Jay and Jules Allen

Jay Allen (1890–1942) and Jules Allen (1888–1964) were pioneering film exhibitors in Canada. They were born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and they both died in Toronto, Ontario.

Career

Allen Theatres

The American-born Allen brothers, Jay and Jules, along with their father Berney, opened their first "Theatorium" in 1906 in Brantford, Ontario.[1] They held the Canadian franchise for Paramount feature films (which had Toronto-born Mary Pickford, the world’s first female movie superstar, under contract) from 1914 to 1919. With the strength of that arrangement, they forged a chain of almost 100 theatres, with movie palaces in every major Canadian city between 1917 and 1921, with plans to expand into the United States and Britain.

When their imminent success became apparent, Paramount’s Adolph Zukor tried to buy them out. When they refused, Zukor withdrew the Pickford films, and the brothers were eventually driven out of business. By 1923, the Allen Theatres chain was gone, leaving a near monopoly in Canada in the hands of Paramount and Famous Players Canadian Corporation.[2][3]

Allen's Danforth Theatre in Toronto managed to survive as an independent cinema, and it is now a music venue known as the Danforth Music Hall.[4] Allen's Bloor Theatre in Toronto is currently a concert hall known as Lee's Palace.

Premier Theatres

Following the bankruptcy of the Allen Theatres chain, the brothers returned to film exhibition with the Ontario-based Premier Theatres, which is now a chain of drive-in cinemas.[5][6]

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References
  1. Morris, Peter (1978). Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema 1895-1939. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 22; 239. ISBN 0 7735 0322 6.
  2. Moore, Paul. "Allen Theatres: North America's First National Cinema Chain" (PDF). Marquee. Tribute Entertainment Media Group Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  3. Seiler, Robert M., Tamara P. Seiler (2013). Reel Time: Movie Exhibitors and Movie Audiences in Prairie Canada 1896 to 1986. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press. pp. 82–85, 204. ISBN 978 1 926836 99 7.
  4. Veillette, Eric (15 August 2009). "A night at the 'theatorium'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  5. Wise, Wyndham (2001). Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 7. ISBN 0 8020 3512 4. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  6. "History". Premier Theatres. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
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