Tag: newspaper ads

Vintage Ads3 Comments

Newspaper ads & the Timmins Cinema Six

Eric Veillette

Editor’s note: We take a break from our usual diet of Hogtown Hard-tops and head north to Timmins, Ontario. Growing up in Northern Ontario, where there wasn’t much to do, I would often rush home after school on a Thursday, grab the Timmins Daily Press and see what films were premiering the next day at the Victory, a Famous Players house built in the 1940s. Once a vibrant city with several large movie theatres, the Victory was all Timmins had to offer by the mid-1980s. My family went to the drive-in more often than the cinema, but my earliest movie-going … Continue reading Newspaper ads & the Timmins Cinema Six

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Mothra Attacks Toronto!

Eric Veillette

Well, not really. But since Lightbox screened Gojira alongside Mars Attacks last night, I thought I’d dig into the archive and share this June 1, 1962 Toronto Star advertisement for Mothra, the atomic fire-breather’s fellow kaiju. The “most monstrous beast ever created” — which could be referring to Rod Steiger —  played the Downtown Theatre and other screens. Horror and monster fans had plenty to work with that week: the New Toronto Biltmore was showing The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Horror of Dracula, A Bucket of Blood, and depending on your definition of horror, at the Metro, Jerry Lewis in … Continue reading Mothra Attacks Toronto!

Toronto CinemasLeave a comment

Tough guys at the Yonge Theatre

Eric Veillette

When you compare Toronto’s modern-day film landscape to what existed in the ’70s, you know what’s missing? Well, yeah, porn. There was plenty of that. Lots of it. But the one thing you were guaranteed to find on every marquee, whether at a Yonge St. grindhouse or the Teepee Drive-In, was a healthy serving of Tough Guy Movies *. Thanks to the Star and the Sun’s gritty movie listings, the ads jumped out at you like a bare-knuckle punch. Michael Ritchie’s Prime Cut, which opened at the Yonge (now the Elgin) in July of 1972, is about as tough as … Continue reading Tough guys at the Yonge Theatre