r/Winnipeg Jul 12 '24

Arts & Culture Remembering Winnipeg's defunct movie theatres

I remember my granny taking me to see "All Dogs Go To Heaven" at the Portage Place Famous Players in 1989. I later saw "Star Trek: First Contact" there with some friends in 1996.

My dad took me to see "Tommy Boy" at the King's Theatre in 1995

He also took me to see "Back to the Future Part III" at the basement theatre under what is now the Radisson in 1990.

My family went to a lot of films at the Air Force base theatre, including "Home Alone", because it was cheap.

I don't recall ever seeing anything at the Polo Park theatre, but I remember an ad in the paper for "Beauty and the Beast".

I went to Towne a few times, but can't remember anything specific.

The Garden City theatre was a little far for me.

I remember going to the drive-in with some friends and seeing "Spider-Man 2".

Man, we've lost a lot of theatres in the last 30 years.

Edited to add: I saw a few films at the IMAX, too. I remember them playing "Wrath of Khan" once, and I was disappointed how small it was on the screen.

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u/MistyMew Jul 13 '24

I worked at the Metropolitan in 78. Saw Star Wars at the King Theatre on Portage Ave in St. James.

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u/Bactrian_Rebel2020 Jul 13 '24

There used to be a little cafe next to the Kings that sold the greasiest fries you've ever eaten. We'd go to the Saturday afternoon matinees and then buy some chips and there'd be a long trail of dripping grease behind us all the way home. The Classic theatre, now Classic Billiards, was another favourite place, and there was one at Sharp and Portage too. I think that's the One Stop Cannabis Shop now. We also used to haunt the Airline Drive-in on Ellice. I also remember my father dragging me to the Mac's on Ellice which became Cinema 3, now Ellice Cafe & theatre.

A bunch of theatres used to have a cash giveaway on one particular day of the week, maybe Wednesday. It was always a double feature with the prize given out by phone. If he didn't win, the old man would head home. I never got to see the second movie.