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Mayfair interior, 1944
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ISSN 0702-7796 Vol. 50 No. 10 Issue no. 550 FREE
Mayfair Theatre, 1977, from its brief days as an adult movie house
PHOTO: CITY OF OTTAWA ARCHIVES
Mayfair Theatre a landmark for 90 years and counting By Dave Allston
Very few buildings in Ottawa evoke feelings of nostalgia quite like the Mayfair Theatre on Bank Street, and for good reason. The Mayfair, a true Ottawa landmark celebrating its 90th anniversary in December, has retained much of its original look and feel. Stepping through the doors of the theatre is an experience that is becoming increasingly rare in North America as single-screen, vintage movie houses are a disappearing window to the golden age of cinema. The oldest surviving movie theatre in Ottawa, the Mayfair showed its first film, The Blue Danube, on a cold and snowy Monday night, December 5, 1932. The audience also watched a comedy short film, an animated cartoon and the Canadian short film A Fisherman’s Paradise, filmed in Lake Nipigon). Old Ottawa South was significantly built up by 1932, and building lots, particularly along Bank Street, were at a premium. A house dating back to the late1800s originally stood on the theatre’s spot but was significantly damaged in a 1925 fire. Frederick W.
Index
ABBOTSFORD ��������������������������������� 5 ART................................................. 38 BIRDS............................................... 6 BOOKS..................................... 24, 25 BUSINESS/BIA......................... 16, 17 COMMUNITY��������������������������������� 35 ENVIRONMENT........................ 20, 21 FILM.........................................28, 29 FOOD........................................ 22, 23 GLEBE HISTORY ��������������������������� 10 GLEBOUS & COMICUS ����������������� 39 HEALTH.......................................... 27 LETTERS.......................................... 5 MEMOIR......................................... 26 MUSIC...................................... 30, 31 OPINION............................... 7, 14, 34 POETRY QUARTER ����������������� 36, 37 PROFILE..................................... 3, 18 REMEMBERING ���������������������������� 33 REPS & ORGS.................. 8, 9, 11, 32 TRAFFIC.......................................... 12 TRAVEL........................................... 40
Robertson, who lived on Clemow Avenue and was manager of the Rialto Theatre, acquired the property in April 1931, demolished the house and made plans for a new theatre. The $47,000 building permit was issued at City Hall on Monday morning June 13, 1932. The original walls of the Mayfair still stand today – they were built with locally made Hayley Cinder Blocks, produced just down the Rideau River on Hurdman Road, and bricks from the Ottawa Brick and Terra Cotta Company at Billings Bridge. The depression had a grip on Ottawa, but the cinema was a relatively inexpensive escape for citizens, and the popularity of moving pictures was high, particularly as silent films had recently been replaced by “talkies”. At its opening, the Mayfair featured a shimmering silver screen cloth curtain in front of the Spanish Revival-style auditorium (and the famous blue-lit clock that still hangs to the left of the screen). Co-owner Josh Stafford speaks with great pride and passion about the Mayfair and its unique programming. For the 90th anniversary, the Mayfair has been
Mark Your Calendars
running a special five-week countdown, showing the best picture Oscar winners from the “twos” (1962, 1972, etc.), culminating in a final presentation on the actual anniversary date of the 1932 winner Grand Hotel, starring Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. “Most of these films are big screen rarities,” says Stafford, explaining that the first film screened, Blue Danube, is unavailable for distribution so couldn’t be screened on the anniversary. Grand Hotel, says Stafford, “makes for a good compromise.” The Mayfair is especially known for its interactive showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show, its mysterious Saturday Night Sinema films and the recent return of all-the-cereal-you-can-eat Saturday Morning Cartoons. How many boxes of cereal are required each week? “Ninety seems to be the magic number,” says Stafford, laughing that the first time they hosted it, walking through the grocery store with 40 to 45 boxes seemed extreme but it turned out to be a significant underestimation! Continued on page 2
What’s Inside
Gnag Winter Carnival...................Dec. 11, 1:30 p.m., GCC Canadian Centennial Choir Concert...... Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m., Centretown United Church
Atlantic Voices Christmas Ceilidh........ Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m., Riverside United Church
Hogman-eh New Year’s Celebration......... Dec. 31, 7 p.m., Lansdowne
Gca monthly meeting....................... Jan. 24, 7 p.m., GCC
Poetry Quarter.................................................... Page 36, 37
Taste in the Glebe........................ Jan. 26, 6:30 p.m., GCC
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Rag & Carbon.............................................................. Page 16