Metropolitan Entertainment Centre

grandcameo on February 1, 2005 at 9:45 pm

The Metropolitan (MET) certainly wasn’t a THX house. It didn’t even have stereo sound up until the last two years of its film life.

It did have Bauer U2 35/70mm Projectors and Xebex Hi-Beam III 3kw Lamphouses. The screen was maxed in CinemaScope at 40 feet wide by 17 feet high.

I verify the 1400-1475 seat count. It maybe had 1850 seats back in the 40s or 50s.

The beautiful architecture in the auditorium was covered in pink rust paint on the walls and torquoise paint on the ceiling.

saraphin on February 26, 2004 at 12:21 am

http://www.mts.net/~heritag2/theatrebuildings.htm

1919B. C. Howard Crane

Constructed in 1919 on a wave of motion picture palace construction across North America, the Metropolitan Theatre officially opened in 1920 as the Allen Theatre. The theatre was constructed as part of a large chain of Allen movie houses, owned and operated by brothers Jay J. and Jules Allen, and backed by their father, Bernard Allen. When this theatre opened, the Allen chain was the biggest and most dominant.
With the new technology of motion pictures, the Allen family decided to capitalize on the momentum, opening first a film exchange, the Allen Amusement Corporation in1908 and their first luxury theatre in Calgary in 1913. The Allen chain leaped across the country, constructing large and costly movie palaces, splitting markets and loyalties and building excitement and attendance.
All of the Allen Theatres had the same architect and therefore a similar architectural style in common. C. Howard Crane belonged to the firm of Elmer George Kichler and Associates and adapted the neo-classical theatre motifs establishhed by Charles Lamb.
Between 1912 and 1922, the Adams style was born and employed exclusively by Lamb and Crane. Interior spaces contained the key Adamasque techniques- classical plaster detailing, muted and complimentary colors, a sense of spaciousness and special attention to ceiling details. The facades of the buildings were symmetrical, repeating low-relief classical ornamentation and figuring prominently the Palladian-type windows of Adams design. Crane’s Allen Theatre is characteristic of this national genre.
Thousands of Winnipegers caught the excitement of the theatre at the formal opening of the new Allen Theatre on 2 January 1920. The mayor was present and declared the new theatre to be ‘the largest and finest in the country’. The theatre was a runaway success.
Unfortunately, the Allens fell prey to their well-financed competitors. In 1923, Famous Players acquired the Allens Theatre Corporation for a fraction of its value, leaving Famous Players in a near-monopoly situation. This theatre was renamed the Metropolitan in 1923.
With the innovation of ‘talking’ pictures in 1928, the Metropolitan was upgraded with speakers and large projectors. The theatre experienced major alteration of the ground floor by architects Green, Blankstein and Russell. Over the years, the theatre ran first-run films to large audiences. The most devastating thing in the Metropolitan’s history was the introduction of television in 1954. The Metropolitan Theatre was a grand old movie theatre.