The Paramount Theatre was on the south side of St. Clair Avenue West, between Lauder and Glenholme avenues. (Photo City of Toronto Archives, Series 488, It.1100). I remember the Paramount Theatre quite clearly, although the above photo does not quite match with my memories, which are from the late-1940s and early-1950s, when its attractive facade was decidedly shabby. In the above picture, the two films listed on the marquee were both released in 1935, so the photo likely dates from 1936, the year the Paramount opened. It was named after the famous Paramount Studios in Hollywood, but had no connection to it. However, in the 1930s, its name created a glamorous image of the glories of the silver screen. The year the Paramount opened, it was licensed to J. B. Goldher and Garson Solway. The auditorium had a concrete floor and its ticket booth was in the lobby. It possessed two aisles, with the following seating pattern of — five seats on the left, an aisle, nine seats in the centre section, another aisle, and five more seats on the right-hand side. The air-conditioning was “water-washed cooled.”
During the 1950s and 1960s, with the advent of television, the Paramount operated on an increasingly tight budget. It attempted to lure customers by offering three feature films for a single admission price. It mainly screened B-movies, cowboy and crime films, and adventure films, accompanied by cartoons, newsreels, and serials. The latter were short films that ran consecutively for several weeks and were also referred to as “cliff-hangers.”
In 1951, the front of the theatre was remodelled by Herbert Duerr. Perhaps this was when the tower was added above the marquee.
When the theatre ceased to operate as a theatre, it became an appliance store. I remember this well, as my friends and I often stopped to watch the television sets in the window. The medium was in its infancy, and stores placed sets in their windows for people to view and mounted speakers outside the stores to provide the sound. It was an excellent form of advertising. The black and white pictures were grainy and of poor quality, but we thought they were marvellous. We dreamed of having such a marvel in our living rooms. When the appliance store was sold, the building was listed by the Toronto Real Estate Board at a price of $100,000.
Architect’s drawing for the Paramount Theatre, dated 1936. Drawing from the Toronto Archives.
The Paramount Theatre in 1936, looking east along St. Clair Avenue toward Oakwood. Photo, City of Toronto Archives, Series 488-11-01-98.
The site of the old Paramount when it became a furniture and appliance store. The tower that was above the marquee of the theatre was recycled by the store. Photo from the City of Toronto Archives, from the Toronto Real Estate Board.
The site of the old Paramount Theatre at 1069 St. Clair Avenue in 2013.
The site of the Paramount Theatre in 2013.
To view the Home Page for this blog: https://tayloronhistory.com/
To view previous blogs about other movie houses of Toronto—old and new
The Uptown 5 Multiplex Theatre on Yonge south of Bloor
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/11/25/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-uptown-5-multiplex-theatre/
The Odeon Carlton Theatre
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/11/08/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-odeon-fairlawn/
The infamous Casino Burlesque Theatre on Queen Street
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/11/06/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-infamous-casino-on-queen-st/
The Garden Theatre at 290 College Street.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/29/discovering-two-of-torontos-lost-movie-theatres/
The Grant Theatre on Oakwood Avenue near Vaughan Road
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/11/04/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-grant/
The Odeon Hyland Theatre at Yonge and St. Clair
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/11/01/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-odeon-hyland/
Loew’s Uptown Theatre (the Uptown)
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/10/24/torontos-old-movie-housesloews-uptown/
The Elgin Theatre (Loew’s Downtown)
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/10/22/torontos-old-movie-housesloews-downtown-the-elgin/
The Hollywood Theatre on the east side of Yonge Street, north of St. Clair Avenue.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/10/11/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-hollywood-theatre/
The St. Clair Major Theatre on St. Clair Avenue, east of Old Weston Road.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/10/04/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-st-clair-major/
The St. Clair Theatre, west of Dufferin Street
The Odeon Humber theatre at Bloor and Jane Streets (now Humber Cinemas)
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/09/30/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-odeon-humber-theatre/
The Oakwood Theatre on Oakwood Avenue, near St. Clair Avenue West
The Biltmore Theatre on Yonge, north of Dundas St.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/03/01/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-biltmore-theatre/
The Coronet Theatre on Yonge St. at Gerrard
The Nortown Theatre on Eglinton, west of Bathurst St.
The Radio City Theatre on Bathurst, south of St. Clair.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/09/13/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-radio-city-theatre/
The Mount Dennis Theatre on Weston Rd, north of Eglinton
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/09/27/torontos-old-movie-theatresthe-mount-dennis-on-weston-rd/
The Royal George Theatre on St. Clair W., west of Dufferin Street.
