Hey Jeff, you may have been one of the staff who chased me through the theater when, as a kid, I accidentally opened a side fire escape door while trying to find the restroom during an afternoon showing of a Jerry Lewis film! (they never caught me, by the way…)
Since you were into the projection, do you have any idea what happened to the VistaVision projectors they used to have. I recall that was a big selling point back in the early days of the “Hi-Fi” craze as Paramount would proudly advertise their pictures in this new process of “Motion Picture High Fidelity”.
This theater is just as amazing today as it was upon opening in 1971. It is part of a complex know as Ontario Place, which is actually 3 man-made islands on the Toronto shoreline. The triodetic-dome structure appears to be rising out of Lake Ontario apart from these islands.
Living in Buffalo at the time, I was a frequent visitor here. One day, I got up the nerve to talk my way into the projection room and was rewarded by not only a complete tour of the working equipment but also obtaining a few frames of a Imax print – which I still have to this day.
Went here in the 70’s ONCE during a typically frigid Buffalo night and found that I had to sit as close to one of the side walls as I could to be comfortable. Seems the theater was ‘heated’ by radiators located there which failed miserably to adequately heat that big old barn. However, they kept making so much noise that it was hard to hear the film at times. A truly unforgettable experience that I had successfully forgotten about until now!
I can’t believe that nobody has commented on these theaters so far
To be certain, the outlying 4-screen building, put up years after the major structure, was little more that the traditional cookie-cutter multiplex of the day. But the original 2 theaters were absolutely fantastic.
Wish I knew more about them technically, but they were originally called the Holiday Showcase Theaters. They shared the land parcel with the Holiday Showcase Restaurant, a circular building which was very unusual at the time.
Each theater was an enormously plain rectangle – one slightly smaller than the other – but getting beyond that, inside you found a massive floor to ceiling curved screen and a sound system that blew all others away. A scope film in here was a true experience!
The big theater ran the local premier of Ken Russel’s “Tommy” which, I believe, was the first film to utilize the forerummer of 5.1 Dolby sound. They squeezed in gigantic speakers at each rear corner of the auditorium which forced patrons to squeeze by THEM while coming and going. The resultant auditory assult would never have made a Lucasfilm THX certified best-of list, but was perfect for the crowd of the day.
These houses would sell out on weekends, and during the showing of “Alien” that I attended, I hit the late show after a sold-out 8PM crowd came staggering out. As I entered the auditorium, a sense of ‘fear’ after the hugh crowd had seen the film on that huge screen was actually palpble – something I’ve yet to ever re-experience in any theater again.
Management was also fond of holding events in the parking lot to attract attention – like the old car show at the opening of “Grease 2”.
Let’s hear more memories of this popular cinema — anyone remember seeing “Johnathan Livingston Seagull” wall-to-wall here???
My best memory of this theater (no matter WHAT it’s street address may have been) is that on the hot summer days, which – admittedly – were few and far between in Buffalo, they had long banners below the sidewalk marquee advertising their installation of REFRIGERATED air conditioning. To further entice you inside, they left the doors wide open and the resultant outpouring of cold air was enough to bring you in to see the worst movie of the year!
Of course, most of the other theaters followed the same practice, but the Paramount always seemed to have the best mix of a strong outflow with the smell of buttered popcorn.
Basically correct – it shared the north end of that block on Maple with the Scotch & Sirloin Restaurant which, I believe, is still operating there today — great Alaskian King Crab !!
On August 4 1990, I was the driver of the tour bus that brought Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd to the Keswick during what may have been their last east coast tour by motorcoach. The band at that time was conducted by Frank Tiberi, and tickets went for $17.00 and $14.00.
I not only got to hear this great band play every night for about 3 weeks, but I also got to play frisbee with them in the parking lots as well!! Quite a gig!
Also have an excellent photo of the poster in the front theater showcase, as well as a front theater view with the band’s name on it – leave a reply should you like me to e-mail them to you.
I seem to remember that before they carved this theater into 3 screens, the ceiling had a motiff that somewhat resembled an old-fashioned tombstone radio.
A friend of mine worked as usher and snackbar attendant in the earty 60’s here and stated that he eventually became sick from the smell of the rancid butter that he had to continually put on the popcorn!
