Upstairs

Theatres Dept: It was narrow. The theatres were small No. 4, upstairs, played like a biggish living room . The sound was terrible. The place was glum in an overlit, modern way, according to The Star. Now that it s gone, it s the first building I ve ever felt weepy about. I worked there as a teenager. I was an usher, a cashier, a candy counter guy and eventually an assistant manager and the Cumberland Four, which closes forever Sunday night, was not a majestic movie theatre. It wasn t regal or any of the other nostalgic adjectives we tag onto that vanishing cultural object the urban film house in its non-mulitplex form. But it had style. For many years it was the hub of the Toronto International Film Festival and the north of Bloor go-to joint for the subtitle set. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.