Tag: gloria swanson

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Gloria Swanson in Toronto

Eric Veillette

Perhaps not the close-up Gloria Swanson had in mind when she called out her famous line in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, the above photo was taken during the silent star’s visit to Toronto in July of 1950 —  one of the 34 stops in her publicity tour for Paramount’s Sunset Boulevard. Although the film would not premiere in Toronto until the following month, Swanson’s two-day stop was a busy one. On Monday, July 3, she met with Mayor Hiram McCallum at City Hall, inspected the construction of the Yonge St. subway, visited Paramount’s Bond St. office, had tea at Eaton’s … Continue reading Gloria Swanson in Toronto

Toronto Cinemas3 Comments

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