5 OF TORONTO'S BEST OLD MOVIE THEATRES

Ghosts of Toronto's Past | Rebecca Barrett 

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In the past month, the big news in Toronto’s local heritage scene has been that the iconic Scotiabank Theatre will likely get demolished in the coming years to make room for RioCan’s new developments. The dramatic social media response to this news has really gotten me thinking about the larger presence that movie theatres have in our city’s cultural landscape.

Just as movie theatres can represent everything modern and fast-paced about a city – all the newest and most impressive 3D and IMAX technology, come to life in front of our very eyes – old movie theatres can remind us of a slower-paced, simpler, and more charming vision of a city. They harken back to a time when marquee signs were updated by kids on ladders and when going to the movies was a special occasion to get dressed up for. The movie theatres on this list have all stood the test of time and contain more charm and character in a single marquee letter than the Scotiabank Theatre has in all its giant Rubik’s Cube, broken-escalator glory. So, even though we can (and should) acknowledge the inevitable change that the demolition of the Scotiabank Theatre will cause to Toronto, hopefully this list can also remind us that there are still other, more interesting and iconic, places for us to eat popcorn in the dark with strangers.

1. Fox Theatre (2236 Queen St. E)

The old marquee sign is one of the most endearing qualities of the Fox. Source. 

Located in the Beaches at the intersection of Queen St. and Beech Ave., this theatre has been around since 1914 – making it the second oldest movie theatre in Toronto, after the Revue Theatre. It has only one screen and shows a mix of independent and foreign films, old classics, and second-run movies that have already left the bigger chain theatres.

It underwent extensive renovation in 2007, which focused on restoring the theatre’s 1930’s décor. The restoration saw the addition of an old-fashioned popcorn machine, a chalkboard menu, and a reupholstered smoking wall. If you’re looking to take a step back in time, Fox Theatre won’t disappoint.

2. Humber Cinemas (2442 Bloor St. W)

Humber Cinema’s simple and bare façade, redeemed only slightly by the tree out front. Source.

Humber Cinemas is located in Bloor West Village, at the corner of Bloor St. and Jane St., and was originally one of five Toronto Odeon Cinemas. The Odeon Danforth is now a fitness centre and the other three Odeons have since been demolished – meaning that the Humber location is the only one left. It closed in 2003 and sat abandoned for six years, but in 2009 new ownership took over, renovating and rebranding it.

The reopening has been a success, but there is concern among the community that Plazacorp, the sites owner, is planning to tear down the theatre to build condominiums. The neighborhood’s local city councillor has been in dialogue with Plazacorp to incorporate the cinema within the condominium’s designs. Visit before it’s too late!

3. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (506 Bloor St. W)

The front of the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. Being the main location for Hot Docs, it’s not unusual to see lines of festival-goers crowding the theatre and trailing down Bloor. Source.

Located in the Annex at Bloor St. and Bathurst St., the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema first opened in 1913. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1940, getting renamed multiple times over the years – first it was the Midtown Theatre, then the Capri, then the Eden, and then the Bloor. Eventually is was sold to the Blue Ice Group in 2011, who currently manage the theatre in partnership with Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

This theatre is most known for, among other things, its history of screening The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live cast on Halloween and on the last Friday of every month.

4. Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles Ave.)

The Revue’s iconic art-deco signs and marquee, still standing 107 years later. Source.

The Revue was built at the intersection of Dundas St. W and Roncesvalles Ave., in the middle of Roncesvalles, between 1911 and 1912. It is a designated Toronto heritage site and the city’s oldest standing movie theatre for showing movies. It also holds the record for the oldest continuously running movie theatre in Ontario, showing movies continuously from its creation to 2006 (almost a hundred years!). There had been plans for the Revue’s demolition in 2006, but a large community grass-roots movement saved the theatre. It reopened shortly after in 2007, with a screening of Some Like it Hot.

Nowadays, the Revue plays select blockbusters, indie films, and hosts arts and culture events.

5. Regent Theatre (551 Mount Pleasant Rd.)

The Regent Theatre, complete with its old-fashioned green and yellow sign. Source.

The Regent Theatre first opened in 1927 as The Belsize Theatre. Located at Mount Pleasant Rd. and Davisville Ave. in Midtown Toronto, it was built to be very opulent and impressive – including decorative arches, ornate plaster trim, and small Venetian-style box seats in the auditorium. Beginning in 1953, the theater stopped screening movies and instead showed live stage performances of Canadian theatre. But in 1988, it was renovated and reopened as The Regent Theatre and began screening movies once again.

Now it screens a mix of Hollywood releases and independent arthouse films.


These movie theatres are charming and simple, and though they probably won’t be showing the latest Marvel movie in IMAX anytime soon, they represent the heart and history of Toronto in a way that the Scotiabank Theatre never can.