The successful commercialization of synchronized sound films in the late 1920s was arguably the medium's most important technological achievement since its invention. But often neglected is how the costly conversion to sound systematically put thousands of silent film musicians out of work.

In Toronto, sound films first arrived at the Tivoli, at Richmond and Victoria Sts., when the Fox Movietone film Street Angel premiered on October 5, 1928. As Luigi Romanelli's  orchestra sat silently in the pit, the whirring strings and woodwinds from New York's Roxy Orchestra emanated from loudspeakers in the Famous Players theatre.

Perhaps not the close-up Gloria Swanson had in mind when she called out her famous line in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, the above photo was taken during the silent star's visit to Toronto in July of 1950 -- one of the 34 stops in her publicity tour for Paramount's Sunset Boulevard.

Although the film would not premiere in Toronto until the following month, Swanson's two-day stop was a busy one.

On Monday, July 3, she met with Mayor Hiram McCallum at City Hall, inspected the construction of the Yonge St. subway, visited Paramount's Bond St. office, had tea at Eaton's Georgian Room, took the stage at Shea's for the CJBC radio broadcast "Opportunity Knocks," then went over to the Toronto Men's Press Club.

Talking pictures settled permanently in Toronto in late 1928, but it was far from the first time Hogtown movie-goers were exposed to the concept that the flickers needn't be silent.

In November of 1924, four years before the Tivoli and Uptown Theatres were wired for all-talking pictures, those attending the premiere of Elinor Glyn's His Hour at Shea's Hippodrome were treated to short subjects from radio pioneer Lee de Forest's Phonofilm, a sound-on-film process.

D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever made -- a declaration not lost on Toronto audiences when it premiered at the  Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 20, 1915.

The film, a revisionist account of the American Civil War, the Reconstruction period that followed and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan -- all of which vilified the African-American population -- played at Bell Lightbox earlier this week as part of their Essential Cinema programme.

Since a recent post at my Silent Toronto blog showcased a burlesque act and a juvenile delinquent flick at the Casino Theatre on Queen St., I thought I'd share this marquee-blazing shot of So Young So Bad at the Bloor Cinema, then the Midtown, in late 1950.

Despite the alluring tagline, the film's a bit of a doozy, but it does feature an early appearance by fiery Rita Moreno,who would later star in West Side Story.

by Eric Veillette

In the early days of the movie palace, it didn't take much to get people into the theatres. The seats were always filled with beaming eyes staring at the latest antics of Mary Pickford or Buster Keaton.

Despite jam-packed attendance, theatre managers liked to spruce things up a bit, and give patrons a little more than just a film and a newsreel. How about offering up a prize for grabs?

Imagine an 800-seat theatre in the Junction, with an elegant marbleized lobby and a state-of-the-art theatre organ that could simulate a full orchestra.

Consider, too, management's efforts to lure children to the cinema with the prize of a Shetland pony for best attendance.

The Beaver Theatre opened Nov. 24, 1913 on Dundas St. W., east of Pacific Ave. That was just four years after the community, a then prosperous manufacturing centre crossed by four rail lines, was annexed by the City of Toronto.

Theda Bara ads from the Toronto Daily Star, 1914-1921

With the inaugural Toronto Silent Film Festival currently underway, it’s safe to say that a healthy silent film renaissance is underway in Toronto the Good. The last year has been rife with various celebrations of silent celluloid: Nuit Blanche, Luminato, the Danforth Music Hall’s 90th anniversary, outdoor screenings during TIFF, the Cinematheque’s various offerings — not to mention the semi-monthly Silent Sundays retrospective I run at the Revue Cinema – have all contributed to an amazing revival of the genre.