The Capitol Cinema (constructed 1920, demolished 1970) was the largest

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

ever built in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada, and was the city's only true movie palace. Opened in 1920, the 2530-seat cinema was regarded as one of the best cinemas designed by famed theatre-architect Thomas W. Lamb.

The grand opening

The Capitol was located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Queen Street and Bank Street, and was opened by the Loews chain on November 8, 1920. In honour of the new theatre, a special train from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

arrived at Ottawa's

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, carrying

Marcus Loew Marcus Loew (May 7, 1870 - September 5, 1927) was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM). Life and career Loew was born in New York City, ...

, Thomas Lamb, and more than a dozen silent film stars of the day, including Matt Moore and

Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933) was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a st ...

. The train was greeted by the

Governor General's Foot Guards The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers. ...

band and thousands of movie fans. A motorcade took the visitors to the City Hall on Elgin Street, where the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, Harold Fisher, was on hand for an official greeting. After a short tour of the city, the visitors were greeted by

James Alexander Lougheed Sir James Alexander Lougheed, ( or ; 1 September 1854 – 2 November 1925) was a businessman, lawyer and politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a senator for 35 years, and held a number of Cabinet positions. Early life Lougheed was bor ...

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...

, and then taken to their accommodations in the

Château Laurier The Fairmont Château Laurier is a hotel with 429 guest rooms in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive and designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to complem ...

. The crowds that greeted the motorcade at each stage of its procession through the city were described by the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'' as "throngs" with "unrivalled scenes of enthusiasm". The opening performance that evening consisted of two films,

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

's "The Love Flower" and a comedy entitled "Cheer Up", and four

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts. Crowds of people who were unable to obtain tickets for the sold-out show lingered on the sidewalks outside the theatre throughout the evening. After the performance, the revelry continued at City Hall, where the visiting celebrities and local notables celebrated until dawn, with the actress Texas Guinan reportedly orchestrating the celebrations from the Mayor's chair. News of the party erupted into a scandal over the following weeks, with many questioning the appropriateness of hosting the alleged debauchery at the seat of local government and whether city funds had been used to purchase alcohol for the event. One city councillor,

Napoléon Champagne Napoléon Champagne (May 4, 1861 – November 17, 1925) was mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1908 and 1924, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing Ottawa East from 1911 to 1914.Dave Mullington "Chain of Office: Biogra ...

, later defended his attendance at the party in the ''Ottawa Citizen'' by claiming that he had been "looking after the married men".

Ottawa's landmark cinema

In the era of the downtown movie palaces, theatres were typically built with a narrow entrance on the main thoroughfare, with a long foyer leading to the auditorium well at the rear. This enabled the bulk of the building to be constructed on cheaper land well away from the thoroughfare.

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

's Loews and

Pantages Alexander Pantages (Περικλῆς Ἀλέξανδρος Πανταζής , ''Periklis Alexandros Padazis''; 1867 – February 17, 1936) was a Greek American vaudeville impresario and early film producer, motion picture producer. He created ...

theaters, also designed by Thomas Lamb, were classic examples of this trend, with both theatres having narrow frontages on

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

and auditoriums on a rear side street. Ottawa's Loews theater was different, as it occupied the entirety of a prime downtown corner site. This enabled Lamb to design a grander lobby for the theater, with a majestic marble staircase and balustrade, a colonnaded mezzanine, and a domed ceiling with a great crystal chandelier. The auditorium was equally impressive, with its ornate

proscenium arch A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

, hand-painted ceiling dome, box seats, and balcony. The Capitol was considered to be among the finest movie palaces in North America. In ''Palaces of the Night'', John Lindsay wrote: "many feel the Ottawa Capitol was the most attractive of all of Lamb's theatres", with "the grandest split staircase and lobby anywhere". Loews main competitor in Canada,

Famous Players Famous Players Limited Partnership, DBA Famous Players, is 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 m ...