There used to be a tremendous hotdog-type diner next to the side entrance of this house where they were famous for their toasted buns (you should excuse the expression). As a kid, I think I ate so many hotdogs there that it gave me the artery blocks I have today!
In later years, there was a Mike’s Submarine Shop close-by, and many patrons would first stop there and buy a sub to take into the theater and eat as the show went on. These subs all had a distinctive smell which sometimes made it seem like you were sitting in the middle of a crowd of unwashed people as you watched the film.
I think this theater used to have ‘seashell’ type light fixtures on the side walls which were back-lit. A friend of mine used to usher here, and told me of how management would ‘occasionally’ piece together torn ticket stubs and resell them to patrons to be ripped in half again — of course, that’s his story, he could be wrong….
He got me up to see the projection booth once which had a giant, ratty old stuffed chair where the projectionist would sometimes fall asleep and miss a changeover!
My only recollection of this theater was during it’s last run as a movie house when they ‘redecorated’ the interior in a motiff that somewhat resembled a warehouse — the walls were covered with what looked like split apart burlap sacks!
After they carved up this house into 3 theaters, I think the last moment of its glory was their booking, first run, of “Woodstock”. They ran it in the largest theater, and charged what was a truly exorbitant price — I think it was $6.00 — which I finally coughed up since I didn’t get to go to the festival. This film should have been run at the Granada — the sound was poor and the facility was cramped — but the haze in the theater was amazing!
In it’s prior incarnation as a single screen theater, I always marveled at their continued usage of multiple curtains – as did many houses for years in the area. Projection would start off on the solid house curtain which opened to reveal a see-through light curtain which was held in place until the main feature started up. Then it too opened to a clear picture, with all side travelers in place for perfect framing. At film end, the light curtain closed on the credits, then the main curtain as the lights came up. Try finding that today……………
I watched the demolition of this theater when I was a kid — went down every day in the summer to see it vanish. It appeared to have a huge water tank – akin to an underground filling station gas tank – on the very top rear of the building. When the wrecking ball hit the wall support that kept in up there, it literally thundered to the ground, bringing everyone from the surrounding buildings outside to see what carnage may have ensued. Luckily, a gigantic dust cloud was the only bad result.
Back in the 50’s, this theater ran the extremely controversial film “Blackboard Jungle” and was picketed by local PTA groups concerned about the “hoodlum” theme of the picture.
Interesting theater – Ken Kavanaugh, who used to be a union projectionist, told me that it had the largest screen of any ‘neighborhood’ theater in the city.
As I remember it from watching films there, it was basically a big rectangle inside – don’t recall any balcony – but the huge screen was truly impressive.
It it’s last days, it was really getting run down. I was actually in the theater when, during the main feature, part of the rear ceiling came crashing down on (fortunately) empty seats, causing some consternation for the (fortunately) small audience in attendance!
This was truly an amazing theater that had the audacity to run films most mainstream houses avoided. Some of this boldness came from its proximity to the University of Buffalo, some from its superb equipment.
While most older, converted theaters managed to fit their screens inside an original prosenium arch, the Granada’s screen ran literally from wall to wall. The original arch was left intact behind said screen, and could actually be seen upon demolition if one was willing to poke around in the ruins.
Aside from the Cinemiracle presentation of “Windjammer”, probably their most audacious booking was the 1963 Russian version of “War and Peace”. This was the first Russian film shot in 70mm 6-channel sound and cost $100 million at the time (about $700 million today)! It’s extreme running time of 7 to 8 hours required running it in 2 parts on different nights. Not exactly a house moneymaker at the time..
As time went on and multiplexes took over, this theater was finally reduced to running light porn films from 16mm xenon projectors — I know because I was a projectionist at the Norton Conference Theater on the U.B. campus when the Granada owners tried to hire us to run these films. (No, I didn’t take the job – Playboy was good enough)
Really, a sad end to such an adventurous theater ——–
As I recall, this theater was converted to 3 strip by actually adding the left & right projection booths outside the physical theater building and knocking port windows through the walls! To gain entry to these booth from the center projection room, open air catwalks were hung on the sides of the building from this room – which must have been an absolute joy to the poor projectionists during the Buffalo winters.
