Tag: shea’s hippodrome

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The Great Lloyd-Chaplin Popularity Contest of 1923

Eric Veillette

When silent film aficionados sit down in fine leather wing-back chairs to discuss silent comedy while indulging in fine brandy and cigars, the two contenders for greatest clown are invariably Chaplin and Keaton. But in April, 1923, Famous Players asked movie-goers to vote between Chaplin and another titan of comedy, Harold Lloyd. The results, posted below, show that Lloyd’s comedies were a force to be reckoned with. Here are the results, published in the Toronto Daily Star on April 9, 1923: 72, 087 theatre patrons voted in the Harold Lloyd-Charlie Chaplin Popularity Contest last week at the Hippodrome, Pantages and Regent … Continue reading The Great Lloyd-Chaplin Popularity Contest of 1923

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The Unholy Three visits TIFF Bell Lightbox

Eric Veillette

An archival 35mm print of Tod Browning’s The Unholy Three (1925), an early mingling of the underworld with the macabre, visits TIFF Bell Lightbox on Saturday, June 25 at 8pm, with piano accompaniment by Laura Silberberg. The film, which stars Lon Chaney, premiered in Toronto on August 4, 1925, at Shea’s Hippodrome. It was preceded by a travelogue showing a “bevy of bathing beauties” at Coney Island and a short comedy starring Harry Langdon. Shea’s Hippodrome was the largest theatre the city had to offer when it opened in 1914, but was demolished in the late 1950s to make way … Continue reading The Unholy Three visits TIFF Bell Lightbox

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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

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Buster Keaton 1895-1966

Eric Veillette

Buster Keaton died forty-five years ago today, and Silent Toronto would like to offer posthumous thanks for all the laughter that has filled (and continues to fill) Toronto cinemas. Seven Chances premiered at the former Shea’s Hippodrome in October, 1925. Last year I was fortunate to attend a screening at Casa Loma where the film was accompanied by Clark Wilson at the helm of the mighty, rumbling Wurlitzer organ. As I wrote in the Toronto Star in March, 2010, this organ was no stranger to Keaton’s farce — it was in use at Shea’s Hippodrome when the film premiered. It … Continue reading Buster Keaton 1895-1966

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Talking pictures in the silent era

Eric Veillette

Before the pictures learned to talk, they stuttered. Talking pictures settled permanently in Toronto in late 1928, but it was far from the first time Hogtown movie-goers were exposed to the concept that the flickers needn’t be silent. In November of 1924, four years before the Tivoli and Uptown Theatres were wired for all-talking pictures, those attending the premiere of Elinor Glyn’s His Hour at Shea’s Hippodrome were treated to short subjects from radio pioneer Lee de Forest‘s Phonofilm, a sound-on-film process. On the screen, an orchestra performed “Come on, Spark Plug,” the sound modestly filling the auditorium while the … Continue reading Talking pictures in the silent era

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Merry Christmas from Shea’s Hippodrome

Eric Veillette

“He loved to fight and fought to love. His dames, like his flags, were many and soon forgotten.” Ladies and gentlemen — my future epitaph. The above ad is from the Toronto Star, December 22, 1930. Also playing in Toronto that week: Lon Chaney in The Unholy Three at the Royce (Edwin/Dupont); John Barrymore in Moby Dick at the Palace (Danforth/Pape); Amos & Andy in Check and Double Check at the Belsize (still around, as the Regent on Mt. Pleasant Rd.); Bebe Daniels in Dixiana at the Runnymede (Bloor/Runnymede). As the year comes to a close, I’d like to thank … Continue reading Merry Christmas from Shea’s Hippodrome

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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