Impossible to tell from the exterior (whose early facade had mostly been shorn from it by 1961), but The Capitol was perhaps Montreal’s glitziest-ever movie theatre.
“At the turn of the century a vaudeville show based in New York occasionally toured through the Maritimes and Quebec. The Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Show had animal acts, comedy, and burlesque. Edmund Porter also travelled with the show; he was one of North America’s earliest significant film directors. Porter’s early movies were probably the first ever shown to vaudeville audiences in the Maritimes.” [Vincent Tinguely]
Pictured above, Wormwood’s co-founder, programmer and operator Gordon Parsons with carbon arc projector in the booth at the old Khyber Building location, in 1983.
“The enthusiasm for urban renewal, combined with the television-inspired decline in attendance at the movies was bad for movie palaces and their vast auditoriums. Halifax and its unique showplace, the Capitol Theatre, was no exception. No expense had been spared by Famous Players in 1930 when they opened the Capitol, a castellated medieval fantasy created for them by the architect Murray Brown. The illusion was complete, and between 1930 and 1974, half the experience in going to the movies was the theatre itself…. Alas, the economics of a 1,980-seat auditorium just did not add up in the age of television. Proposals the Capitol be recast as a civic auditorium came to nothing, much to the regret of later generations ….”
“The Capitol, a fascinating exotic movie theatre whose decoration also broke the Adam-Empire mould, was opened in Halifax in 1929. In a "medieval” atmosphere of turrets, drawbridges, beamed “Tudor” ceilings and heraldic insignia and banners appeared murals of Champlain’s Order of Good Cheer and Wolfe and his loyal forces besieging Louisbourg. The grand foyer of this theatre was rendered “atmospheric,” while the auditorium was unmistakably “hard-topped.”
Anyone interested in the Capitol Theatre should read Cynthia A. Henry, Remembering The Halifax Capitol Theatre 1930-1974, 2000. Available at the Halifax Central Library:
The Halifax Mail, 31 October 1930, p. 21, continued its description of the new Capitol Theatre:
“This Mezzanine Promenade has the same magnificent carpeted floor and massive round pillars supporting the groined and vaulted roof. Deep vaulted embrasures lead to the Balcony level through brass studded and felt covered doors, while other embrasures have mullioned and leaded windows.
The walls of the staircase are in old-time half timber construction, the balustrade being of carved oak and the whole stair covered with the same fine carpet."
Date: 1930
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection Places: Halifax: Buildings
“The Capitol Theatre opened its doors on Barrington Street at the foot of Spring Garden Road, on October 31, 1930. Known for its extravagant architecture and lush decor, the theatre was very popular in the hey-dey of cinema. The Capitol Buildng was built by Brookfield construction and also housed Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Company offices and a shoe store. It was demolished in 1974 by MT&T to make room for the Maritime Centre high-rise tower.”
Most likely the summer of 1965 [based on the marquee title]
The picture above: 7–8 May 1945 [aftermath of the VE Day riots]
c1921
Friday October 31, 1930
Wartime Halifax had about twice its pre-war population and the Capitol was constantly busy, one of the most popular spots in the city.
At some point in time the theatre became part of a much larger chain, Odeon, I think, and the name was changed to the Hyland.
Impossible to tell from the exterior (whose early facade had mostly been shorn from it by 1961), but The Capitol was perhaps Montreal’s glitziest-ever movie theatre.
An almost unimaginably small theatre for such a big film as Star Wars! I also saw it here several times when it debuted in the summer of ‘77.
Origins of the the distinctive ‘Cinema’ name:
“At the turn of the century a vaudeville show based in New York occasionally toured through the Maritimes and Quebec. The Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Show had animal acts, comedy, and burlesque. Edmund Porter also travelled with the show; he was one of North America’s earliest significant film directors. Porter’s early movies were probably the first ever shown to vaudeville audiences in the Maritimes.” [Vincent Tinguely]
https://vintin.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/monkeying-around-with-wormwoods/?fbclid=IwAR2YcW88neo6tRLslROTv5EjV1KS5iwa0KyrrQJ5pO0rsIDxZ05D-1Dve2I
Pictured above, Wormwood’s co-founder, programmer and operator Gordon Parsons with carbon arc projector in the booth at the old Khyber Building location, in 1983.
The Canadian Motion Picture Year Book 1963/64 lists 945 seats when it was still named “The Vogue.”
The Canadian Motion Picture Year Book 1963/64 listed 720 seats
Note the old marquee – late 1930s or ‘40s
The Chronicle Herald, Oct. 14 ‘69
The Chronicle Herald, Nov. 12 ‘69
The Chronicle Herald, Oct. 11 ‘69
The Chronicle Herald, Oct. 14 ‘69
Located at 141-145 Portland St.
The picture here is from 1950 or ‘51
On the marquee: Kathryn Grayson in The Toast of New Orleans
“The enthusiasm for urban renewal, combined with the television-inspired decline in attendance at the movies was bad for movie palaces and their vast auditoriums. Halifax and its unique showplace, the Capitol Theatre, was no exception. No expense had been spared by Famous Players in 1930 when they opened the Capitol, a castellated medieval fantasy created for them by the architect Murray Brown. The illusion was complete, and between 1930 and 1974, half the experience in going to the movies was the theatre itself…. Alas, the economics of a 1,980-seat auditorium just did not add up in the age of television. Proposals the Capitol be recast as a civic auditorium came to nothing, much to the regret of later generations ….”
William D. Naftel, Halifax: a Visual Legacy
Anyone interested in the Capitol Theatre should read Cynthia A. Henry, Remembering The Halifax Capitol Theatre 1930-1974, 2000.
Available at the Halifax Central Library:
https://halifax.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1343123135
“The Capitol, a fascinating exotic movie theatre whose decoration also broke the Adam-Empire mould, was opened in Halifax in 1929. In a "medieval” atmosphere of turrets, drawbridges, beamed “Tudor” ceilings and heraldic insignia and banners appeared murals of Champlain’s Order of Good Cheer and Wolfe and his loyal forces besieging Louisbourg. The grand foyer of this theatre was rendered “atmospheric,” while the auditorium was unmistakably “hard-topped.”
Parks Canada
http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/chs/13/chs13-1m.htm
Anyone interested in the Capitol Theatre should read Cynthia A. Henry, Remembering The Halifax Capitol Theatre 1930-1974, 2000. Available at the Halifax Central Library:
https://halifax.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1343123135
Taken soon after its opening on 31 October 1930.
The Halifax Mail, 31 October 1930, p. 21, continued its description of the new Capitol Theatre:
“This Mezzanine Promenade has the same magnificent carpeted floor and massive round pillars supporting the groined and vaulted roof. Deep vaulted embrasures lead to the Balcony level through brass studded and felt covered doors, while other embrasures have mullioned and leaded windows.
The walls of the staircase are in old-time half timber construction, the balustrade being of carved oak and the whole stair covered with the same fine carpet."
Date: 1930
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection Places: Halifax: Buildings
Vestibule
Reference: NSARM Photo Collection Places: Halifax: Buildings
“The Capitol Theatre opened its doors on Barrington Street at the foot of Spring Garden Road, on October 31, 1930. Known for its extravagant architecture and lush decor, the theatre was very popular in the hey-dey of cinema. The Capitol Buildng was built by Brookfield construction and also housed Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Company offices and a shoe store. It was demolished in 1974 by MT&T to make room for the Maritime Centre high-rise tower.”
Halifax Municipal Archives
https://memoryns.ca/capitol-theatre-collection