On December 15, 1930, The Stanley
opened with a screening of Lilian Gish's first talkie, One
Romantic Night. This was the beginning of a love affair between
the city and The Stanley. Original admission prices ranged
from ten to forty cents, and included the feature, a comedy,
a newsreel and a scenic. The Stanley was the only theatre
in Vancouver where not one, but TWO Saturday matinees could
be seen by young movie goers for the staggering price of ten
cents. Cowboys lassoed runaway stage-coaches, railway-bound
heroines struggled bravely, mustachioed villains snarled,
and dashing heroes performed feats of derring-do to the amazement
and delight of booing and cheering 1930's audiences. The Stanley
encouraged its patrons to participate in programming, soliciting
comments and suggestions for upcoming features in its monthly
program guides. In addition to films, the early days of The
Stanley featured live performances: local talent shows were
put on, and Vancouver Little Theatre staged productions. The
Stanley was also the setting for a brief experiment in silver
screen swing: after struggling in Depression-era downtown
music halls, the Calvin Winter Orchestra and other musicians
moved to The Stanley, playing nightly between films for a
wage of six dollars.
During the Second World War, The
Stanley theatre hosted fundraisers for
the war effort, for example, actress
Anna Neagle came from England to
perform in a stage show together with
local talents, an experience that was
still vivid in her mind when Amy
(Scriven) Brewster, the niece of
Frederick Guest and manager of the
Stanley from 1937 to 1945, visited her
in England in 1986. A special service
to families, "Honouring Our
Servicemen Overseas", was also
mounted: before film screenings, photos of servicemen were displayed on
the big screen, together with a tribute
to their lives as civilians, a way to
help local families connect and empathize with one another during the war
years.
The Stanley Theatre
The Stanley Theatre is more than
just a building. It is the heart and soul of our South Granville
neighbourhood. It draws people into our community and it creates
a unique experience that cannot be found anywhere else in
the city. It gives us roots and provides consistency as everything
around us is changing.
The Stanley Theatre's rich history began in early 1930, when
Frederick Guest, the owner of a chain of neighbourhood theatres
in southern Ontario, came to Vancouver and fell in love with
the city. Reportedly he described Vancouver as "an ideal spot, the
sun always shines, or, if it does rain, you don't get wet".
His rather romantic impressions of the city led him to decide
that it was the place in which to construct his dream theatre,
and creation of The Stanley was begun.
Guest hired Vancouver architect Henry Holdsby Simmons to design
The Stanley. Simmons was also the architect of the Grandview
and Olympia theatres, neither of which has survived to the
present day—another reason to be grateful that The Stanley
has been preserved as a heritage site. Simmons used tindle
stone from Winnipeg, the same as that used on the Houses
of Parliament in Ottawa, for the exterior of The Stanley,
and designed the building to utilize luxury materials available
from local merchants, elaborate chandeliers, carpeting from
Burritt Bros., and fine furnishings. He turned to Italy for
the tiles on the front of the building and the exquisite ceiling
dome. Guest wanted The Stanley to be a neighbourhood theatre
of which the community would be proud, and we are 77 years
later!
The legacy continues...
The 1940's brought significant
changes to The Stanley Theatre. Like
many independent theatres, it was
sold in 1941 to a larger chain, in this
case Famous Players, who acquired it
for $268,000. The Stanley's glittering
neon sign was also added in 1941,
extending Vancouver's version of the, Great White Way, a little further
down Granville Street. One thing that
did not change, though, was The
Stanley's community-oriented spirit.
Amy Brewster recalls one cold and
snowy February night when many of
the staff were snowbound and the box
office cashier was unable to open the
safe. She allowed all the patrons in
from the cold on a promise to pay for
their tickets after the show, which
every single one of them did.
Famous Players used The Stanley to
screen "surprise Thursday previews"
which often filled the theatre.
Through the 1950's and 60's, however, the advent of television reduced
the crowds at movie theatres, Famous Players, theatre chain shrank
from 419 in 1954 to 196 in 1969. The
South Granville neighborhood theatre
brought in blockbuster shows to combat the competition, seats could be
reserved at higher-than-normal prices
for such hits as Around the World in
80 Days.
High-performance sound and projection systems and refurbished seating
added to the attractions of The
Stanley during the seventies and
eighties. Audiences continued to be
charmed by the theatre's gracious
atmosphere and decor which recalled
another era, while turning out for such
blockbusters as Star Wars and
Poltergeist. Michael Murray, a resident of Vancouver since childhood,
recalls the Stanley in the eighties as
the nonpareil of Vancouver movie
theatres, where the prevailing
atmosphere of the place was something very special. Despite its cherished place in the hearts of
Vancouverites, however, The
Stanley, then the city's oldest operating movie theatre, was shut down
in September 1991 in the face of
declining revenues. The early 90's
represent some of South Granville's
bleakest days.
Fortunately, the Stanley still had a
pulse. It was purchased back from
Famous Players in March 1997, and
re-opened under the Artistic
Direction of Bill Millerd's Arts Club
Theatre Company production of
SWING in October, 1998. If you
look in the new lobby you will find
an endless list of South Granville
merchants who participated in its
revival. The neighbourhood wanted
its soul back... we are happy to
report she is alive and well.
Original admission prices ranged from ten to forty cents, and
included the feature, a comedy, a newsreel and a scenic.
