Doug Taylor

Toronto Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen Doug Taylor

Movie houses started popping up around Toronto in the 1910s and '20s. The main theatre drags became the places to stroll, as young guys cruised for gals and couples wandered around places like St. Clair Avenue before catching films. Revisit Toronto's historic theatres of yesteryear, beginning with the early nickelodeons and the great movie palaces that followed. Explore the would-be tragedy of unattended cigarettes. Discover the "Theatre Without a Name," which remains open today as one of the oldest continuously used theatres in the city. The Toronto International Film Festival now brings cinema to the city's center stage. Toronto historian Doug Taylor presents the beginnings of Hollywood North's love affair with film, starting in the movie houses of its past.