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The Bloor Cinema returns

Eric Veillette

This week, the former Madison, Midtown, Capri, Eden and Bloor Cinema is revived anew as the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. I’m looking forward to checking out the renovation, as well as the flick — The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls — which may or may not be a remake of Getting Gertie’s Garter, which played the Midtown on May 25, 1946. (It’s not.) The structure at 506 Bloor St. West , which opened in December, 1913, has  been discussed a few times at Silent Toronto: So Young So Bad, disappearing doors at the Bloor The Evolution of Cool The Bloor Cinema: … Continue reading The Bloor Cinema returns

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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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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