Paradise Theatre
919 Granville Street,
Vancouver,
BC
V6Z 1L3
919 Granville Street,
Vancouver,
BC
V6Z 1L3
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Famous Players Eve pool members: Eve in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax, Eden in Toronto, Eros in Montréal.
Heres the timeline for this cinema. March 30th, 1949 opened as Studio by 20th Century Theatres
1969 sold to Famous Players 446 seats
September 7th, 1972 reopened as Eve by Famous Players Eve Pool. Adult movies are shown
1978 renamed Lyric
May 18th, 1981 renamed Towne by Landmark Cinemas
August 31st, 1984 renamed Studio
April 14th, 1989 renamed Paradise
1993 taken over by Caprice Theatres
1999 closed
This reopened as Towne on May 8th, 1981. Grand opening ad posted.
1981 protest of “Caligula” at Towne Cinema.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drSY72BSaQM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1MjsoNDHrchK6JvBxD16AAJf5aym7kiAOSfVdkKpF4Tu_MWeU02W0aAGQ
Circa 1972 photo as Eve Theatre added courtesy David Banks.
Late `50s photo added courtesy Old Canada Series Facebook page.
When I moved to Vancouver in 1975, 919 Granville was the location of the Eve, a porn theatre. There was another porn house, the Golden Kitten, farther up Granville and a third, the Venus, on Main near Prior. I didn’t go to the Eve or Venus but visited the Golden Kitten once and the stench (urine, feces, vomit, semen) was overpowering. Last I heard, the Venus was a crackhouse before being demolished. No great loss.
Reopened as Lyric on August 31st, 1984. Another ad posted.
Grand opening article:
Studio Theatre opening Tue, Mar 29, 1949 – 7 · The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com
Opened as Studio on March 29th, 1949. Grand opening ad posted.
March 1972 photo added credit Curt Lang. Vancouver Public Library 85922F
1959 photo as the Studio added via Paul Walton.
Joe’s Apartment has now become “The Studio” once again! The new owners have opened The Studio Records which is a night club/record store that lovingly recreates the original “Studio” neon sign.
It’s still not a movie theatre but it adds some much needed retro-style neon to the Granville strip.
Studio/Eve/Lyric/Towne/Studio/Paradise/Tonic/Joe' Apartment.
Caligula was the first movie when the name changed to Towne. I uploaded a Vancouver Sun clipping.
Google bernice gerard towne for a July 1981 protest
This theatre originally called The Studio, was a unit of Twenthieth Century Theatres, an operating partner of Famous Players Canadian Corporation!!
The Lyric didn’t have an easy time running Caligula, I remember years ago doing research on Vancouver theatres, coming across an article about the protests over the screening of this film. I’m sure that led to the longevity of the run. This was around 1981.
Man imagine playing CALIGUA uncut for a year?
Now known as “ Joe’s Apartment ”, yet another bar on Granville.
919 Granville was once again “Studio” between Towne and Paradise.. no giant S though http://vancouverneon.com/images3/herzog/studio1958.jpg
Was also once a porn theatre called Eve. Reverted to mainstream movies as Lyric and later Towne before becoming the Princess. One notable event was that as the Lyric, it ran the uncensored version of Caligula for a full year.
I still remember going to this theatre on its opening night. They rented a pair of powerful spotlights which waved back and forth in the air.
The opening films were The Naked Gun and Twins.
The theatre was the best deal in town. They ran three movies and charged $2.50 which allowed you to see all three movies plus you could see two of the movies a second time if you wanted.