Tag: fox theatre

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Film projectionists in the digital age

Eric Veillette

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the advent of sound ended the careers of many silent film musicians who’d long been employed in Toronto movie houses. I expand on the sometimes turbulent history of labour relations in exhibition by looking at modern-day film projectionists and how they’re coping with the digital age. Originally published by The Globe & Mail in November, 2011. The lobby of the 97-year-old Fox Theatre in the Beaches is decorated with classic film posters. Its former coat check vestibule is now a box office. With the exception of sugar-free syrups and organic juices at the concession stand, … Continue reading Film projectionists in the digital age

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The Fox Theatre in 1934

Eric Veillette

In this weekend’s Globe & Mail, I examined how the digital conversion currently underway in several Toronto cinemas is affecting film projectionists. The Fox Theatre in the Beaches recently converted to 2k digital cinema projection, but here it is in 1934 — simpler times — when it was known as the Prince Edward Theatre. On the bill that day was Wheeler & Whoolsey’s Cockeyed Cavaliers. The canopy shadowing Queen St., installed upon its opening in 1914 sadly no longer exists. Image source: City of Toronto Archives, series 0372, sub-series 0358, item 1370. Continue reading The Fox Theatre in 1934

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Classics From the Vault presents Dinner at Eight

Eric Veillette

Classics from the Vault presents Dinner at Eight (1933, USA, 111mins, 14a) Directed by George Cukor Starring Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery Written by Frances Marion Based on the play by George S. Kaufman In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios was billed as having “more stars than there are in heaven,” and they made full use of them in Dinner At Eight, which features the likes of Jean Harlow, Canada’s own Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, as well as Lionel and John Barrymore, who plays a wonderful send-up of himself as a silent film star reconciling with the talkies. … Continue reading Classics From the Vault presents Dinner at Eight

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Classics From the Vault presents King Kong!

Eric Veillette

The Eighth Wonder of the World returns to Toronto screens for One Nite Only! Plus shorts, cartoons and prizes from Rue Morgue Magazine! Thursday, February 24! 7PM The Fox Theatre (2236 Queen St. E at Beach Ave.) KING KONG (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot and KONG Written by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace 100 mins | 16mm Call it a love story, a horror film, a jungle adventure — KING KONG remains one of the greatest films from Hollywood’s Golden Age, still drawing awe nearly 80 years … Continue reading Classics From the Vault presents King Kong!

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Classics From The Vault Presents Swing Time

Eric Veillette

Fred and Ginger return to Classics From The Vault at the Fox Theatre, our celebration of seldom-seen titles from the ’30s and ’40s, this upcoming Thursday, December 16th at 7PM! SWING TIME (1936) Directed by George Stevens Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor More Featuring songs by Jerome Kern 103 min. | PG In their sixth screen collaboration, Astaire plays “Lucky” Garnett, a gambler and dancer who must raise $25 000 to win back the respect of his fiancee’s family after showing up late to his wedding. But while in New York, his world is turned upside down when he … Continue reading Classics From The Vault Presents Swing Time

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New Classics From The Vault lineup announced

Eric Veillette

Last Thursday, at the Fox Theatre, we wrapped up the first season of Classics From The Vault, a fun, well-attended, five-month run of classic films that hadn’t played Toronto screens in several years. If you missed out, fear not — here’s the new lineup: November 11 (Remembrance Day): Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet On The Western Front | December 16: Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in Swing Time | January 27: An MGM all-star cast in Dinner at Eight | February 24: Laurel & Hardy in The Flying Deuces | March 31: Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage | April 28: … Continue reading New Classics From The Vault lineup announced

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Gloria Swanson lures movie-goers at Gerrard & Coxwell

Eric Veillette

Shoveling through mountains of snow in mid-February, 1924, residents of  Gerrard and Coxwell are tempted by the gaze of starlet Gloria Swanson, appearing in  Toronto-born director Sydney Walcott’s film The Humming Bird at Shea’s Hippodrome on Monday, February 18. Although the Hippodrome was centrally located at the current site of Nathan Philips Square, its films were advertised at every end of the city. Many theatres  neighboured this stretch of Coxwell Ave. — the Family, the Beach, the Fox (then known as the Prince Edward) — but Torontonians still had to go to one of its biggest showplaces to see the … Continue reading Gloria Swanson lures movie-goers at Gerrard & Coxwell

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Latin American Revue at the Casino

Eric Veillette

From the June 6, 1953 edition of the Toronto Telegram comes this tempting offer from the Casino Theatre at Queen & Bay: Latin-American chorus girls, the Marciano-Walcott fight and a Columbia cheapie about a school for sassy juvenile delinquents. If that wasn’t scintillating enough, your retinas would burn out to a newsreel of the recent coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. If you preferred the full royal experience, a visit to Yonge and Carlton was your best bet. That same day, the Odeon Toronto was showing A Queen is Crowned, “the only full-length Technicolor film of the coronation.” And hey, a … Continue reading Latin American Revue at the Casino

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Classics From The Vault presents The Big Sleep!

Eric Veillette

Classics From the Vault at the Fox Theatre is back for a fourth month and this time we’re bringing you a genuine Bogie double bill! Thursday, September 30, 7PM. THE BIG SLEEP (1946) Directed by Howard Hawks Screenplay by William Faulkner Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall 114 mins. Preceded by an assortment of cartoons, shorts and trailers. Stuff you’ve likely never seen! The second film in our Classics From The Vault lineup directed by Howard Hawks, The Big Sleep stars Humphrey Bogart as hard-nosed private investigator Philip Marlowe. Called on to the mansion of a wealthy client and tasked to … Continue reading Classics From The Vault presents The Big Sleep!