The history, heritage, and architectural significance of Toronto’s most notable theatres and movie houses.
Movie houses first started popping up around Toronto in the 1910s and ’20s, in an era without television and before radio had permeated every household. Dozens of these grand structures were built and soon became an important part of the cultural and architectural fabric of the city. A century later the surviving, defunct, and reinvented movie houses of Toronto’s past are filled with captivating stories. Explore fifty historic Toronto movie houses and theaters, and discover their roles as repositories of memories for a city that continues to grow its cinema legacy. Features stunning historic photography.

Born and educated in Toronto, Doug Taylor is a local historian who was a member of the faculty of Lakeshore Teachers’ College (York University). In retirement, through books including Toronto Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen and his history blog Historic Toronto, he continues to explore the city’s past and document its architectural heritage.

Doug Taylor's profile page

Toronto Theatres...is a must have addition to your library no matter if your interest in film ranges from casual filmgoer to seasoned filmmaker.

Northernstars.ca

Interweaving personal memory and research, Taylor deftly discusses fifty historic movie theatres, tracing the changes and continuities in their style and arrangements during ‘the golden age of the silver screen.’

OHS Bulletin