The Elgin Theatre was a historic

movie theatre A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

located at the corner of Lisgar and Elgin Street in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The 750 seat cinema opened in 1937, with the first film shown being '' Stand-In.''https://ottawa-trend.com/uk/eternal-759-zabuti-kinoteatry-ottavy For several decades it was one of Ottawa's premier theatres, and in 1947 it was the location of the world premiere of

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

's '' Sleep, My Love''. Owner Nat Taylor, of 20th Century Theatres, opened a second screen on an adjacent patch of land in December 1947. It earned the nickname of "Little Elgin". This makes Elgin the second such dual-screen theatres in Canada, a few months after the Hollywood Theatre in Toronto. In 1957, Taylor became frustrated of having to replace still-profitable films with new releases. For this reason, he put older releases on the second theatre while keeping new releases for the first one. This was the first time a choice was offered at a North American cinema box office, and Taylor is credited as the inventor of the multiplex. Taylor would go on to build ever larger multiplexes, and eventually form the

Cineplex Odeon Corporation Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada. The former corporation was one of North America's ...

. The Elgin eventually became part of the

Famous Players Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous film, movie theatre ...

cinema chain. In 1994 the company announced that it would be closed. The building was in disrepair, and ironically small downtown theatres were of little use in the era of megaplexes that the Elgin had launched. Despite community efforts and a petition signed by 3,500 to get the company to reconsider, the cinema was shuttered in November 1994. The final film shown in Theatre 1 was '' Quiz Show''. The final film shown in Theatre 2 was an adaptation of the novel '' Whale Music''. There was considerable debate about what to do with the building. The Great Canadian Theatre Company expressed a desire to move into the location, but Ottawa City Council did not support this idea. Eventually the theatre was redeveloped into a cluster of restaurants. The theatre is closed and now accommodates multiple restaurants: * Harvey's * Shawarma Andalos (previously Teriyaki Experience/Quiznos/Prince Shawarma) *

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

(Previously Second Cup) * Johnny Farina's

References

*McQueen, Ann Marie.
City's role in film history secure
." '' The Ottawa Sun'' Tue, June 28, 2005 *Tam, Pauline. "That's all, folks." '' The Ottawa Citizen.'' Nov 18, 1994. pg. B.3 *Darcy, Steve.
The Elgin Theatre
" ''Heritage Ottawa.'' Volume 22, No. 1, June/July 1995. {{coord, 45.418885, N, 75.691590, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Cinemas and movie theatres in Ottawa Former cinemas in Canada

See also

References