, promised an even larger flagship theatre on

Sparks Street Sparks Street (''French:'' Rue Sparks) is a pedestrian mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a main street in Ottawa that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1967, making it the earliest such street or mall in Canada.

to trump the Loews cinema on Queen Street. With a population of 150,000 at that time, however, Ottawa was likely unable to support two 2500-seat theatres, despite Famous Players' pronouncements. In 1924, Loews sold off its Canadian theatres, and the American Keith theatre circuit (which went on to become RKO Pictures) was able to outbid Famous Players for the Ottawa Loews. The cinema was renamed "Keith's Vaudeville", and shortly thereafter the marquee was changed again to the "RKO Capitol". For five years, Famous Players continued to announce on an annual basis that it would be building a competing cinema on Sparks Street. In 1929, however, Famous Players merged with RKO's Canadian operations, and Ottawa's largest theatre finally became part of the Famous Players chain. The name of the theatre was ultimately changed to simply "the Capitol". Despite the end of the vaudeville era, the Capitol continued to host musical concerts, plays and other events, along with its main film programming, throughout its history. The Capitol was the most prestigious

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

in the

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

, and it was at the centre of the city's cultural and social life. Its stage hosted, among others,

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclub ...

, Ethel Barrymore,

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

, Maurice Chevalier,

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

, Pearl Bailey,

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of al ...

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

, the

Metropolitan Opera Company The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

. In later years,

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, Jimi Hendrix,

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

all performed at the Capitol. Recordings of Hendrix's 1968 concert and The Who's 1969 concert at the Capitol circulating for years as two of the most sought-after bootleg recordings of the respective performers (in 2001, Hendrix's 1968 bootleg was finally released as a legitimate recording under the name "

Live in Ottawa ''Live in Ottawa'' is a posthumous live album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on October 23, 2001 by Dagger Records. The album documents the band's second performance at the Capitol Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on March 19, 1968. ...

"). The recording of The Who's performance was released as a bonus disc with a remastered

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

re-release in 2013.

Demolition

In 1964, Famous Players announced that the Capitol would be divided into two theatres, to replicate the success of the nearby two-screen Elgin Theatre. The chain never acted on this announcement, however, perhaps in deference to the Capitol's role as Ottawa's main stage. When the plans for the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one of a number of ...

were announced, the end of the Capitol was near. By the end of the 1960s, it was impossible to fill the Capitol's 2530 seats with the showing of a film. The president of the Famous Players chain, George Destounis, was quoted in the '' Ottawa Journal'' in July 1969 as saying: "It's a beautiful theatre, but it has outlived its purpose". Deemed to be superfluous once the National Arts Centre was completed and an anachronism in the age of the multiplex, the Capitol was closed on May 1, 1970 and subsequently demolished. The last regularly scheduled film was ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...

'', but the actual last show was a sold-out benefit performance that included a stage show and a special screening of the

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

film, ''Pollyanna''. The event was emceed by Alex Trebek, and the audience ended the show with a sad rendition of " Auld Lang Syne".Miguelez, 2004. pp. 191–192 There was little the residents of Ottawa could do to stop the demolition; the provincial government of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

would not enact heritage protection legislation for another five years. The Capitol was replaced by an office building that contained the three-screen "Capitol Square" multiplex. The Capitol Square was itself closed and converted to office space in 1999.

References

*Lindsay, John, ''Palaces of the Night: Canada's Grand Theatres'' (Lynx Images: Toronto, 1999) () *Miguelez, Alain, ''A Theatre Near You: 150 Years of Going to the Show in Ottawa-Gatineau'' (Penumbra Press: Manotick, 2004) () *Russell, Hilary, ''All That Glitters: A Memorial to Ottawa's Capitol Theatre and its Predecessors'' Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History, Vol. 13 (Parks Canada: Ottawa, 1975) *Taylor, John H., ''Ottawa: An Illustrated History'', (James Lorimer & Company: Toronto, 1986) ()

Footnotes

External links