© 2013 Christian Cassidy. Updated July 2024.
Name: The Rose Theatre
Address: 801 Sargent Avenue
Opened: December 9, 1926
Architect: Max Zev Blankstein
Cost: $27,000
Background:
The Rose Theatre was built as part of the Allied Amusements chain of neighbourhood cinemas.
Allied Amusements was created by Jack Miles in 1912 to run a single theatre, The Palace on Selkirk Avenue. By the end of the 1920s, Allied had grown into a chain of four with the addition of the custom-built The Roxy on Henderson Highway, The Rose on Sargent Avenue, and The Plaza on Marion Street. A fifth theatre, The Uptown on Academy Road, opened in 1931.
The architect of these five theatres was Max Zev Blankstein who also designed theatres in rural Manitoba and in Saskatchewan.
Other venues came and went over the years as independent cinemas and smaller chains sold up or went bankrupt.
The Rose Theatre opened to an invitation-only crowd at 7:30 pm on December 9, 1926 with the feature Why Girls Go Back Home starring Myrna Loy. As this was a silent film, it was accompanied by The Rose's three-piece orchestra.
The Free Press wrote of the venue that the "Decorations and upholstery are all that could be desired and the theatre presents a very cozy appearance". A Tribune reviewer noted that it was a "beautiful and commodious playhouse". It had 622 fixed seats and 31 wicker chairs, likely in the balcony or foyer area at the rear of the hall.
In attendance at the opening was the theatre's first manager, Nathan Rothstein of Burrows Avenue, who had been the proprietor of the nearby Arlington Theatre at Arlington Street and Portage Avenue. The theatre's initial staff (1927 -28) included a small number of residents who lived within walking distance of the venue: Morris Glazer (usher); Roy McDonald (projectionist); and Mary Sigmar (cashier).
Rothstein stayed for just a short time and went on to build a small theatre empire of his own mainly in small prairie towns such as the Garry Theatre in Selkirk. He would come to own The Rose a couple of decades later. In the 1940s, he got into the hotel business and owned the St. Charles, Empire, and Marlborough hotels.
Address: 801 Sargent Avenue
Opened: December 9, 1926
Architect: Max Zev Blankstein
Cost: $27,000
Background:
The Rose Theatre was built as part of the Allied Amusements chain of neighbourhood cinemas.
Allied Amusements was created by Jack Miles in 1912 to run a single theatre, The Palace on Selkirk Avenue. By the end of the 1920s, Allied had grown into a chain of four with the addition of the custom-built The Roxy on Henderson Highway, The Rose on Sargent Avenue, and The Plaza on Marion Street. A fifth theatre, The Uptown on Academy Road, opened in 1931.
The architect of these five theatres was Max Zev Blankstein who also designed theatres in rural Manitoba and in Saskatchewan.
Other venues came and went over the years as independent cinemas and smaller chains sold up or went bankrupt.
December 9, 1926, Manitoba Free Press
The Rose Theatre opened to an invitation-only crowd at 7:30 pm on December 9, 1926 with the feature Why Girls Go Back Home starring Myrna Loy. As this was a silent film, it was accompanied by The Rose's three-piece orchestra.
The Free Press wrote of the venue that the "Decorations and upholstery are all that could be desired and the theatre presents a very cozy appearance". A Tribune reviewer noted that it was a "beautiful and commodious playhouse". It had 622 fixed seats and 31 wicker chairs, likely in the balcony or foyer area at the rear of the hall.
In attendance at the opening was the theatre's first manager, Nathan Rothstein of Burrows Avenue, who had been the proprietor of the nearby Arlington Theatre at Arlington Street and Portage Avenue. The theatre's initial staff (1927 -28) included a small number of residents who lived within walking distance of the venue: Morris Glazer (usher); Roy McDonald (projectionist); and Mary Sigmar (cashier).
Rothstein stayed for just a short time and went on to build a small theatre empire of his own mainly in small prairie towns such as the Garry Theatre in Selkirk. He would come to own The Rose a couple of decades later. In the 1940s, he got into the hotel business and owned the St. Charles, Empire, and Marlborough hotels.
The main floor of The Rose Theatre housed two small retail units, one on each side of the vestibule entrance that contained the ticket booth. Normally, only one retailer was listed in the street directory any given year which could mean that one retail space acted as the refreshment stand for the theatre.
For the space that was listed, it was initially Rose Tailor, then Ruxton's Barber Shop from 1930 - 31, and Scotty's Barber Shop in 1932. In the 1940s and 50s, it was home to Gertrude's Style Shop run by Gertrude Rifkin.
