Coronet Theatre

399 Yonge Street,
Toronto, ON M5B 1S9

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Biltmore Theatres, Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd.

Architects: S. Devore

Functions: Retail

Previous Names: Biltmore Savoy Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Coronet Theatre

The Biltmore Savoy Theatre was located at the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Gerrard Street. It was opened on February 15, 1951. It later became the Coronet Theatre on December 31, 1963 and played double features (1963-1980).

Now a Jewellery Exchange.

Contributed by Edward

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

laserboyTO
laserboyTO on April 25, 2011 at 4:01 pm

I saw Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein in 3D at the Coronet too, about 1981! It was on a triple bill with Slap Shot and The Fog. The picture on the screen for Frankenstein was pretty small compared to The Fog & Slap Shot but the 3D sure did work good! The Coronet was my favorate grindhouse cinema in the late 70’s/early 80’s after they dropped their porn programme around ‘77 or '78. The Rio was a smelly, moldy smelling dump but the Biltmore was OK except it had some pretty dodgy charactors in there sometimes.
Good memories as a stupid, fearless teenager who loved movies.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on April 25, 2011 at 4:51 pm

Thanks Greg,that must have been and old print of Frankenstein,I think it came out in the early-mid 70’s.And What is that great Paul Newman movie being shown with two Horror films?LOl.

laserboyTO
laserboyTO on July 5, 2011 at 1:27 pm

After Odeon dropped it as a porn cinema it went through several changes in ownership. It was real bad by the late 70’s, entire rows of seats were missing or just laying willy-nilly on the ground. Soon after it closed for a short period and someone dumped some money into it. They actually had Polaroid photos taped up in the box office showing how nice it was inside now (photos of the repaired/refurbished seats, new screen, carpets, curtains with nice lighting, snack bar etc.). It was tacky but I guess it had developed a bad reputation & they wanted to break it. I was in a few times after the reno. (i.e. Frankenstein) and I noticed that there were no seats left in the balcony. Presumably they took what they needed from up there to fix the seats on the main level, maybe sold the rest off but the balcony was closed off and never used again.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on May 21, 2012 at 2:00 am

As the Coronet, 1959: View link

ScreenClassic
ScreenClassic on February 14, 2013 at 10:28 pm

The picture of the Coronet in the above link actually appears to have been taken in or after 1978, not 1959, because of the movies featured on the theatre marquee: The George Burns comedy “Oh, God!” (1977) and the Clint Eastwood flick “Every Which Way but Loose” (1978).

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on February 15, 2013 at 9:53 am

This theatre was operated by the original British Odeon Theatres of Canada as their grind house in opposition to the Twentieth Century Theatres DOWNTOWN THEATRE and the Famous Players ELGIN/YONGE theatre. All 3 of these theatres were “action” houses were the customers would arrive early and eat hot dogs!!!

laserboyTO
laserboyTO on March 13, 2013 at 10:54 pm

The Downtown was before my day, it had already been converted to retail but I have memories of it as a kid but was never inside. I remember the Coronet showing skin flicks from the mid 70’s when I started hanging out downtown on weekends and watching movies all weekend then Odeon dumped it and it ran independently until it closed as a cinema. The Yonge was great and I could always get in there for “Restricted” double bills even though I was only 14 or 15 at the time and the program at the Yonge usually changed every week (sometimes they’d hold a program over for a second week) so it was bliss in there seeing all those cool films that I loved. Saw Fantasia in stereo sound for the first time after the Yonge “renovation” & rename to Elgin theatre plus Abba the Movie & The Last Waltz (all in stereo sound too). Then Famous Players dropped the first-run policy and went back to running action house double bills until it closed in the early 80’s. Fun fact: The Yonge was the Toronto cinema that opened the Texas Chainsaw Massacre exclusively in fall of 1974 on a double bill with “The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia” (also a drive-in too I think). Funny how what is now a classic film was dropped in to run one week – it ended up playing for several weeks before being moved over to the Imperial Six.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 4, 2014 at 4:46 pm

1951 and 1963 grand opening ads in photo section.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on August 21, 2022 at 12:52 am

The Savoy was the second Yonge Street house for the Okun Bros. Biltmore Theatres, Ltd. chain, and the chain’s sixth theatre, when it opened on February 15, 1951. Early photos show the name “Biltmore Savoy” on the façade. Doug Taylor attributes the design of the house to Toronto architect S. Devore, who also designed the Yonge Street Biltmore and perhaps at least two other houses in the Biltmore chain during the same period.

m00se1111
m00se1111 on August 21, 2022 at 12:35 pm

The Jewellry Store is still at the corner, it’s called Barclay Jewellery Ltd.

Can the address please be updated, the last three digits of the postal code are missing…

399 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M5B 1S9

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