Rialto-Odeon-Royal Theatre - Trail, BC
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T0SHEA
N 49° 05.665 W 117° 42.328
11U E 448498 N 5438191
Opened in 1927, this theatre has had an interesting life.
Waymark Code: WMFQM4
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 11/19/2012
Views: 1
The Royal Theatre is still operational. The photos are from across Bay St., looking SE toward the theatre. The original was taken at high water during the flood of 1948.
One of three theatres in Trail at the time, it has an interesting history dating back to 1927 when it first opened as the Rialto Theatre. The architects were Townley and Matheson of Vancouver.
The theatre was closed in May, 1944 after the stage was destroyed by fire and was reopened in January, 1945 as the Odeon Theatre. The current movie playing then was “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck and Michael O’Shea. The film was released in May of 1943.
During the devastating flood in June, 1948, the Odeon Theatre had on their marquee “Now showing - The Great Flood in color – Right now it's intermission”. The wicket window at the Odeon Theatre became a benchmark for flood waters in subsequent years as floods were measured by how high the water rose up the sides of the movie house. The water level rose so high the Odeon was shut down for weeks.
On January 11, 1958 a headline in the Trail Daily Times read:
“Find Bomb in Odeon”
“An attempt was made in Trail last night to murder scores of patrons attending performances in the Odeon Theater.
A home made potential bomb, built of an oil can containing five sticks of dynamite, was placed below a seat. Its fuse was ignited – and failed to burn properly. As a result, dozens of people who might otherwise have been blown to pieces sat through the show unaware that their lives had hung by a thread…”
In 1977 the theatre was once again renamed, becoming the Royal Theatre. The Royal remains the only active movie theatre in Trail.
Year photo was taken: 1948
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