Cinema At The Toronto Dominion Centre
King Street and Bay Street,
Toronto,
ON
M5H
King Street and Bay Street,
Toronto,
ON
M5H
2 people
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The auditorium inside this venue looks much like a larger-scale version of Vancouver’s recently-departed Denman Place Cinema, which likewise began life as a Famous Players house when it opened in 1969.
October 27th, 1967 grand opening ad in photo section.
Place Ville Marie Cinemas in Quebec, were part of Famous Players Canadian Corporation, through Twentieth Century Theatres, one of their operating partners and then later they were operated by United Amusement another partnership of Famous Players!!
Been wracking my brains for years trying to recall the name of this place, where I remember seeing “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” on the first of many visits I’ve made to Toronto. I remember the projectionist was a young man with longish hair, mustache and wire-rim glasses, as befits the era. He let me look into the booth, which was down at mezzanine level. Is it true that this theatre is still there, behind locked doors?
The cinema’s lobby looked like the reception of the fancy law firms.
Famous Players was trying to copy Montreal’s Place Ville Marie Cinemas, which was a twin in a office complex built in 1962.
Famous Players Theatres had very few theatre failures. The Cinema at the TD Centre in Toronto was one of them. Even it’s name “THE CINEMA” reeks of elitism. Built in the basement of one of Toronto’s largest and earliest office towers in the financial district, what Famous Players couldn’t understand was that people who worked there all day wouldn’t likely go back downtown to see a movie there at night. Famous Players put a lot of money into this theatre, and some of the expensive lobby furnishings, etc. were over the top.
There was once a restrospective of Goldwyn movies and I saw “Dodsworth” with Walter Huston at that cinema. Those were the days when it was very difficult to see classic movies in Toronto.
I loved this theatre.
Surprisingly quiet considering all the streetcars along King Street.
Saw “Bonnie & Clyde” there in 1968 and “The French Connection” in 1972.
Many others that I can’t quite remember.