used to convince the populace that air conditioning was cool. by Alfred Holden I watched poetic justice unfold in a cool way last month, when the brief May heat wave hit. The clamour for air conditioning erupted that very day in my own home, and spread like a storm through the St. George Street building where I live. But by the time the engineers turned on the central air, the weather, too, had turned. We froze. The system leaked. “A wonderful thing,” the U.S. watchdog magazine Consumer Reports found fit to say about air conditioning in 1957, … Continue reading The Evolution of Cool

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The Lost Films of the Loew’s Theatre

Eric Veillette

With the inaugural Toronto Silent Film Festival currently underway, it’s safe to say that a healthy silent film renaissance is underway in Toronto the Good. The last year has been rife with various celebrations of silent celluloid: Nuit Blanche, Luminato, the Danforth Music Hall’s 90th anniversary, outdoor screenings during TIFF, the Cinematheque’s various offerings — not to mention the semi-monthly Silent Sundays retrospective I run at the Revue Cinema — have all contributed to an amazing revival of the genre. For the TSFF, whose programming varies from Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (accompanied by Clark Wilson on Casa Loma’s roaring Wurlitzer!) to … Continue reading The Lost Films of the Loew’s Theatre

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The Carlton

Eric Veillette

Whether old, new, palatial, grimy, spacious or downright claustrophobic, the closure of any Toronto cinema means one less place to see a film, and today’s closing of the Carlton Cinema is no exception. It’s not the first time a theatre has closed in that location, either. In 1974, the Odeon Carlton, a lavish post-war movie house, ended a 26-year run after screening Burt Reynolds in White Lighting. While discussing the Carlton’s demise with Colin Geddes a few weeks back, he noted that it also widens the gap of available cinemas on or around Yonge St. Excluding the Cumberland and Varsity … Continue reading The Carlton

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Ambrose Small & The Grand Opera House

Eric Veillette

In yesterday’s Toronto Star, I wrote about the 90th anniversary of the disappearance of wealthy theatre owner Ambrose Small. “On Dec. 2, 1919 the circuit-owner deposited $1 million – an advance on the previous day’s sale of his seven properties – spoke to his wife Theresa on the steps of the Bond St. Orphanage, and returned to the Grand, at Adelaide and Yonge Sts. From there he vanished.” For nearly a decade, Small’s name made sensational headlines, from his disappearance, the reading of his will in 1924 and the demolition of the Grand Opera House in 1928. The discovery of … Continue reading Ambrose Small & The Grand Opera House

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Lee’s Palace Shows its True Colours

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette Yesterday, Torontoist reported that the colourful amoeba and monster-laden mural which has adorned the facade of Lee’s Palace for over twenty years was taken down, to be replaced with a new creation by original artist Runt. Annex residents may feel it looks temporarily naked without it, but it gives us a better view of the building, which once housed a movie theatre. Designed by architect C. Howard Crane in 1919, it opened as The Bloor Theatre, which was part of the Allen’s national chain of cinemas. This photo, taken in 1921, shows  the westward view of the … Continue reading Lee’s Palace Shows its True Colours

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The Danforth Music Hall Turns 90!

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette In today’s Saturday Star, I write about the Danforth Music Hall’s upcoming 90th anniversary. On Tuesday, August 18, Heritage Toronto and the Riverdale Historical Society will be celebrating this milestone by unveiling a plaque in its honour. By recreating the events from nearly a century ago, the evening will also feature a silent film, Dollars and Sense, with live accompaniment. The Music Hall, originally known as Allen’s Danforth, remains one of the best examples of this former theatre empire. Other Toronto Allen survivors are the Bloor and Parkdale. The former – a popular midtown cinema until the … Continue reading The Danforth Music Hall Turns 90!