Bloor Cinema

The Bloor Cinema Web Site: http://www.bloorcinema.com

The Bloor Cinema has been a Toronto landmark for over 60 years. Recently refurbished, this vintage movie house is one of the best places in the city of Toronto to see rare and hard to find movie classics, foreign and domestic, as well as premiere presentations of new films from around the world.

The Bloor Cinema also welcomes new filmmakers to exhibit their talents, and has been the venue of choice for several independent festivals and student film screenings.

So when your in the city of Toronto come to the Bloor Cinema.

Premiere house for alternative first run movies and diverse repertory programming

Art deco facade - 850 seats

two tier balcony, two lobbies, snack bar and café

Voted the #1 Repertory Cinema in Toronto by NOW and EYE readers.

Equipped with 35mm -16mm, Video/Data and slide projection - CD, DVD, SVHS and VHS players

Located downtown in the Annex near Bathurst subway station and the University of Toronto

Available for rental. Suitable for film shoots, lectures, computer software presentations, music video release parties, movie theme events, fundraisers, concerts, weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, etceteras

Vintage photos of the Bloor can be viewed here:
http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/theatres/theatres/bloor_toronto.htm

Recently renovated after being closed down for major repairs. Saw the film The Cooler there recently. The auditorium looks fresh and clean. Projection and sound was good. Now an independent run neighborhood repertory cinema, formely part of the Festival Cinema chain. Solid programming of second run and independent films and documentaries. Worth checking out again if you were turned off by the aging, rundown interior and sticky floors. One of the larger single screen cinemas left in Toronto along with the Royal. Nothing beats seeing those big, gold drapes go up before the movie starts!!! Tickets still sold from the original ticket booth outside. 3$ weekday early bird screenings. A blast from the past worth supporting.

The name of this theater is Bloor Cinema. It has 850 seats. The address is:
506 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1Y3

This theater opened as the Madison theater. In 1941 it became the Midtown theater. In the late 60's it became the Capri theater. In the 70's it was called the Eden theater (adult movies) and in 1979 it became Bloor Cinema.

I tried to find the year when this theater opened as the Madison. I found two different years. One says 1905 and the other says 1919. Anyone know the correct year?

This is a recent photo of the Bloor Cinema.

Here is a more recent photo of the Bloor Cinema.

Another photo of the Bloor can be seen here.

The Madison opened in 1905.
It was largely renovated from the end of 1940 to spring of 1941 to become the Midtown.
It had two other names, one was "The Eden".

Finally in 1979, this theatre was renamed The Bloor Cinema and that is still its name today.

Here's a picture fronm 1919; it's hard to believe it's now what is the Bloor Cinema today.

http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1257%5Cser1057%5Cf1257_s1057_it0464.jpg

Sorry- wrong URL. This one is of the Madison in 1919:

http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1231%5Cf1231_it0800.jpg

There must have been a major renovation at some point. This is the Midtown in 1945. The building to the right of the theater in both the Madison and Midtown photos appears to be the same.

Here is a 2008 photo.

This was the Bloor Cinema in 2002.

Here's an article about the Bloor talking about how an astronomy fan painted an accurate 7,000-star representation of the night sky on the roof of the balcony over the orchestra seats and gives astronomy talks there.

Here is a 2009 close-up view.

This is a February 2009 photo courtesy of motionblur studios.

This site is so out of date. The theatre was closed quite a few years ago and all but the facade remained. You could look through the front doors and see rubble. When I was last in Toronto, mid 2008 they finally had built retail space (I don't remember who was the occupant) but the marquee was kept in the design.

This theatre is definitely still open and running movies on a daily basis. The 20th Century Theatres chain operated this venue for many years as a second run house called the Midtown. In the mid to late 60's the company changed the name to the Capri and tried to book it as a first-run arthouse. I know about it because I was the art director for 20 Century Theatres at the time and designed the ads announcing the opening of the "new" Capri. In reality nothing really changed except for the name of the theatre on the outside of the building.

Does anyone have more history on the difference between the 1919 & the 1945 photos? It's almost as if the shaved the entire facade of the building off. Eliminating window configurations and the giant arch completely.
Although the building to the right appears to be the same, the bay windows seem wider in 1945 pic. Although the reveal around them is identical.
In any event, that's quite a massive transformation for their to be no record of.

Well, if the Bloor is still functioning, what theatre on Bloor that only had the facade in tact for a number of years and is now retail space am I thinking about. I used to go to Toronto once a year for a long period, remember the theatre being functional, going dark and then only the facade remaining.

Well, if the Bloor is still functioning, what theatre on Bloor that only had the facade in tact for a number of years and is now retail space am I thinking about. I used to go to Toronto once a year for a long period, remember the theatre being functional, going dark and then only the facade remaining.

That's the beautiful University theatre at 100 Bloor st W near Bay. It's now a Pottery Barn. There was a plan by Famous Players to rebuild a theatre there as part of a condo-retail project and were to call it the University 9. But alas the developer cut out the theatre plans so now just a condo and retail are there.

The Bloor Cinema website isn't working but movies are still listed for the Bloor. This site has the current schedule.

Yes, Cadillac Records is having a first run engagement there now...

I still remmeber being introduced to this venue during the 2002 Hot Docs fest and fell in love with it! Great old school rep house sheak with the curtain and one of the few movies houses still around in the city with a functioning balcony which is key for me. Still got to say one of the highlights was introducing someone to the Shinning for the first time there and watching Raiders and Last Crusade there February 2008 along with Dogma at the Kevin Smith fest.

According to the Ontario Archives, here is the theater's interior as the Capri:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0012579.jpg
and this is an updated link to the 1945 picture of the theater as the Midtown originally posted by Lost Memory on June 4, 2008:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0012578.jpg

And here's an updated link to the theatre as the Madison in 1919:
http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1231%5Cf1231_it0800.jpg

If the structure mentioned by CWalczak was actually the same building that we now know as the Bloor Cinema, what happened? How did that charming structure turn into the ugly looking exterior that now faces Bloor Street?

It is puzzling; were it not for the fact that the building to the right of the theatre appears to remain the same (right down the connection for utility wires on the building's extreme left), one might think that one of the archival pictures is mislabled. I think it is possible that the building in the 1919 picture may have completely replaced for some reason. (Perhaps too it was only the building through which one entered the auditorium section). Comparing the 1945 and 1917 pictures, it would appear that the building to the left of the theatre was replaced, as it is not as high as the theatre building whereas in the 1919 picture the building to the left theatre was just about as high as the theatre's facade.