The Colony Theatre at Vaughan Rd. and Eglinton Ave. West
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/09/10/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-colony-at-eglinton-and-vaughan/
The Radio City Theatre on Bathurst Street, a short distance south of St. Clair
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/09/13/torontos-old-movie-housesthe-radio-city-theatre/
The Runnymede Theatre in the Bloor West Village (now a Chapters/Indigo Book Store)
The Eglinton Theatre
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/08/28/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-eglinton-theatre/
The magnificent Odeon Carlton at Yonge and Carlton Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/08/09/torontos-great-old-theatresthe-odeon-carlton/
The Revue Theatre at 400 Roncesvalles Avenue
The Cineplex Odeon Varsity Theatre at Bloor and Bay
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/06/24/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-cineplex-odeon-varsity/
The “Bloor Hot Docs Cinema” on Bloor Street West
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/06/09/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-bloor-hot-docs-cinema/
The Vaughan Theatre on St. Clair Avenue
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/15/torontos-lost-treasuresthe-vaughan-theatre-on-st-clair-ave/
Toronto’s first movie screening and its first movie theatre
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/03/13/torontos-first-movie-screening-and-first-movie-theatre/
The ultra-modern Scotiabank Theatre at Richmond and John Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/04/04/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-modern-scotiabank-theatre/
Cineplex Theatre at Yonge and Dundas Streets
The Ed Mirvish Theatre (the Pantages, Imperial and Cannon)
The Downtown Theatre (now demolished) at Yonge and Dundas
The Orpheum Theatre on Queen St., west of Bathurst
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/07/torontos-old-movie-theatres-the-orpheum-on-queen-st-w/
The Bellevue Theatre on College Street that became the Lux Burlesque Theatre
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/01/14/the-bellevue-theatre-lux-burlesque-theatre-on-college-street/
Old movie houses of Toronto
https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/06/27/old-movie-houses-of-toronto/
The Victory burlesque and movie theatre on Spadina at Dundas:
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/08/the-sinful-victory-burlesque-theatre-at-dundas-and-spadina/
The Shea’s Hippodrome Theatre on Bay St. near Queen
Attending a matinee in the old movie houses of Toronto during the “golden age of cinema”
The University Theatre on Bloor St., west of Bay Street.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/the-opening-of-torontos-university-theatre-on-bloor-street/
Archival photos of the Imperial and Downtown Theatres on Yonge Street
The Elgin/Winter/Garden Theatres on Yonge Street
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/05/31/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-elgin-winter-garden-theatres/
The now vanished Avon Theatre at 1092 Queen Street West
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/10/torontos-lost-movie-theatresthe-avon-at-1092-queen-west/
To view other posts about the history of Toronto and its buildings:
The Ellis Building on Adelaide Street near Spadina Ave.
The Heintzman Building on Yonge Street, next to the Elgin Theatre
The tall narrow building at 242 Yonge Street, south of Dundas
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/07/10/torontos-architectural-gems242-yonge-st-south-of-dundas/
Toronto’s first Reference Library at College and St. George Streets.
The Commodore Building at 315-317 Adelaide St. West
The Graphic Arts Building (condo) on Richmond Street
The Art Deco Victory Building on Richmond Street
The Concourse Building on Adelaide Street
The old Bank of Commerce at 197 Yonge Street
The Traders Bank on Yonge Street—the city’s second skyscraper
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/22/torontos-architectural-gemstraders-bank-on-yonge-st/
Toronto’s old Union Station on Front Street, built in 1884
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/18/torontos-lost-architectural-gemsthe-old-union-station/
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church at King and Simcoe Streets.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/13/torontos-architectural-gemshistoric-st-andrews-on-king-st/
The row houses on Glasgow Street, near Spadina and College Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/05/10/torontos-architectural-gemsrow-houses-on-glasgow-st/
The bank at Queen and Simcoe that resembles a Greek temple
The cenotaph at Toronto’s Old City Hall
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/04/09/torontos-architectural-gemscenotaph-at-old-city-hall/
The magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral at King East and Church Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/04/02/torontos-architectural-gemsmetropolitan-cathedral/
St. Stanislaus Koska RC Church on Denison Avenue, north of Queen West
The historical St. Mary’s Church at Adelaide and Bathurst Streets
The Bishop’s (St, Michael’s) Palace on Church Street, Toronto
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/03/02/torontos-architectural-gemsbishops-palace-on-church-street/
The Union Building at Simcoe and King Street West
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/03/30/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-union-building-on-king-st/
The Ed Mirvish (Pantages, Imperial, Canon) Theatre, a true architectural gem on Toronto’s Yonge Street
The Waverly Hotel on Spadina near College Street.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/16/toronto-architectural-gemsthe-waverly-hotel-484-spadina/
The Art Deco Bank of Commerce building on King Street West.
