1917 – Princess Theatre, Ste. Catherine Ouest, Montreal, Canada
Cinema opened in 1917 on the site of an earlier theatre, and later became Le Parisien in 1963, on Ste.Catherine Ouest, Montréal. It had 2,184-seats located in orchestra level, balcony, and upper balcony levels. The Princess was the theater where Houdini was sucker punched in the stomach by McGill University student J. Gordon Whitehead, dying nine days later. In 1974, it was closed for renovations, gutted, and reopened in 1975 as a five-screen theater, and in 1989, it was split again into seven screens. Finally closed in 2007.
“The exterior exhibits a decidedly modern influence, and is a departure from the more or less orthodox treatment to which one is accustomed, the light terra cotta and style of the design being in marked contrast to the adjoining buildings and readily attractive to the passerby. The interior which follows the usual plan is conveniently arranged and comfortable in its furnishings and appointments. Considerable plaster ornament in used in the decorative scheme the motif of the facade being repeated in the arching and splay of the boxes.”
Construction, February 1918
Published March 6, 2026
