York Theatres 1 & 2

The cinema closed on August 26, 2001. Its final two films were The Others (digital) and Lawrence of Arabia.

Memorable screenings I attended here include 70mm presentations of Ghostbusters, Amadeus and the restored Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus and My Fair Lady as well as 35mm presentations of The Last Temptation of Christ and Silverado as their first THX presentation and Jurassic Park as their first DTS presentation. I remember Warren Beatty complementing the York in a tv interview after he held an Ishtar screening there back in 1987.

Also saw the Special Editions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back upstairs and Return of the Jedi downstairs. I think I saw myself in the lineup for Empire Strikes Back on CFTO news. I wonder if that video is online anywhere?

Heard the news very recently they were finally going to be starting on clearing the site for the construction of the condos. Will be interesting to go back to the area to take a look to see how it is going along.

The Yorkville Club has now been closed as the building is about to become a new condo complex along with the parking lot to the west of the theatre building.

Hollywood South was a good auditorium. North…not so much. The Hyland downstairs had a negative projection angle (sort of like a drive-in) and a very wide screen. I usually sat about 4 or 5 rows in front of the booth left of the aisle. I must have seen ET there a half-dozen times including opening night. I still remember lines for that going down the side alley and ‘round the back. Was a nice booth to work, too, though I didn’t like upstairs as much.

Ahh the Hyland. Another one of my favourites (with the Hollywood next door). I remember growing up in the 60s when all of these places were still single screen theatres (Hyland, Fairlawn, Runnymede, Humber, Uptown, Imperial etc) and my favourite spot was the front row of the balcony. And I remember the Westwood when it was one big theatre before they added on the Westwood “Cinema” in 1968…those were the days.

Much as the York had good sound its picture was too small for my liking. Sound systems were calibrated 2/3 the way back and just off center at the time and if you were seated in the sweet-spot your field of view went beyond the masking on both sides. I found that quite off-putting and I preferred to see films elsewhere as a result. For anything in the Canadian Odeon chain (later C-O) I usually preferred the Hyland downstairs or Fairview #1, 2 or 6. For FP, it was obviously the Eglinton or Uptown 1.

I remember after the Canada Square 8 opened, the big pictures would open at the York, stay a few weeks or more and then move over to Canada Square to continue their run, sometimes lasting weeks. It was the perfect set up. Yes, of all the theatres we’ve lost over the years, the York is one of the ones I really miss. But at least it was open for over 30 years, which is longer than the magnificent Odeon Carlton, which lasted for only about 25.

Yeah I fell in love with the York 1 theatre having worked there the summer of ID4 back in 1996. Awesomeness and totally agree with you a bout the grande staircase, a huge amount of class for the venue.

okay,In Augusta the Local here 518 was LAX.Often the projectionist would walk in the office during slow periods and “shoot the bull”.At Regency 1-2-3 Cinemas Chuck Dray the Union’s Business agent could often be spotted at Chick-Fil-a sipping Coffee.I remember one time Cinema One lost sound and I walked over to tell Chuck. He thought I was Kidding,Boy did that 63 year old man fly up those Steps.Tis and Peter both lived in larger Cities,hence the Union went by the books a bit more.I always hated doing Payroll I think at that time they were making about Eight Dollars an hour in Augusta[Mid 70’s].Me,How about $2.50 an hour to be resposible for a large Twin Theatre.

Mike we always took the pay envelopes up to the booth on Friday Nights.Some projectionists would pick them up at the office too. I did not mind as that was the only time they would welcome you to visit the booth.

Yes, it was a strong union for many years; IATSE Local 173 and I was proud to be a member of it for 19 years before taking a withdrawal card. The projectionist upstairs at that time was the local’s president and a really good guy.

Rules were that the projectionist stayed in the booth the whole shift. There was a washroom and a hotplate in there; you left when relieved or at night’s end. It was out of courtesy that we brought his cheque up to him when they were being distributed to the staff.

Yeah the Eglington and the York has some pretty good THX systems with the Uptown being extremely close. I miss those days of those grand halls.