Tag: toronto movie theatres

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The Standard: Yiddish theatre & dissenting voices

Eric Veillette

It’s no secret that Toronto houses many old theatres, from the majestically restored Elgin & Winter Garden, the iconic, soon-to-reopen Bloor Cinema to countless others still flickering away. But many of them, long since closed, are dilapidated shells of their former selves. The former Standard Theatre, a three-storey structure housing a Royal Bank and a few Chinatown merchants on the north-east corner of Dundas and Spadina is one of the latter, but perhaps the most important surviving theatre in Toronto’s history. After opening in 1922 until the early 1990s, it catered to both Jewish and Chinese communities, and as the … Continue reading The Standard: Yiddish theatre & dissenting voices

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Curves, cussing and beer: Ontario film censorship in the 1940s

Eric Veillette

Many of the obituaries published in the wake of Hollywood star Jane Russell’s death in February mentioned the heated censorship debate over her sultry appearance in The Outlaw. Produced in 1943, the film began a two-week run at Toronto’s Loew’s Yonge St. Theatre on December 5, 1946. It was also among the first films in Ontario to receive the new “Adult Entertainment” designation, restricting admittance to anyone under the age of 16. O.J. Silverthorne, Ontario’s chief censor since 1934, had certified The Outlaw in May, claiming that “with the cuts that have already been made in the U.S. and some … Continue reading Curves, cussing and beer: Ontario film censorship in the 1940s

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One hundred years of film censorship in Ontario

Eric Veillette

Since 2011 marks the centenary of the creation of the Ontario Board of Censors, we present the first in a series of articles examining film censorship in Ontario. There was a time in Ontario when film versions of Shakespeare’s greatest plays were too violent or too racy for the public good. In February 1910, one Staff Insp. Kennedy seized a print of Hamlet. The Daily Star quoted this arbiter of public morals about how how he “witnessed a moving picture show of Hamlet, written I think by Shakespeare, this week. . . .That’s all very well to say it’s a … Continue reading One hundred years of film censorship in Ontario

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Dinner and a movie at the Odeon Carlton

Eric Veillette

One of the few things missing in action when the Odeon Toronto (later Odeon Carlton) opened near Yonge and Carlton in September of 1948 was its much touted restaurant. Located on the mezzanine of the 2300 seat theatre, the Carlton Restaurant’s opening was delayed due to problems with existing theatre regulations. Bear in mind that in 1948, snack bars were not yet commonplace, so imagine the tizzy the Theatres Branch must have had when Odeon Canada proposed a spacious restaurant serving “light lunches, afternoon teas, evening dinners and late snack.” The first of its kind in Canada, the restaurant still … Continue reading Dinner and a movie at the Odeon Carlton

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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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Latin American Revue at the Casino

Eric Veillette

From the June 6, 1953 edition of the Toronto Telegram comes this tempting offer from the Casino Theatre at Queen & Bay: Latin-American chorus girls, the Marciano-Walcott fight and a Columbia cheapie about a school for sassy juvenile delinquents. If that wasn’t scintillating enough, your retinas would burn out to a newsreel of the recent coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. If you preferred the full royal experience, a visit to Yonge and Carlton was your best bet. That same day, the Odeon Toronto was showing A Queen is Crowned, “the only full-length Technicolor film of the coronation.” And hey, a … Continue reading Latin American Revue at the Casino