The Oak Theatre sat at Kingsway near Royal Oak Avenue in Burnaby from 1937 to 1963.
Opening night with CKWX’s Billie Browne, was August 4, 1937. He introduced feature film White Bondage, comedy shorts Blonde Bomber and Hotel a la Swing, and a cartoon called Porky’s Building.
Among the details shared in Vancouver Sun and Province stories of the day were an electric fireplace, an aquarium for goldfish, a 12-foot ceiling mirror, and a full-time attendant who would park your Buick, Chevy, Cadillac or Ford DeLuxe Roadster—free of charge.
Ear phones had been installed for those who were hard of hearing and more accustomed to silent movies.
Andy Digney:
New owner Andy Digney, had recently arrived in Vancouver from Brandon, Manitoba where he promoted silent pictures. When talkies came in, he started up the first 25-cent movie theatre.
In 1937, the 750-seat theatre was surrounded by firs – situated halfway between Vancouver and New Westminster, and blanketed by Mrs. Digney’s shrub and flower gardens.
The Digney’s took a lot of pride in their theatre and would greet their patrons before and after the show. Andy was known to jump in his car to fetch a wheel-chair bound customer, who otherwise couldn’t get to the theatre.
Digney sold the Oak Theatre to Odeon Theatres Canada in 1945, making it their 28th theatre in British Columbia.
The next article I could find was a brief about the RCMP raiding a bingo game held at the theatre in January 1962.
The theatre closed in 1963.
Related:
- Queenie Albanuff and the Odeon Theatre on Lonsdale
- Lynn Valley’s Cedar V Theatre
- Vancouver’s Missing Theatres
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13 comments on “Burnaby’s Oak Theatre – Then and Now”
Thanks for another interesting post. Digney is more often remembered for his South Burnaby race track – I didn’t know about the theatre.
Thanks Peter! I didn’t know about the race track! Sounds like another blog post…..
As a youngster I attended the Saturday matinees with the other Neighbourhood kids in the early ‘60s. Is this the same Digney family who owned Digney Bowl and lived in a big house behind the theatre near the park? Great times
Pop up bingo games were a scourge…no doubt about that. Jean Muir who starred in White Bondage was according to Wikipedia, in 1950 ” was named as a Communist sympathizer by the notorious pamphlet Red Channels, and immediately removed from the cast of the television sitcom The Aldrich Family, in which she had been cast as Mrs. Aldrich.[9] NBC had received between 20 and 30 phone calls protesting her being in the show. General Foods, the sponsor, said that it would not sponsor programs in which “controversial persons” were featured. Though the company later received thousands of calls protesting the decision, it was not reversed.
Muir was the first performer to be deprived of employment because of a listing in Red Channels.[10] The apparent cause of the accusation was her six-month membership in the Congress of American Women, which federal authorities considered a subversive group.[9] “
…the tail end of Bill’s comment on the Congress of American Women indicates that the Macarthy Era really was hyping the anti Communism sentiments, which in fact greatly assisted the thing Eisenhower warned us about in the late ‘50’s, about paying attention to the powerful Military Industrial Complex that has made the entire business model of WAR & ALL THE PREPATORY INDUSTRIES, THE MANNER IN WHICH THE EXCITED STATES OF AMERICA has “made its living” the last 9 decades…
Love these early photos and history of the Vancouver area, the Oak Street Theatre is a wonderful example….one question. How did that “Beetle Bug” Volkswagen make its way into the top photo, “Postcard ca. 1940, courtesy Heritage Burnaby”? The first Volkswagens rolled off the German production line in 1938, the first Volkswagens were sold in Canada in 1952. Enjoy the day….hats off to “Bug” lovers everywhere!
Well, that’s really interesting, nice catch! Clearly I’m not a car person and have taken the date from the archives.
That’s not a Volkswagen. Back in 1940, most cars had rounded roofs.
So could be in the 1940s then! (still not a car person)
Eve,
I posted my comments in full and your article and links on Facebook and if you have time to track it down you’ll see for me and many others Boomers we grew up with theatre in South Burnaby in the ‘50’s as young teenagers in the first three years of the ‘60’s…
I want to thank you for your passion in showing people in the LowerMainland what existed and what has happened in the recent 90 years…
Sincerely,
Zol Fox
[This Art Deco styled theatre reminds me of the Ridge Theatre when it existed at 16th and Arbutus, which was constructed in a similar Deco style and built in 1950… my brother Milton Dean in 1980, for the 30th anniversary was commissioned by Leonard Schein to air-brush the iconic 1930’s style image on the South wall above the Snack Bar in the Ridge Lobby entrance… I’ll see if I can find the photos I took of that year, and when the building was demolished in the 2013 plus years]
Thanks so much Zol, I’ll take a look! I used to live near the Arbutus Theatre, now all that’s left is the sign. I’ll put it on my list for upcoming theatre blogs. I like the story about your brother, and yes please send the photos. My email is eve@evelazarus.com
I forwarded this to my ex as he grew up on Royal Oak Ave. He said it was actually a block or two toward Vancouver and on the south side of Kingsway. On Saturdays it was 15c to get in and 10c for popcorn. There was a feature film, often a Superman or similar short film and even yoyo contests for the local kids.
Loved the Oak, spent our 25 cents allowance on the movie and popcorn (or a candy bar and pop) and rode our bikes from near Boundary Road and Rumble. And saw Bill Haley and the Comets in the fifties, also Rock Around The Clock.