This art deco beauty sat near the corner of Lonsdale Avenue and 14th Street in North Vancouver from 1938 to 1986. The 734-seat Nova Theatre opened in January 1938 and was owned by W.P. Dewees and managed by Agnes (Queenie) Albanuff. Mrs. Albanuff was clearly good at her job, because when Dewees sold the theatre to the Odeon chain in 1941, she went with it.
Woman named to one post:
There is a wonderful Province article that shows eight theatre managers, including Albanuff, with the headline: “Theatre Men of Wide Experience Manager New Odeon Houses Here.” The sub-heading reads: “Woman named to one post.” With the acquisition of the Nova Theatre, the Odeon now operated 22 theatres in BC.
The next time the theatre appears in the newspapers is in the Vancouver Sun on April 19, 1943 when yeggs blew up a safe. Unfortunately for the yeggs, much of the cash was lost in the blast. “A number of bills were ripped to shreds in the explosion. The safe dial was blown into the rafters, and pieces of coal sack, money and a wad of soap were still clinging to it when it was retrieved by police.”
Totem Theatre Opens:
Odeon closed the theatre in 1958, probably because they had opened a drive-in at Pemberton and West 3rd. The Lonsdale Avenue theatre stayed mostly dark until the Odeon reopened it as the Totem Theatre with a grand opening on December 9, 1964. The movie was Fate is the Hunter and starred Glenn Ford, Suzanne Pleshette and Rod Taylor. The Totem lasted until October 1977 when the theatre was put up for sale. Whispers took it over in May 1980 and showcased live acts such as Bryan Adams, R & B All Stars and Loverboy.
And then in 1987, North Vancouver City Council voted for a new central Lonsdale area pub “despite being told that three hotels and three neighbourhood pubs exist within a one-mile radius of the proposed site and that the pubs are suffering a decline in business” (Vancouver Sun, April 22, 1987).
And, just like that, 1421-1439 Lonsdale became a distant memory replaced by a two-storey building that includes Jack Lonsdale’s Pub, a dentist and a law-firm .
As for the South African-born Albanuff, she moved to Ashcroft in 1947. She died on December 21, 1967 aged 74. Her obituary says she was “of the Bar Q Guest Ranch,” survived by her son George Field and daughter Coralie Somerville. Oddly, Albanuff’s death certificate lists her occupation as “housewife.”
With thanks to Darlene Ruckle for her help with the research into Agnes Albanuff.
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30 comments on “Queenie Albanuff & the Odeon Theatre on Lonsdale”
I remember going there towards the end of its days as a movie theatre. Can you imagine having a single screen theatre right in your neighborhood. The writing was on the wall by the late 70s when the only way you could survive was to have multi-screen locations. If the locals didnt like a movie showing, then management would lose money. There was a similar theatre in Lynn Valley, and our history has lost the Cineplex at Park and Tilford and the theatre at the foot of Chesterfield in the last five years or so.
I didn’t know there was a theatre in Lynn Valley – where was it?
This was a unique theatre as the building was an odd quonset hut shaped. The theatre, known as the Cedar V, was opened in May 1953 and seated about 437. It closed in 1971.
It was where the Dairy Queen is now behind the Petrocan Station.
I used to live just behind there, never heard of this theatre before!. I’ve now seen a photo of it. I’ll do up a then and now post in the next couple of weeks.
The Lynn Valley theatre was a real family run cinema that everyone loved. It was named the “Cedar Theatre” (also known as the Cedar V and Cedar View) at 1260 Lynn Valley Road and existed from 1953 to 1971, then demolished. It was created inside an abandoned WWII “Quonset Hut”, a corrugated Steel building with a curved roof in a large C pattern, that was seen all over USA & Canada as a temporary, quickly built building. I don’t know what it was used for in WWII. There are interesting stories from people about their experiences there like going up on stage while everyone sang Happy Birthday to you and their “Crying Room”. I remember when going there as a young teenager being scared to run into some tough Valley Boys.
I’ll be doing up a then and now post on this in the near future -stay tuned!
I really enjoy your blog and definitely need to comment on this one.
Below are two of my memories involving the Odeon Theatre which I have included in my life story currently being written for my children and grandchildren.
Len Corben
As part of my memory walk down Lonsdale on my 65th birthday in 2007, in my mind I saw the Odeon Theatre instead of Jack Lonsdale’s Pub. On Saturdays we’d line up to see western movies. Once, when I was probably about 9, I inadvertently spent all my money at the neighbouring candy store, forgetting I still had to purchase my show ticket. Too embarrassed to admit what I’d done, I said I was going home because of the movie’s kissing scene displayed on the outdoor poster. In reality, I was devastated to miss the show.
Later, as a teenager, the song “16 Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford was one of my favourite songs in late 1955 and early 1956. The chorus went like this:
You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go,
I owe my soul to the company store.
Little did I know I would kind of live out this song myself. There was an advertisement in a section of the local paper for the hiring of students one summer. It was to do odd jobs at the Odeon Theatre, the same theatre on the west side of the 1400-block where I had gone to movies many Saturday afternoons when younger.
This was probably the summer of 1957 or ’58 before Grade 10 or perhaps Grade 11. Ian Dixon and I applied and were hired. I can’t remember what we were to be paid but it was in the advertisement. So we worked for at least two or three days, moving things in the building behind the stage as well as weeding and disposing of junk in the alley behind the theatre. I don’t know why the manager thought he could get away with it, but he didn’t want to pay us for it. He said he’d give us free tickets to movies at the theatre instead. But when I showed up a couple of days later for a movie with the ticket, he told me I couldn’t use it because that movie was a special promotion or something. Mom was furious and called the theatre owner who didn’t know anything about us being hired or the problem of payment. He was very apologetic, paid us the money we were owed, and then he fired the manager!
