Tag: 20th century

Toronto Cinemas1 Comment

The Glendale Cinema

Eric Veillette

Last week, the Toronto Star’s Peter Howell wrote about Toronto’s forgotten theatres, including the University, the Willow and the Glendale. Of the three, only the facade of the University remains — the rest of it is a Pottery Barn store. The Glendale, a post-war theatre built by Nat Taylor’s 20th Century Theatres, opened with a flourish on December 1, 1947. It was a busy period in theatre-building — which had been prohibited throughout most of the war — so 20th Century, Famous Players, Odeon and all the independent exhibitors were busy building the biggest and sleekest moderne hard-tops in town. … Continue reading The Glendale Cinema

Toronto Cinemas3 Comments

Tales from the Downtown Theatre

Eric Veillette

With the awful blaze that decimated the former Empress Hotel at 335 Yonge St. over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about the evolution of the Yonge and Dundas area — the former Yonge Street Strip. One of the most noticeable changes over the past decades is the disappearance of store-front movie theatres and their sky-jutting, neon-lit pylons. In the above day-and-night photos taken by John Wallington in March of 1972, behold the long-forgotten Downtown Theatre, located on what is now the south end of Dundas Square (Streetview shot here). The Downtown opened in 1948, but is featured here on the … Continue reading Tales from the Downtown Theatre