Tag: toronto telegram

Toronto Cinemas2 Comments

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

Toronto Cinemas8 Comments

The Downtown Theatre

Eric Veillette

The Downtown Theatre by Hal Kelly “Going to the movies is my hobby. I go to other theatres, but the Downtown is my favorite. I like westerns, especially ones with Audie Murphy, but ANY good action or adventure picture usually gives me my money’s worth.” – Irvine Exley, 55, war pensioner The Downtown Theatre was located one short block south of Dundas at the north east corner of the largely vacant Yonge and Dundas Square right across from the Hard Rock Café. The closest thing to movie theatre in those parts now is that craptacular celluloid-free, all digital AMC 24 … Continue reading The Downtown Theatre

Toronto Cinemas7 Comments

Hollywood Dreams at the Loew’s Theatre

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette In the early days of the movie palace, it didn’t take much to get people into the theatres. The seats were always filled with beaming eyes staring at the latest antics of Mary Pickford or Buster Keaton. Despite jam-packed attendance, theatre managers liked to spruce things up a bit, and give patrons a little more than just a film and a newsreel. How about offering up a prize for grabs? A Saint-John, New Brunswick newspaper clipping I have from November of 1916, promoting Chaplin’s film Shanghaied, asks: “Boys and girls! Have You Sent Your Chaplin Essays in Yet? … Continue reading Hollywood Dreams at the Loew’s Theatre