Hyland Cinema
240 Wharncliffe Road S,
London,
ON
N6J
240 Wharncliffe Road S,
London,
ON
N6J
2 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Hyland Cinema (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd.
Functions: Movies (Classic), Movies (Film Festivals), Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Elmwood Theatre, Odeon Hyland, Hyland Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
519.913.0313
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 2, 2010 — Happy 45th, "The Sound Of Music"
The Elmwood Theatre opened on September 9, 1937 with 620 seats. In 1947, it was taken over by Odeon Theatres Canada, and became the Odeon Hyland. In 1959, the name was changed again to Hyland Theatre. Now known as the Hyland Cinema, it screens a mix of art, foreign, first-run and classic movies.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Back To The Future opened here 25 years ago and played for 12 weeks!
I have been the projectionist here for 5 years since we reopened in 2005!
The theatre sat in limbo for 16 years!
We are booking Back To The Future for a future engagement in 35mm of course!
Hard to believe it played 12 weeks even 25 years ago.People up there must really like Michael J. Fox.
Heavy mix of rep/revival with some first run art. Definitely not a second run house.
Actual opening date is September 9, 1937 with Fredric March in “Road to Glory” and Joe E. Brown in “Polo Joe” (unknown if extras added). Odeon Theatres Canada took over the Elmwood in December 1947 and was renamed the Odeon Hyland. The “Odeon” part of the name was dropped in 1959, and was renamed the Hyland Theatre. Despite a mix of first-run American and British titles throughout much of its first several decades as a neighborhood movie theater, the Hyland Theatre held some of the longest engagements.
When Dick Drysdale took over as manager, the Hyland ran “The Sound of Music” for 73 weeks. Because of the long engagement, Drysdale unexpectedly won the “Showman of the Year” award in an international competition for movie theater managers. British films were dropped by the late-1970s, and the Hyland ran only first-run American mainstream under both Canadian Odeon (Odeon Theatres Canada) and Cineplex Odeon (after Cineplex and Odeon Theatres Canada merged in July 1984). This lasted until its last operator Cineplex Odeon closed the theater on August 17, 1989.
In September 1989, the building was purchased by the Christian Centre of London, and the formerly Hyland was used as a “film ministry” and renamed the building “Word of Life Centre” on October 1 of that year. That closed in 1994. After sitting dormant for nine years, the building was sold in 2003 to Ali and Moira Alden, where they renovated everything, and reopened on December 31, 2003 as an independently-operated art and international house.
As of 2026, the Hyland Cinema screens a mix of classic films, first-run films, second-run films, family films, independent films, foreign films, film festivals, and special events.