Tivoli Theatre

Two pictures of the Tivoli/Allen, the first from about 1920, the second one from sometime in the 1940s:

http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1231%5Cf1231_it0842.jpg
http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1257%5Cser1057%5Cf1257_s1057_it0505.jpg

The Tivoli was for many years the "Home of Todd-ao" as it was advertised. Beginning with "Oklahoma" and continuing with "Around the World in 80 Days" and "South Pacific" most of these films ran at the Tivoli a year or more as reserved seat, roadshow engagements. Others that ran in Todd-ao as roadshows were "Porgy and Bess", "Can-Can", "The Alamo", "Exodus" and "West Side Story".

After looking at the two pictures of the Tivoli's beautiful auditorium in John Lindsay's terrific book "Palaces of the Night: Canada's Grand Theaters", it is easy to see why it would be a great Todd-AO house; that very wide outer proscenium frame would accommodate a large, curved screen easily with both minimal side draping and probably no need to tear out or cover the side boxes. Was the original projection box used or was another one built to meet the need for as-near head-on projection as possible? It would be neat to see a picture of this theatre set up for Todd-AO.

Yes, I love that book too. Did you notice it mentions that the Tivoli was designed "stadium" style and not with the usual balcony overhanging the orchestra. Talk about early stadium seating! I know there is a Todd-ao section of "In 70MM" web site, but not sure if there are any pictures of the Tivoli.

The Tivoli was a great place to see a 70mm film. Oddly enough, because of the stadium seating, there was no place to put a booth for head-on projection. Unless you were sitting toward the back, near the booth, horizontal lines were noticeably distorted. In the business this was quite often referred to as a smile. The 70mm (pseudo Cinerama) presentations at Toronto's Glendale Cinerama theatre had exactly the same problem. You may be interested to know that both theatres had a huge screen with a 120 degree curvature and projected 70mm film with 6-track stereo sound. The Tivoli's Todd-AO and the Glendale's Cinerama presentations looked exactly the same to the audience. The only thing that set them apart was the huge Cinerama logo on the Glendale's marquee.

December 28 was the 80th anniversary of the first full talking picture to play in Toronto. The Tivoli was packed that night, and today's Saturday Star has a quick writeup commemorating the event!

For those interested, 32 Elvis Movies is a site dedicated to the history of Canadian movie theatres. Have a look!

And yes, I'm aware the Tivoli actually closed in 1964, not 1965 as written (blame the copy editors, not me:P). The cinema played its final film in November of 1964, and the building was sold in May of the following year, to be demolished soon after.

I am guessing this picture is from right after they closed as there are no features shown on the sign and the cars look to be from the early 1960s.

http://tinypic.com/r/2iljvqv/5

Here are updated links to the pictures from the Ontario Archives that I posted on June 4, 2008.
Two pictures of the Tivoli/Allen, the first from about 1920, the second one from sometime in the 1940s:
http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1231%5Cf1231_it0842.jpg
http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1257%5Cser1057%5Cf1257_s1057_it0505.jpg

Here is a September 1929 ad.