Hey Jeff, you may have been one of the staff who chased me through the theater when, as a kid, I accidentally opened a side fire escape door while trying to find the restroom during an afternoon showing of a Jerry Lewis film! (they never caught me, by the way…)
Since you were into the projection, do you have any idea what happened to the VistaVision projectors they used to have. I recall that was a big selling point back in the early days of the “Hi-Fi” craze as Paramount would proudly advertise their pictures in this new process of “Motion Picture High Fidelity”.
This theater is just as amazing today as it was upon opening in 1971. It is part of a complex know as Ontario Place, which is actually 3 man-made islands on the Toronto shoreline. The triodetic-dome structure appears to be rising out of Lake Ontario apart from these islands.
Living in Buffalo at the time, I was a frequent visitor here. One day, I got up the nerve to talk my way into the projection room and was rewarded by not only a complete tour of the working equipment but also obtaining a few frames of a Imax print – which I still have to this day.
Went here in the 70’s ONCE during a typically frigid Buffalo night and found that I had to sit as close to one of the side walls as I could to be comfortable. Seems the theater was ‘heated’ by radiators located there which failed miserably to adequately heat that big old barn. However, they kept making so much noise that it was hard to hear the film at times. A truly unforgettable experience that I had successfully forgotten about until now!
I can’t believe that nobody has commented on these theaters so far
To be certain, the outlying 4-screen building, put up years after the major structure, was little more that the traditional cookie-cutter multiplex of the day. But the original 2 theaters were absolutely fantastic.
Wish I knew more about them technically, but they were originally called the Holiday Showcase Theaters. They shared the land parcel with the Holiday Showcase Restaurant, a circular building which was very unusual at the time.
Each theater was an enormously plain rectangle – one slightly smaller than the other – but getting beyond that, inside you found a massive floor to ceiling curved screen and a sound system that blew all others away. A scope film in here was a true experience!
The big theater ran the local premier of Ken Russel’s “Tommy” which, I believe, was the first film to utilize the forerummer of 5.1 Dolby sound. They squeezed in gigantic speakers at each rear corner of the auditorium which forced patrons to squeeze by THEM while coming and going. The resultant auditory assult would never have made a Lucasfilm THX certified best-of list, but was perfect for the crowd of the day.
These houses would sell out on weekends, and during the showing of “Alien” that I attended, I hit the late show after a sold-out 8PM crowd came staggering out. As I entered the auditorium, a sense of ‘fear’ after the hugh crowd had seen the film on that huge screen was actually palpble – something I’ve yet to ever re-experience in any theater again.
Management was also fond of holding events in the parking lot to attract attention – like the old car show at the opening of “Grease 2”.
Let’s hear more memories of this popular cinema — anyone remember seeing “Johnathan Livingston Seagull” wall-to-wall here???
My best memory of this theater (no matter WHAT it’s street address may have been) is that on the hot summer days, which – admittedly – were few and far between in Buffalo, they had long banners below the sidewalk marquee advertising their installation of REFRIGERATED air conditioning. To further entice you inside, they left the doors wide open and the resultant outpouring of cold air was enough to bring you in to see the worst movie of the year!
Of course, most of the other theaters followed the same practice, but the Paramount always seemed to have the best mix of a strong outflow with the smell of buttered popcorn.
Basically correct – it shared the north end of that block on Maple with the Scotch & Sirloin Restaurant which, I believe, is still operating there today — great Alaskian King Crab !!
On August 4 1990, I was the driver of the tour bus that brought Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd to the Keswick during what may have been their last east coast tour by motorcoach. The band at that time was conducted by Frank Tiberi, and tickets went for $17.00 and $14.00.
I not only got to hear this great band play every night for about 3 weeks, but I also got to play frisbee with them in the parking lots as well!! Quite a gig!
Also have an excellent photo of the poster in the front theater showcase, as well as a front theater view with the band’s name on it – leave a reply should you like me to e-mail them to you.
I seem to remember that before they carved this theater into 3 screens, the ceiling had a motiff that somewhat resembled an old-fashioned tombstone radio.
A friend of mine worked as usher and snackbar attendant in the earty 60’s here and stated that he eventually became sick from the smell of the rancid butter that he had to continually put on the popcorn!
Yum!!!!
