Uncle Teddy
Senior Member
That was a good bookstore. I went there often.
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- Thread starter Mustapha
- Start date
thecharioteer
Senior Member
My thanks to Mustapha for an incredible thread. It both takes me back to my own childhood, but also that of my parents. Wonderful.
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As I haven't commented in this thread, at least for a long while....
A few catch-ups...
The old theatre shots.
- I miss the Hyland the Uptown, the Eglinton, the Hollywood, all of which were favourite places for a quiet sunday movie or a Friday date night throughout the 1990's
- I never got to see the University, my parents didn't take me before they tore it down!
- That strip of Queen opposite City Hall wasn't much to look at; but still better than Sheraton and parking ramp. I don't know if this block is fixable w/o tearing it all down again and starting over.
- Does anyone have shots of the original Beach Cinema (interiors esp.)? (currently a run down mini-mall) my mom always raved about it; but it was nothing to look at by the time I was a tyke!
How about the Nortown on Eglinton just west of Bathurst?
Here are photos from the Ontario Archives Theatre Branch (1948) followed by pictures I took of its demolition in 1974:
Mustapha
Senior Member
At least the interior is untouched. Perhaps Starbucks will someday decamp and a small Indigo bookstore will open there. It will be called Indigo Express.
July 11 addition.
The Church of the Holy Trinity. The 'Now' pics ... I can't take them from the 'Then' locations; our little church is all hemmed in now.
http://holytrinitytoronto.org/
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Mustapha
Senior Member
thecharioteer,
That is just an absolutely fantastic, fantastic picture series. I don't suppose you were prescient of the internet - that you would save and post these personal images 35 years later.
I was babysitting my kid brother; was dropped off here in 1969 to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Dad took us to dinner at China House afterwards.
That is just an absolutely fantastic, fantastic picture series. I don't suppose you were prescient of the internet - that you would save and post these personal images 35 years later.
I was babysitting my kid brother; was dropped off here in 1969 to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Dad took us to dinner at China House afterwards.
thecharioteer
Senior Member
thecharioteer,
That is just an absolutely fantastic, fantastic picture series. I don't suppose you were prescient of the internet - that you would save and post these personal images 35 years later.
I was babysitting my kid brother; was dropped off here in 1969 to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Dad took us to dinner at China House afterwards.
I might have run into you! I grew up in Cedarvale and probably went to the Nortown (and China House) every two weeks. It was quite common in the 60's to have kid's matinees where the parents dropped off kids as young as 5 or 6 to see two or three movies in a row. Management would have a "matron" dressed in nurse's whites patrol the theatre to keep control. Occasionally the stage was used for contests in between shows.
The Nortown was primarily used as a second-run house, to more or less get a second kick at the can for features that had departed the first-run houses downtown. I remember lineups for pictures like "Doctor Zhivago" and "The Sound of Music" that literally went around the block.
I took its demolition quite personally and actually still have the "moderne" 875 address sign which I took when photographing the demo.
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Mustapha
Senior Member
My underlined emphasis to your comment above...
Ah yes, the 'Continuous Shows' - the movies that repeated themselves all day. What value we got for our movie dollar - and it was a dollar.
Strangely, I just thought of the character Baroness Bomburst from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. How very odd.
How much for the address sign?
thecharioteer
Senior Member
It's also interesting to remember that the idea of screening "old" movies in theatres did not really start until the early 70's, with theatres such as Cinecity, Cinemalumiere and a little later the Revue, showing not only the European art house masters but also re-looking at older Hollywood genres such as film noir or even the silents.
Neighbourhood theatres were much more casual about older movies. Every so often, the Nortown would screen "The Ten Commandments", or "South Pacific" and not bill them as "revivals". They certainly were appealing in the pre-colour TV days.
Neighbourhood theatres were much more casual about older movies. Every so often, the Nortown would screen "The Ten Commandments", or "South Pacific" and not bill them as "revivals". They certainly were appealing in the pre-colour TV days.
Cast_Member
Active Member
Nowadays, its rare for ushers to patrol the theatres.
thecharioteer
Senior Member
Do they still exist?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
I wonder who designed the dreamy interiors at the Nortown, with their amoebic ceilings and mirror? The chairs in that little lounge area look rather Russell Spanner-ish. ( Spanner Products manufactured his furniture at Elm Street, and in the '50s it was incorporated into a bowling alley - which today forms part of The World's Biggest Bookstore ).
Cast_Member
Active Member
Yes, in a similar position called "Theatre Checkers". Ushers regardless of gender wear their standard uniforms with sometimes walkie talkies depending on the theatre. Any major trouble e.g. fighting will be reported to the manager. Very repetitive work going up and down the stairs at a multiplex looking for trouble makers.
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thecharioteer
Senior Member
Interesting to put the Nortown interiors in the context of the influence of surrealism in 1940's design (as shown in the current surrealism show at the AGO).
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Yes, and in that light the woman behind the refreshment counter does rather look as if she's vogueing Schiaparelli - that Dalinian shoe-like hat in particular ( or is it her hair? ).
thecharioteer
Senior Member
I think she still worked there up until the theatre closed, along with the woman in the glass box-office who looked like Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson, albeit with flaming red hair.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Hey, it's a look ...