The Postal Delivery Building, now the Air Canada Centre (ACC)
The Bellevue Fire Station on College Street
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/14/torontos-architectural-gems-bellevue-fire-station/
The Bank of Nova Scotia at King and Bay Streets
Toronto’s old Sunnyside Beach
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/01/a-pictorial-journey-to-sunnyside-beach-of-old-part-one/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/03/a-pictorial-journey-to-torontos-old-sunnyside-beach-part-two/
Toronto’s architectural gems—the Runnymede Library
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/02/05/torontos-architectural-gems-runnymede-library/
Spadina Avenue – sinful, spicy and diverse
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/28/sinfully-saucy-and-diversetorontos-spadina-avenue/
The Reading Building, a warehouse loft on Spadina Avenue
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/01/20/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-reading-building-on-spadina/
The Darling Building on Spadina Avenue
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/01/19/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-darling-building-on-spadina/
The amazing Fashion Building on Spadina Avenue
Toronto’s architectural gems – the Tower Building at Spadina and Adelaide Street
The Balfour Building at 119 Spadina Avenue
The Robertson Building at 215 Spadina that houses the Dark Horse Espresso Bar
An architectural gem – Grossman’s Tavern at Spadina and Cecil Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/08/architectural-gem-grossmans-tavern-at-377-9-spadina/Historic
History of the house that contains the Paul Magder Fur Shop at 202 Spadina
An important historic building that disappeared from the northeast corner of Spadina and College
Historic bank building on northeast corner of Spadina and Queen West
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/02/torontos-architectural-gemsbank-at-spadina-and-queen-west/
History of the Backpackers’ Hotel at King and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/03/31/history-of-the-backpackers-hotel-at-king-and-spadina/
Hamburger corner – Spadina and Queen Streets
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/10/10/torontos-hamburger-cornerwhere-is-it-and-why/
Lord Lansdowne Public School on Spadina Crescent
The Victory Burlesque Theatre at Dundas and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/08/the-sinful-victory-burlesque-theatre-at-dundas-and-spadina/
The Dragon City Mall on the southwest corner of Dundas and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/08/25/torontos-heritage-the-southwest-corner-of-queen-and-spadina/
Buildings on the west side of Spadina a short distance north of Queen Street.
History of the site of the Mcdonalds on northwest corner of Queen and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/08/27/mcdonalds-at-queen-and-spadina-on-an-historic-site/
A former mansion at 235 Spadina that is now almost hidden from view.
ttps://tayloronhistory.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/torontos-architectural-gems-is-this-one-a-joke/
Military hero of the War of 1812 lived near corner of Spadina and Queen West.
The Art Deco bus terminal at Bay and Dundas Streets.
Photos of the surroundings of the CN Tower and and the St. Lawrence Market in 1977
The old Dominion Bank Building at King and Yonge Street
The Canada Life Building on University and Queen Street West.
Campbell House at the corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue
A study of Osgoode Hall
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/12/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-osgoode-hall/
Toronto’s first City Hall, now a part of the St. Lawrence Market
Toronto’s Draper Street, a time-tunnel into the 19th century
The Black Bull Tavern at Queen and Soho Streets, established in 1822
History of the 1867 fence around Osgoode Hall on Queen Street West at York Street
Gathering around the radio as a child in the 1940s
The opening of the University Theatre on Bloor Street, west of Bay St.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/the-opening-of-torontos-university-theatre-on-bloor-street/
122 persons perish in the Noronic Disaster on Toronto’s waterfront in 1949
Historic Victoria Memorial Square where Toronto’s first cemetery was located, now hidden amid the Entertainment District
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/01/09/victoria-square-in-torontos-entertainment-district-is-a-gem/
Visiting one of Toronto’s best preserved 19th-century streets-Willcocks Avenue
The 1930s Water Maintenance Building on Brant Street, north of St. Andrew’s Park
Toronto’s architectural gems-photos of the Old City from a book published by the city in 1912
Toronto’s architectural gems in 1912
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/04/torontos-architectural-gems-in-1912/
Toronto’s architectural gems – the bank on the northeast corner of Queen West and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/02/torontos-architectural-gemsbank-at-spadina-and-queen-west/
Photos of the surroundings of the CN Tower and and the St. Lawrence Market in 1977
The St. Lawrence Hall on King Street
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/28/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-the-st-lawrence-hall/
Toronto’s streetcars through the past decades
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/03/26/memories-of-torontos-streetcars-of-yesteryear/
History of Trinity Bellwoods Park
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/09/the-history-and-beauty-of-trinity-bellwood-park/
A history of Toronto’s famous ferry boats to the Toronto Islands
My Grandmother Siddall live at the corner of St. Clair and Dufferin, once a week she would go to the Paramount, not so much as to see the movie, but get the free plate, with the ticket purchase. Oh by the way, Willam Siddall, one of Toronto’s well know Architects was my
Great Grandfather.