By Cory Boyd
Despite the continued reign of the megaplex in Toronto – witness last year’s addition of 24 screens at Dundas Square – a few independent cinemas continue to thrive through innovation, evolution and savvy alternative programming.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, theater owners and chains began to movie away from the traditional movie palace towards a new model, in which formerly grand auditoriums that could often seat thousands of people were split, and then further divided, to allow the proprietor to show more than one film at a time.
For example, opened in 1948, the Odeon Carlton was an art deco theater that could seat 3200 people and which premiered such classics as Lawrence of Arabia and several Bond films for Toronto audiences. As movie attendance changed and a single film could no longer regularly fill such a large auditorium, the Odeon Carlton was closed in 1973, replaced by an apartment building. A few years later, a new cinema opened a few doors down. Despite also being named the Carlton, the new cinema had 9 screens but a fraction of its namesake’s total seats (not to mention glamour).
In 1979, the first Cineplex theatre opened under the Eaton Centre parking garage. At the time it was the largest multiplex in the world. It had 18 theaters, 1600 seats and it helped revolutionize the way in which Canadians went to the movies. Its arrival confirmed that the days of the independent, single-screen theaters were nearing an end, although it too was eventually closed when more screens opened in nearby locations.
More recently, contemporary values have also played a role in the shuttering of some of Toronto’s grandest theatres. A 2001 decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ordered Famous Players, a theatre chain operator, to make the Uptown and Eglington theatres wheelchair accessible. Rather than make the changes, Famous Players chose to cease operating the theaters. Of course the aging equipment of these cinemas, which was problematic in an era of noisy and effects-based blockbusters, as well as Famous Players’ plans to open multiplexes in both neighbourhoods, were undoubtedly factors in the decision. The Uptown was torn down and is currently a condominium construction site. The Eglinton was restored to its original glory and currently operates as a (wheelchair accessible) events theater.
Today in nearly every downtown neighbourhood, from the Pottery Barn in Yorkville to an anonymous convenience store at the south end of Roncesvalles, you can see the façade of an old movie palace, a glimpse of a bygone era. However, further evidence of this era also exists in a few independent cinemas that have managed to evolve and thrive, despite the changes to the moviegoing experience.
Built in 1917, the Revue Cinema on Roncesvalles Avenue was one of Canada’s oldest continually operating theaters until it closed in 2006, along with several other independents that were operated by Festival Cinemas. Local residents rallied, fundraised and campaigned to save the landmark. In 2007, a neighbour of the Revue purchased the building and currently rents it to a non-profit society that relies on donations and admissions the keep it in operation.
As in its previous incarnation, the Revue relies heavily on second-run films that arrive shortly after their stints at the megaplex. However, given its slogan of “Reel Diversity, Real Community”, the Revue also shows local works, first-run independents and even offers lecture series such as Produced and Abandoned, a Saturday morning series by pop culture critic Kevin Courrier that looks at films that didn’t gain an audience the first time around. A recent lecture on Love and Sex drew a fair-sized crowd of locals, certainly a respectable number given its 10:30 a.m. start time, that seemed to know each other and relish being part of a community. The lecture series continues for several more installments, every second Saturday morning. Also, beginning Monday, March 16, the Revue will be showing matinees aimed at a younger audience to take a little pressure off parents during March Break.
The Royal Theatre, originally built in 1939 and located on College Street in the heart of Little Italy, has also made some changes in order to survive. Most noticeable to cinemagoers is the removal of several rows of seats in the center of the auditorium which, although slightly jarring (they were the best seats in the house!), has allowed the theater to become not just a state of the art cinema, but also a world-class post-production studio where both mixing and editing takes place.
Unlike most independent cinemas, the Royal Theatre relies less on second-run mainstream fare and more on first-run Canadian and foreign films that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle. On a recent Tuesday night, I was able to watch a French Canadian film that, despite making Canada’s Top Ten and winning prizes at the Berlin Film Festival, was not scheduled to be shown in any of Toronto’s multiplexes. To give but one example, the Royal screened 24 City, a new film by Jia Zhang Ke that you might not otherwise find playing in Toronto.
Of course, no discussion of Toronto’s grand old theatres would be complete without mentioning the Bloor Cinema, which initially opened as the Madison theatre in 1905. Like the Revue, the Bloor relies heavily on second-run fare. However, embedded in its calendar every month are several cult classics for which the Bloor has become synonymous, most notably the screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the last Friday of every month.
Recently, the Bloor has had a little help unearthing some lost cinematic gems. While in town directing a new film, Edgar Wright, the writer/director of Shaun and the Dead and Hot Fuzz, has taken over the programming duties for Sunday nights. Last Sunday, Wright screened The Wanderers and The Warriors to a full house of fans, a few in costumes from the films, who hooted and hollered at all the right moments. Future installments of the Wright Stuff include a horror musical by De Palma, an early Cronenberg classic and a marathon of the cult British series Spaced (also directed by Wright).
As movies have become increasingly slick triumphs of marketing as opposed to feats of filmmaking and the multiplexes feel like a perpetual tween birthday party, the appeal of a six dollar ticket, affordable snack and a reclining seat in the balcony to watch an old classic or a future favourite at an independent theatre strikes me as stronger than ever. Luckily for Torontonians, there are a few options available when one wants to escape the multiplex and relive the moviegoing of the past.
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Would you have any pictures or info on the old theaters that were on Bloor st. like the Kenwood, Doric, Metro, Alhambra and Midtown? Thank you for your time.