Tag: d.w. griffith

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Broken Blossoms at the Colonial Theatre

Eric Veillette

“The pinnacle of art expressed on the silver sheet,” proclaimed an ad for D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms on November 4, 1919. The film opened on November 10 at the regal Regent Theatre on Adelaide St., which N.L. Nathanson and partners had purchased in 1916, before the formation of Famous Players Canada Corporation in 1920. Weeks later, the film was playing in several other theatres, including the Colonial, located across from Old City Hall (pictured above, to the left, on a particularly snowy day). One of Toronto’s first picture palaces, the Colonial predates the construction of the Loews/Winter Garden and Madison … Continue reading Broken Blossoms at the Colonial Theatre

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The Birth of a Nation: How ugliness changed Toronto’s movie-going landscape

Eric Veillette

It’s no secret that D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever made — a declaration not lost on Toronto audiences when it premiered at the  Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 20, 1915. The film, a revisionist account of the American Civil War, the Reconstruction period that followed and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan — all of which vilified the African-American population — played at Bell Lightbox earlier this week as part of their Essential Cinema programme. When presented in its proper context — the Lightbox screening was accompanied by DJ Spooky‘s … Continue reading The Birth of a Nation: How ugliness changed Toronto’s movie-going landscape

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The Uptown Theatre

Eric Veillette

To cinephiles, the theatres we patronize are often just as important as the films they show. It might only be a building, but once an audience is at attention and the image is flickering, the place takes on an organic quality. Whether it’s a run-down rep house, a bicycle repair shop moonlighting as a cinema or the second floor of a restored hotel, these darkened spaces allow us to forget the outside world, and as Neil Gaiman once put it, let “others think of things of import and consequence.” A few days ago, I asked  our Twitter followers to share … Continue reading The Uptown Theatre

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Allen’s Danforth Theatre

Eric Veillette

Nearly a year after celebrating its 90th anniversary, the Danforth Music Hall has closed its doors last week. When the Festival chain of rep cinemas let it go in 2004, the venue re-opened as a live entertainment space, hosting memorable concerts like the Arcade Fire in 2005. Last year, with the intention of creating a new theatre district on the Danforth, its owners entered into an agreement with DanCap Productions. I’m not sure of the specifics, but its first big production, The Toxic Avenger, closed within a few months. At the anniversary, over 800 people gathered to see a silent film … Continue reading Allen’s Danforth Theatre