Towne Cinema

57 Bloor Street East,
Toronto, ON M4W

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: 20th Century Theaters

Architects: Harold Solomon Kaplan, Abraham Sprachman

Firms: Kaplan & Sprachman

Nearby Theaters

Towne Cinema

Opened on April 25, 1949, the Towne Cinema closed in 1985. It was one of Toronto’s major art theatres and one of the early sites for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Contributed by Christopher Walczak

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

Jon Lidolt
Jon Lidolt on January 10, 2009 at 9:58 am

The Towne was owned and operated by the 20th Century Theatres chain. The theatre booked first-run art house fare such as: Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, Gigi, The Sky Above and the Mud Below, David and Lisa, etc. It was located right next to a subway stop in the middle of downtown Toronto and was very popular with discerning moviegoers. Unfortunately, the screen was a bit too small for the size of the auditorium which gave one the illusion of looking down a long dark tunnel. Especially if you got stuck sitting in the balcony which was located above the lobby far from the screen.

William Mewes
William Mewes on March 21, 2011 at 9:14 am

I found this on “Flickr"
A night time photo from December 1969

View link

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on February 17, 2012 at 5:10 pm

A link to a photo from the Toronto archives.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 1, 2014 at 5:00 pm

Granada opening ad in photo section.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on March 2, 2014 at 9:41 am

Opened April 25 1949 not 1939. This theatre was owned by Nat Taylor’s wife and when she passed her son Michael Taylor (a friend of mine) inherited it. He told me that Famous Players paid him a rent of $1000.00 a day — 365 days a year — pretty good eh??

MSC77
MSC77 on December 19, 2021 at 12:30 am

Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE opened here fifty years ago today

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