June 24, 1929, Winnipeg Free Press
The advent of "talking pictures" in the late 1920s put pressure on all cinema owners to make costly renovations to their spaces or find themselves behind the times showing silent films that few people wanted to see. The first Winnipeg cinema to be wired for sound was The Metropolitan in late 1928 and others immediately followed suit, starting with the big downtown movie palaces.
The Rose was an early convert to sound compared to some other neighbourhood cinemas. It began showing “talkies” in June 1929 with the feature The Home Towners starring Richard Bennett and Doris Kenyon.
Its fare was then second-run movies often shown in double bills. Saturday afternoons were reserved for kids with double and triple bills of westerns and cartoons.
The Rose was an early convert to sound compared to some other neighbourhood cinemas. It began showing “talkies” in June 1929 with the feature The Home Towners starring Richard Bennett and Doris Kenyon.
Its fare was then second-run movies often shown in double bills. Saturday afternoons were reserved for kids with double and triple bills of westerns and cartoons.
April 28, 1948, Winnipeg Free Press
Neighbourhood cinemas could not rely on movies alone to pay the bills. Most had a small stage area that could be hired out for talks or recitals.
Daniel McIntyre Collegiate used The Rose several times in the late 1930s and early 1940s for choir sing-alongs, special assemblies, and fundraiser movie showings. The Elks used it in 1942 for a public meeting. There is no doubt that many other public talks, political speeches, and one-off special showings of sponsored films were held here.
Neighbourhood cinemas also relied on contests to bring people in the door. Chains or local newspapers would host giveways or trivia contests for groups of cinemas. Above is Mrs. Best of Banning Street winning a Free Press trivia contest on the stage of The Rose in 1948.
The popularity of television in the 1950s meant the end of many neighbourhood theatres – why walk down the street and pay admission when you could sit in your living room and be entertained for free?
This change in the entertainment industry meant that some theatre chains, including Allied, went bankrupt and their properties were sold off for demolition or to be converted to other uses, (The Rose’s sister theatres The Roxy and Uptown, for instance, became bowling allies.)
March 26, 1964, Winnipeg Free Press
The Rose managed to continue on as a cinema for decades longer than any of the original five Allied Theatres. This is thanks to its first manager, Nathan Rothstein.
Rothstein's Western Theatres Ltd. took over The Rose in 1956 and soon advertised and booked films jointly with the chain's other neighbourhood cinemas, the Grand, Palace, and Plaza.
Toronto-based Towne Cinemas entered the Winnipeg market in 1963 when it joined forces with Western Theatres in 1963 to convert The Rose into the Towne Cinema. The chain billed itself as presenters of "the ultimate in unusual film entertainment" which included independent films, foreign films, and offerings too risqué for mainstream cinemas.
After some minor renovations, The Rose reopened as the 600-seat Towne Cinema on March 27, 1964 with a double-bill of The Conjugal Bed followed by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2. In years to come, it brought to Winnipeg films such as Accident (1967) and The Graduate which played for over four months in 1968.
The Towne / Venus transformation in 1974
A change in ownership likely happened in 1974 as the theatre evolved into an odd mix of burlesque and foreign language films intermixed with live exotic dancers and foreign language films. In April, the name changed from the Towne to the Venus Theatre which was a combination cinema, massage parlour, and adult bookstore owned by Joe Gabriele.
It wasn’t long before police and city councillors began getting complaints about the venue and the owner was convicted three times for violating obscenity laws. When it came time to renew the theatre's business license in 1978, city council was able to put an end to the Venus.
After being closed down, Gabriele soon reopened it as the Festival Theatre which showed second-run independent and European films.
By the mid-1980s the Festival appears to have been seldom used with the exception of the occasional Asian-language film. The building’s 59-year run as a cinema came to an end in late 1985.
After a couple of years as a discount retail store, in 1991 - 92 the building underwent a major renovation that likely added its second floor by continuing the balcony to the rear of the building.
The main tenant was a billiard hall called Club Sargent which was the scene of several police raids and drug charges were laid against the management. (Neighbourhood lore says it was a biker gang that ran the place.)
The disruption to the neighbourhood attracted the attention of not just the police but of community activist Rev. Harry Lehotsky of New Life Ministries who wanted it shut down. He got his wish in 1995.
The Rose in 2017
The Rose has since been used as a commercial space. For several years, a daycare occupied part of the main floor and the upstairs level. Its neighbour was a sound / DJ company.
In 2023, the building was purchased by new owners. Renovations to the main floor retail spaces are taking place with future plans to renovate the second floor.
Related:
My Photo Album of The Rose Theatre
seen dawn of the dead there for the first time in 79...ahhh great times at the midnite festivals......
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