Thanks so much Len for this terrific piece of history!
that is a beauty recollection Len . Us kids when growing up, we lived in capilano, and walked once from there to the west van Hollyburn theatre . I was a tall boy for my age and had to bend my knees to look shorter when buying a child’s ticket . we were hoping to not encounter any of the skunk Hollow boys from the lower mackay area where the wartime houses were . Capilano being such a ‘private’ locale we did not stray from there . No need to, until old enough to be off to Sutherland, for junior high . Only to Vancouver via street car and the old Ferry, for 1.49 days at Woodwards and possibly the Army and Navy for bargains in clothing . times were tough . the first Tv we ever saw was in Baxter’s Tv store in Capilano at the end of the street car line , which had been Mac’s store and Post Office, I recall buying postage stamps for my mother and barely peering over Mr Mclouds counter . Baxter moved up to Edgemont. Likely amongst the first shops there. this all before the streetcar to Capilano was stopped and replaced by buses . We liked to flatten pennies on the rail. what a waste when penny candy still existed !! Our home was bought out by the government when the highway was built. We loved growing up in Capilano when the river was just 100yards away. I seem to recall that at the end of the war an effigy of Hitler was burnt in a bonfire at the Capilano community Hqll,which later burnt down itself ] . thankfully the tennis courts are still there . My father being a sports guy, got my brother and myself into tennis and me baseball at Sowden Park. I was a bit of a wimp and not as good at sports as my father would have liked . barry markle
At 87 I’m getting garbled hope I make sense.
Wonderful post, Eve. Love those classic old deco theatres, all of which seem to be lost. The Oak in Burnaby was another deco beauty.
Thanks Casey! If you find a photo of the Oak send it over, I haven’t heard of this one before
The Oaks was a theatre at 3506 Kingsway in Burnaby, B.C. that opened on August 4th, 1937.
I didn’t know about that theatre either. I found this picture and article about it:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/39430
The Hollywood on West Broadway in Vanacouver is an old Art Deco theatre that has been saved, but it took years and loads of money. I used to walk there for Saaturday matinees when I was a kid.
My only recollection of the Totem Theatre was seeing The Sound of Music, as a 12 year old, with my mother, a friend and her mother. It was a big deal and a special memory:)
“Just look what we did with the space!”
Indeed…
I went to The Totem to see a couple of movies between 1976 and 1977. One was Robin and Marian with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn, and the other was Sindbad and the Eye of the Tiger, which had a hilarious monster called Minoton in it. I grew up on the West Side of Vancouver, which had lots of neighbourhood movie theatres. We would go to the Ridge, the Hollywood or the Dunbar for Saturday matinees. I was surprised at how few there were on the North Shore when I started to work there in 1975. Now we don’t even have one movie theaatre in North Van, and they are turning the Park and Tilford theatres into a Winners Store. What a waste!
Pretty much unrelated to the story, but the mention of her being “of the Bar Q Guest Ranch ” brought back teenage memories of part of a summer there in 1975 or so. My friend Peter Kidder’s dad Ken lived in a trailer there, and for some reason agreed to let us, along with our 6 ‘ 6″ friend Scott, stay with him while ” looking for work “. This was not a mobile home, about a 16 foot trailer. Ken was wise enough to find Scott and me a terrible job ripping up rusty barbed wire along side a rattlesnake infested gravel road for about $2.50 an hour. After a couple of days we yarded on a particularly stubborn sagebrush and unearthed a nest of fifty or so rattlers ,who were none to pleased. We downed tools, headed to the Ashcroft Hotel to drown our sorrows,beer was 25 cents a glass and they didn’t care how old you were,and we headed back to the city shortly thereafter. Peter stayed a bit longer to move irrigation pipes on the Ranch. Even though it was well over 100 degrees usually, he wore his down jacket because of the mosquitoes. It was forbidden to be brought into the trailer as it smelled like concentrated locker room…
Ken was a great guy, we ate and drank him out of house and home, well trailer anyway, and he never complained. He figured out how to deal with us city types fairly quickly.
As I say, not really related to the story, but ah, The Bar Q…
Oops, “none too pleased “
Love this story Paul!
Thanks Eve. Pretty randomly related to your excellent post, but thought you would enjoy it.
Check with the Vancouver Public Library. They have a huge Historical Photograph library with pictures of many of the old movie theatres in the Lower Mainland. Wouldn’t surprise me if they had a picture of the Oak!
Thanks, I know it well. Found a terrific photo of the Oak via Heritage Burnaby.
I would go to Whispers after I got off work some night. We saw many great acts there. Unless Bryan Adams played in Whispers near the end I don’t think he ever headlined there. I saw him get up on stage one night and perform but it was not a show. It could have been between acts. He was very young. I think he was still working at the Keg. The crowd at Whispers did not appreciate this young kids talent at the time.
Other theatres on the North Shore, I recall, but are no longer, were the West Van Odean, the Park Royal Theatres, and there was a drive-in theatre in North Van just off Marine drive not far from Heywood Park and Capilano Mall. I remember sneaking in there one summer evening as a teenager to watch, an R movie…Bob, Ted, Carol and Alice. The sex parts were tame compared to what you see in movies these days.
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Love hearing everyone’s stories of North Van and especially Lynn Valley where I grew up in the 50s and 60s. I remember watching many Disney movies at the Cedar V and enjoying those 15 cent hot dogs. My Mom (Marg Hampton Clark) grew up near 13th and Lonsdale and when the Nova was built in 1938 she used to distribute movie flyers to the neighborhood in exchange for movie tickets.
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