“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