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Vanity Theatre

This photo was taken in March of 2008 when the place was known as the Roxy. It has since been purchased as is now known as the “The Blind Dog“. It’s hard to believe it today, but at one time this one one of Downtown’s major movie theatres.

This is how the building looked in 1977, shortly after it was “modernized”. The look that remains to this day. The Vanity was closed by Famous Players in 1987, and at the time of its closure was the largest movie house in Windsor with 695 seats. How’s that for a throw back? Multi purpose buildings. A movie theare in the rear with retail space in the front…

When it opened in 1937, it looked like the photo above. At that time the theatre held 966 seats, that total was reduced over the years to 695 with the closure of the balcony. The building was designed by Windsor architect A.H. McPhail.

The Windsor that used to be…

Andrew

View Comments

  • The small movie house on Sandwich Street was called the Royal.I saw the last picture show there at the end of July 1953. The double features were: a Cisco Kid feature with Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carillo and my favorite comedy series the Bowery Boys in "No Holds Barred".

  • As a kid growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, it seemed almost every big movie release came to the Vanity. Long line ups of ticket buyers stretching down to Wyandotte were a common sight on Fridays and Saturdays even in winter, when the latest blockbuster was opening in town. Although nothing fancy inside, i do remember the balcony, and it being closed off around the mid 1980s. I believe the Vanity ended its run as a movie house in early 1987 after a Christmas 1986 run of “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”. Many happy memories at the Vanity. So sad to see it in its current state.

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