Tag: Toronto Cinemas

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East-end showplaces: The Ace Theatre

Eric Veillette

Al Jolson was no stranger to Toronto. From 1913 until a few years before his death in 1950, the King of Broadway called Toronto his second home, cavorting up and down his custom-made runway at the Royal Alexandra Theatre several times. While appearing in movies and on radio throughout the ’30s and ’40s, his stage appearances dwindled, but his fans could always see him on the big screen. The above photo of the Ace Theatre, at Danforth and Gough, was taken during the week of August 4, 1947. At the time, Jolson was enjoying a hearty comeback due to The … Continue reading East-end showplaces: The Ace Theatre

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Parkdale’s Odeon Theatres

Eric Veillette

In Thursday’s Toronto Star, I looked at the history of the 52-year old Toronto Film Society, which continues to offer rarely-screened classics every month at Innis Town Hall. During my conversation with TFS president Barry Chapman, he shared memories of some of the Queen St. West cinemas of his youth, like the Parkdale, the Kum-C, and the Odeon. Although the Odeon name is usually associated with the mighty British cinema chain which settled in Canada in 1948, two other Queen St. cinemas shared its name. At 1558 Queen St. W, a silent-era, 700-seat house opened around 1919. The building still exists, housing … Continue reading Parkdale’s Odeon Theatres

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The Eglinton Theatre’s Elegant Neighbours

Eric Veillette

When adding photos to the Silent Toronto collection, I typically look for theatres and cinemas, but most importantly,  neighbouring streetscapes showing some form of social activity. Where did neighbourhood cinema patrons dine, shop, and in this case, deposit their paycheques? So imagine my surprise when I found this gorgeous shot of the Eglinton Theatre‘s art deco neighbours. Probably taken in the late 1940s, early 1950s, we see the north side of Eglinton Ave., east of Castle Knock Rd. The giant structure on the right is indeed Kaplan and Sprachman‘s famed Eglinton, which closed in 2002 and now operates as a … Continue reading The Eglinton Theatre’s Elegant Neighbours

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So Young So Bad, Disappearing Doors at the Bloor

Eric Veillette

Since last week’s post showcased a burlesque act and a juvenile delinquent flick at the Casino Theatre, I thought I’d share this marquee-blazing shot of  So Young So Bad at the Bloor Cinema, then the Midtown, in late 1950. Despite the alluring tagline, the film’s a bit of a doozy, but it does feature an early appearance by fiery Silent Toronto-fave Rita Moreno. When So Young So Bad opened, similar fare was shown across the street at the Bloor (now Lee’s Palace), which closed in 1957; you could catch the fancier stuff at the Alhambra (demolished), slightly east of Bathurst. … Continue reading So Young So Bad, Disappearing Doors at the Bloor

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The Imperial Drabinsky

Eric Veillette

This week, the final curtain fell on a decade-old debacle in Toronto when former theatre impresario Garth Drabinsky was found guilty of fraud and forgery in an Ontario court. A modern day mogul, Drabinsky produced several staples of Canadian cult cinema like The Changeling and The Silent Partner; with Cineplex Odeon and Nat Taylor he built the first megaplex cinema; and after being ousted from Cineplex, he created Livent, a live theatre production company which not only produced the shows, it held licenses to the productions and also owned the theatres in which the shows were performed. Not since the … Continue reading The Imperial Drabinsky

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Remembering the Summer of ’89

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette This evening, the Bat Signal will illuminate the Annex area of uptown Toronto, but don’t expect to see the Caped Crusader skyjacking out of First Canadian Place with some white-collar criminal. Instead, you’ll find him on the screen at the Bloor Cinema for a 35mm presentation of Tim Burton’s Batman. I haven’t seen it on a big screen since the Harbourfront Centre did an outdoor series of Burton’s films during the summer of 2003. Tonight’s free screening will be following a free advanced screening of Watchmen. The buildup during the month of June of 1989 was exhilarating … Continue reading Remembering the Summer of ’89

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The Eaton Centre Cineplex

Eric Veillette

This week, we take a break from our usual musings over Art Deco and Atmospheric palaces and instead concentrate on a more recent phenomena — the multiplex cinema! by Jesse Hawken They knocked down the above-ground parking lot at the Eaton Centre a few years ago and with it, the late, not particularly lamented Cineplex theatre that was situated at the base of the parkade. The Eaton Centre Cineplex was the first mega-multiplex theatre in the world. There were 18 screens when it opened in 1979, expanding to 21 a few years later. When the place first opened it was … Continue reading The Eaton Centre Cineplex

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Holiday greetings from Odeon Theatres

Eric Veillette

Odeon Theatres had much to be thankful for in 1948, as their flagship theatre, the Odeon Toronto, was built near the corner of Yonge and Carlton. The mighty British cinema chain opened its new theatre – dubbed “The Showplace of the Dominion” – on September 9 with a premiere of Oliver Twist, starring Alec Guinness as Fagin. The Odeon Toronto, with 2300 green and gold seats, was an unconventional beast built at a time when most of the new theatres were modest in both size and extravagance. Its development signaled a near-renaissance of the Movie Palace, not seen since the … Continue reading Holiday greetings from Odeon Theatres

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The Eglinton Theatre

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette In 2007, I moved into an apartment in the Forest Hill area, kitty-corner to what was once the flagship cinema of the Famous Players theatre chain: The Eglinton. It closed down in early 2002, when Famous Players refused to comply with an Ontario Human Rights Commision directive to make the theatre wheelchair accessible. Although dedicated as a Heritage Site by the city, preserving the original facade, it has since become an upscale event hall. Coming home at night is always a joy, as the original, brilliant marquee, still in place, shines brightly to onlookers heading east and … Continue reading The Eglinton Theatre

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Canada’s Atmospheric Theatres – The Runnymede

Eric Veillette

By the mid 1920s, after the construction of great vaudeville and movie houses like the Toronto Pantages and Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre, North American theatre designers sought more cost-effective ways to attract theatre-goers. What resulted was the Atmospheric style. Iconoclastic and progressive, it took theatre-goers out of the tired palatial setting and brought them into another world altogether, one where the ceiling wasn’t a ceiling, but a night sky with flickering stars. In Toronto, one could consider the Winter Garden Theatre, covered in leafy greens and vines, to be a proto-Atmospheric, but the first true Atmospheric in Canada was Toronto’s … Continue reading Canada’s Atmospheric Theatres – The Runnymede