There used to be a tremendous hotdog-type diner next to the side entrance of this house where they were famous for their toasted buns (you should excuse the expression). As a kid, I think I ate so many hotdogs there that it gave me the artery blocks I have today!
In later years, there was a Mike’s Submarine Shop close-by, and many patrons would first stop there and buy a sub to take into the theater and eat as the show went on. These subs all had a distinctive smell which sometimes made it seem like you were sitting in the middle of a crowd of unwashed people as you watched the film.
I think this theater used to have ‘seashell’ type light fixtures on the side walls which were back-lit. A friend of mine used to usher here, and told me of how management would ‘occasionally’ piece together torn ticket stubs and resell them to patrons to be ripped in half again — of course, that’s his story, he could be wrong….
He got me up to see the projection booth once which had a giant, ratty old stuffed chair where the projectionist would sometimes fall asleep and miss a changeover!
My only recollection of this theater was during it’s last run as a movie house when they ‘redecorated’ the interior in a motiff that somewhat resembled a warehouse — the walls were covered with what looked like split apart burlap sacks!
After they carved up this house into 3 theaters, I think the last moment of its glory was their booking, first run, of “Woodstock”. They ran it in the largest theater, and charged what was a truly exorbitant price — I think it was $6.00 — which I finally coughed up since I didn’t get to go to the festival. This film should have been run at the Granada — the sound was poor and the facility was cramped — but the haze in the theater was amazing!
In it’s prior incarnation as a single screen theater, I always marveled at their continued usage of multiple curtains – as did many houses for years in the area. Projection would start off on the solid house curtain which opened to reveal a see-through light curtain which was held in place until the main feature started up. Then it too opened to a clear picture, with all side travelers in place for perfect framing. At film end, the light curtain closed on the credits, then the main curtain as the lights came up. Try finding that today……………
I watched the demolition of this theater when I was a kid — went down every day in the summer to see it vanish. It appeared to have a huge water tank – akin to an underground filling station gas tank – on the very top rear of the building. When the wrecking ball hit the wall support that kept in up there, it literally thundered to the ground, bringing everyone from the surrounding buildings outside to see what carnage may have ensued. Luckily, a gigantic dust cloud was the only bad result.
Back in the 50’s, this theater ran the extremely controversial film “Blackboard Jungle” and was picketed by local PTA groups concerned about the “hoodlum” theme of the picture.
Interesting theater – Ken Kavanaugh, who used to be a union projectionist, told me that it had the largest screen of any ‘neighborhood’ theater in the city.
As I remember it from watching films there, it was basically a big rectangle inside – don’t recall any balcony – but the huge screen was truly impressive.
It it’s last days, it was really getting run down. I was actually in the theater when, during the main feature, part of the rear ceiling came crashing down on (fortunately) empty seats, causing some consternation for the (fortunately) small audience in attendance!
This was truly an amazing theater that had the audacity to run films most mainstream houses avoided. Some of this boldness came from its proximity to the University of Buffalo, some from its superb equipment.
While most older, converted theaters managed to fit their screens inside an original prosenium arch, the Granada’s screen ran literally from wall to wall. The original arch was left intact behind said screen, and could actually be seen upon demolition if one was willing to poke around in the ruins.
Aside from the Cinemiracle presentation of “Windjammer”, probably their most audacious booking was the 1963 Russian version of “War and Peace”. This was the first Russian film shot in 70mm 6-channel sound and cost $100 million at the time (about $700 million today)! It’s extreme running time of 7 to 8 hours required running it in 2 parts on different nights. Not exactly a house moneymaker at the time..
As time went on and multiplexes took over, this theater was finally reduced to running light porn films from 16mm xenon projectors — I know because I was a projectionist at the Norton Conference Theater on the U.B. campus when the Granada owners tried to hire us to run these films. (No, I didn’t take the job – Playboy was good enough)
Really, a sad end to such an adventurous theater ——–
As I recall, this theater was converted to 3 strip by actually adding the left & right projection booths outside the physical theater building and knocking port windows through the walls! To gain entry to these booth from the center projection room, open air catwalks were hung on the sides of the building from this room – which must have been an absolute joy to the poor projectionists during the Buffalo winters.
Can anyone else add to this?