Palace Theatre
137 King Street E,
Hamilton,
ON
L8N
137 King Street E,
Hamilton,
ON
L8N
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 61 comments
Taken over by Granada Theatres along with the Capitol on September 2nd, 1971 after Odeon opened the Odeon theatre 1 & 2. more to come.
Reopened by Famous Players as Palace on March 22nd, 1930. Another ad posted.
Opened October 3rd, 1921. Ad posted.
Pantages theatre opening 01 Oct 1921, Sat The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com
Opening night of the Pantages Theatre in Hamilton was October 31, 1921.
It changes its name to the Palace around 1927.
Final films are shown in the fall of 1972.
1957 photo added credit Superior Engravers courtesy of Randy Watts, via the Vintage Hamilton Facebook page.
The Palace Theatre was operated by Hamilton United Theatres of which the estate of George Stroud was the primary shareholder, and Famous Players Canadian Corporation. Famous Players would book the theatre and then after expenses were met would split the profits in equal shares. Famous would not guarantee the results. The other big theatres in the Hamilton United Group were Capitol and Savoy. Mr. George Stroud must have been a very wealthy man!
TivFan: Am researching for a novel and would love chat about The Palace. Please contact me:
I remember we would go to see the James Bond doubles here. The theater was amazing and the marquee was the biggest and best in the city (the Tivoli, second), with neon and chaser lights.
During the demolition, the workers let me look around the building. I went downtown after school. I was in there two times, at least. Once, I got signs, ‘foodstuff’ licences and a large blueprint of the seating plan. You had to enter the building on King William Street, through the exit door, to the left of the stage. Someone had removed a section of decorative plaster (2 ft, square), and it was cracked and it was just leaning against the wall near the exit. I asked if I could have it—they said yes—and I’ve still got it. Right place, right time. It’s a plaster-relief; a decorative boarder at the top and bottom, two half-human/half-animal figures sitting back-to-back, with a pedistal between them. You can see the renovation paint job on portions of the piece. I remember carrying it out, and there was a phone booth at King William and Catharine. I called my Dad to pick me up in the car. We cut an old piece of carpet, and it layed on it, under my bed for a couple years until I built a frame for it in wood shop. I don’t know if it’s from the auditorium, or lobby or what.
This reminds me of the movie called “Rosie!” (Universal, c. 1967—never on video). Rosalind Russell plays Rosie. She has money and her kids/heirs can’t wait to get their hands on it. Sandra Dee is her grand-daughter (I think—I saw it 30+ years ago). She’s the only one that “gets” her. Anyway, Rosie decides to buy this old theater—for $2.5 million. She explains to Dee that they were going to tear it down. She couldn’t let that happen, because this was where her late husband proposed to her. And she says: “They were going to tear it down and turn it into a parking lot. Progress. WHAT THE HELL IS SO PROGRESSIVE ABOUT A PARKING LOT?!” Scene.
The auditorium was built on the north side of the alleyway, on the King William Street land. Both the auditorium and entrance building were demolished. The building on King Street is an entirely new structure, and now houses the Sushi Star restaurant. The auditorium is a parking lot. That’s right…they paved paradise, put up a parking lot…everybody sing!
If you go to the Century listing, turn the Google street view across the street, and you will see the parking lot where the Palace auditorium once stood. The main theater entrance was on King Street. Like the Capitol, the building basically housed the ramped hallway entrance, which rose from street level, up to and over the alleyway and into the main theater building. An archive photo shows the entrance facade and marquee. Another is a shot from the lobby and down the entrance hallway. The box office is in the middle, with daylight through the doors on either side.
This theater is one of the city’s biggest and saddest losses. It was once considered to be the civic auditorium/theater, but they opted to build Hamilton Place instead. Idiots. HP is an architectural eyesore. You can see in the archive photos just how amazing this place was. If you’ve seen the Pantages/Canon in Toronto, the Pantages/Palace was very close in size and design. And “Palace” was a very fitting and descriptive name.
Brian Morton: I am looking for history of Hamilton Movie Theatres. Contact – . Nabes
I am doing an article on Hamilton’s Movie Theatres and would like to get hold of Brian Morton. Can anyone help. Nabes
Here are direct links to the Ontario Archives photos:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011961.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011962.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011963.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011964.jpg
Great photo! Brings back memories for sure….the marquees and the bus.
Thanks.
Wow.
That’s incredible!
I remember those buses!
There’s the Hyland down the street on the right…and I’m assuming the Capitol in the foreground on the left?
The Palace is visible on the left in this August 1972 photo by Mike Harrington:
http://tinyurl.com/6p7sqc
Brian:
Thanks. They are the ones I saw at the Archives.
Mjc
Goto
View link
Click on visual database about half way down on the left
Type in the words “Palace Theatre Hamilton” into the search box.
and four pictures of the Palace will appear.
You can download them, you just can’t reproduce them or post them anywhere without permission from the archive.
Also….in addition to my previous post…I have not seen anything on the Palace in the Ontario Archives online. The Capitol is there but not tghe old Palace theatre. The only shots I have seen are in John Lindsay’s book and the original photo’s at the Archives.
I was down to the Archives a year ago and found a couple of the Palace. The best one is from the stage looking out but I have never seen it on any website. Brings back memories for me from when I used to go there when I was in high school.
The presentation of movies at the Palace was the best I saw in Hamilton. Good use of the stage lighting a curtains, nice clean show. Most other theatres in Hamilton back then had atrocious showmanship. No curtains, slap on the movie and that was it…even the Capitol.
Not sure if these lincs will work… There are pictures of the Palace on the Ont Achives website.
front
View link
View link
Aud
View link
View link
if this doesn’t work then goto
View link
and search using the words Palace Theatre Hamilton.
gthen
“If this had happened then the Palace might have lasted until the late 1980’s as a cinema, likely closing at the same time as the Century and Tivoli (September 1989).Both of the theatres ended up owned by the same company who was not affiliated with Famous Players or Odeon (later Cineplex)”
Brian: Thanks for this very intriguing tidbit; I hadn’t realized that they weren’t part of either company’s chains…even though I’m sure I have the info laying about here somewhere.
For years I’ve been putting together info for a planned online resource for Hamilton cinema history; drop me an email if you’re interested in chatting about this stuff.
One last Palace Story for today.
Back in the mid 80’s there was a teacher I knew from Elizabeth Bagshaw Elementary in the East End. He was a theatre guy who did Gilbert and Sullivan musicals with the kids in the school which later was given to the Catholic Board and became the current Bishop Ryan High School.
He had a standing deal with Theatre Aquarius to pick up their sets and scenery which were often thrown out after productions.
He had a big storage room at the school which was full of scenery. I used to borrow this stuff for my own theatre porductions. Also in this store room he had an 8 foot long chunk of the Palace’s balcony Railing, which he had fished out of the dumpster… I wonder if it surved??