On this day in 1919, one of Edmonton's oldest movie theatres was showing a silent film starring Mildred Harris, Charlie Chaplin's first wife.
At the beginning of the 19th century, movies were a big deal in Edmonton. The city's first movie theatre was the Bijou, which opened in a converted storefront in 1908, offering hard wooden seats and a hand-cranked projector. But audiences were hooked, setting off a small boom of theatre construction on and around Jasper Avenue. Within five years of the Bijou's opening, Edmonton was home to a dozen cinemas.
The Dreamland Theatre was one of the best known. It was built in 1910 on 97 Street and Jasper Avenue, on the site of a live theatre that had burned down the year before. For many, it served as a gateway both to Edmonton's downtown and its growing cinema district.
In 1920, the Dreamland was purchased by Alex Entwhistle, adding to his growing network of cinemas in the city. Entwhistle's company, run by him and his two sons, was a major force in the city's entertainment industry, also managing the Empress, the Pantages/Strand, and the Princess (which has since fallen on hard times).
Movie theatres have always been a fast-moving business. Especially in the early years of the industry, cinemas were in a continual race with their competitors to offer the latest technology and luxuries to their audiences. That was especially true in a competitive market like Edmonton. Over the years, the Dreamland would see several upgrades. In 1929, a few months after the Princess played the first "talkie" film in Edmonton, the Dreamland added its own sound system. The Edmonton Journal noted that the upgrade meant all of the city's movie theatres were now wired for sound, spelling the end of the silent movie era in Edmonton.
In 1938, the Dreamland was closed for what was called a renovation, but it was more like a complete rebuild. The original wooden structure was replaced with a brick-and-steel construction. The rebuild added new sound equipment, new projection technology, as well as air-conditioning and modern heating. And a bright neon marquee sign would continue to make the theatre a beacon on the eastern edge of Jasper Avenue.
The Dreamland would be an anchor of the city's cinema industry for decades. But by the 1960s and 1970s, Canada's historic movie theatres were being pushed out as audiences shifted to larger complexes with multiple screens. The Dreamland continued to show first- and second-run movies up until 1971, when its projectors were finally shut down. The building sat largely empty for the next seven years, until it was eventually torn down to make way for the new Edmonton Convention Centre.
While the old Dreamland is now gone, its six decades as the "brightest spot on Jasper Avenue East" cemented it in the memories of many. The theatre was the inspiration behind the Dream.big art installation alongside the convention centre. It also served as a central setting in Edmonton author Laurel Deedrick-Mayne's wartime novel, A Wake for the Dreamland.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.