Tag: bloor cinema

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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

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Allen’s Bloor Theatre

Eric Veillette

For over twenty-five years, Toronto concert-goers and Annex residents have known the building at 529 Bloor St. West as Lee’s Palace. But nearly a century ago, the Allen’s Bloor Theatre was one of the most luxurious suburban movie houses Toronto had to offer. The immaculately detailed 782 seat theatre held its premiere screening on March 10, 1919 with Cecil B. De Mille’s Don’t Change Your Wife, featuring Gloria Swanson. It was the first theatre to be built on that stretch of Bloor Street since the current-day Bloor Cinema, then known as the Madison, opened in December, 1913. Months later, the … Continue reading Allen’s Bloor Theatre

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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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So Young So Bad, Disappearing Doors at the Bloor

Eric Veillette

Since last week’s post showcased a burlesque act and a juvenile delinquent flick at the Casino Theatre, I thought I’d share this marquee-blazing shot of  So Young So Bad at the Bloor Cinema, then the Midtown, in late 1950. Despite the alluring tagline, the film’s a bit of a doozy, but it does feature an early appearance by fiery Silent Toronto-fave Rita Moreno. When So Young So Bad opened, similar fare was shown across the street at the Bloor (now Lee’s Palace), which closed in 1957; you could catch the fancier stuff at the Alhambra (demolished), slightly east of Bathurst. … Continue reading So Young So Bad, Disappearing Doors at the Bloor

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Classics From The Vault presents Scarface (1932)

Eric Veillette

On Thursday, July 29, 7PM, my new screening series at the Fox Theatre continues with one of my favourite films from Hollywood’s Pre-Code era, Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932). Considered one of the greatest early gangster films, Paul Muni’s performance in Scarface ranks alongside James Cagney in The Public Enemy and Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar, and would influence the genre for generations to come, from The Godfather to The Sopranos. Scarface chronicles Tony Camonte’s rise through the grisly, realistic underworld of the ’30s sound film, when the riccochet of bullets, wiseguy banter and tough-talkin’ dames could finally be heard. … Continue reading Classics From The Vault presents Scarface (1932)