Cine 539
539 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest,
Montreal,
QC
H3B 1A6
539 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest,
Montreal,
QC
H3B 1A6
1 person
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Nice finds in the photo section, DallasMovieTheatres.
Également consulté les archives de LaPresse, aucune annonce trouvée.
Also checked the LaPresse archives, no ads found.
This opened as Holman on May 17th, 1917 and the correct date for the opening as System is January 7th, 1922. Grand opening ads posted.
According to this page at the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, the conversion of the building that had been the Montreal Auxilliary Bible Society into the Gaiety Theatre in 1909 was designed by architects Charles A. Mitchell and Daniel J. Crighton. The short-lived firm of Mitchell & Crighton lasted from 1907 to 1909, but produced two theaters, the other being the Idealograph Motion Picture Theatre, on Notre Dame Street West near Guy Street, also a 1909 project.
There was two theatres called “Maisonneuve” One was built by Confederated AMusements and the other was built by Michel Custom.
The Rivest List puts the Maisonneuve Theatre at 4219 Ontario St., two blocks east of Pie-IX.
The architect for the 1917 remodeling of the Holman Theatre was Joseph Raoul Gariepy. He is already listed at Cinema Treasures as architect of the Rialto Theatre on Avenue du Parc. According to this page of the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada he also designed the Cartier Theatre on Rue Notre-Dame Ouest in 1929 and, in 1917-18, a neighborhood house called the Maisonneuve Theatre, which was located on Avenue la Salle at Rue Ontario. The Cartier is listed at Cinema Treasures, but I can’t find the Maisonneuve, which would have been about a block from the modern Complexe Desjardins 4 Cinemas.
The same ad ran in the Montreal Star.
This week, there was an construction crew demolishing the old balcony of the theatre to create an 2-level store. Picture in photo section.
The Holman Theatre becomes the System Theatre: this ad in The Canadian Jewish Chronicle from January 13, 1922 gives the owner’s promise and pledge. NEWSPAPER AD
The building was erected in 1869 as the house of John Reddy. It was converted into the Gaiety Theater in 1909. In 1917 the facade was was rebuilt to the design which remains today.
The 1943 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists it as the System Theatre with a seating capacity of 924.
Here is a photo I took of the Cine 539 in 1989 or so.
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