The "Nabes": Toronto's Wonderful Neighbourhood Movie Houses

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

They were not as fancy as the big downtown movie houses and they often
only showed second-run and B-movie features, yet if you ask anyone over
50 if they remember their favorite “nabe,” chances are their eyes
will go misty. Nabe is slang for “neighbourhood movie house.” This
book is a tribute to the 130 or more nabes that served the Toronto area
from the 1920s to the early 1970s. Toronto’s nabes spanned nearly
every known architectural style and ranged in size from 300 to more than
2000 seats. Nearly all are gone now, either completely demolished or
converted to some other commercial use.

The photographs alone in this book are worth the price, and that is no
surprise since John Sebert is a professional photographer by training.
Movie buffs will enjoy looking at the marquees advertising vintage
movies like Fountainhead starring Gary Cooper and The Petrified Forest
with Bette Davis. Many period photos are accompanied by a modern photo
showing what has become of the theatre since its glory days.

In addition to providing great photos, Sebert has delved deep into
Toronto movie-house lore to come up with some fascinating trivia. One
story tells how during World War II, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhardt
(Holland’s monarchs-in-exile) managed to get bounced from their
front-row seats by an overzealous usher at the College Theatre because
someone in their entourage had inadvertently purchased the cheaper
tickets for aisle seats.

The book opens with an introduction by Elwy Yost, the longtime host of
TV Ontario’s Saturday Night at the Movies, and concludes with a
chapter of personal nabe stories by many Toronto celebrities, including
Al Waxman, Norman Jewison, Jack Batten, Robert Fulford, and David
Crombie. The last bit of text is a personal appeal by Sebert to preserve
Canada’s remaining vintage theatres.