Is the Danforth’s Hollywood Canteen the last picture shop?
Mike Orlando’s performing-arts book shop Hollywood Canteen has been entertaining visitors since 1984. David Silverberg sees stars
If you want to learn about special effects in movies, we have books on that. And if you want to learn about the use of religion in cinema, we have books on that, too. MIKE ORLANDO
You know you have a must-visit store when the members of Metallica request a private, two-day shopping spree.
That’s what happened to Mike Orlando, owner and manager of Hollywood Canteen, in 2018, when the rock superstars came to Toronto for a week-long stint. They had long heard about the thousands of movie posters and books jammed into the quaint store at 1841 Danforth Ave., and just had to check it out.
“All of them were movie fans and wanted posters based on what they’re into,” says Orlando, 70. Guitarist Kirk Hammett bought a slew of Italian horror-movie posters. Frontman James Hetfield, a fan of films featuring cars, snagged a poster for “Two-Lane Blacktop,” starring James Taylor. And drummer Lars Ulrich handed over $3,500 for a rare “Alice in Wonderland” Disneyland poster. (Bassist Robert Trujillo somehow left empty handed.)
Orlando first opened Hollywood Canteen in 1984 in the Beaches after selling his collection of Humphrey Bogart memorabilia (“one of the world’s largest,” he adds) and realizing that he could turn his passion for posters into a viable business.
“I have close connections in the poster community,” Orlando says, “and I’ve always been on the lookout for movie posters and books on films and actors, particularly classic movies.”
After two years in the Beaches, the store moved to the Broadview and Danforth area for three years until the rent tripled, forcing Orlando to establish a new location in Markham Village, before the demolition of Honest Ed’s and the surrounding area.
Compelled to move again, in 2015 Orlando found a permanent home for Hollywood Canteen on the Danforth, a few blocks east of Coxwell Avenue. Orlando briefly expanded with a store in the Mount Pleasant area, but closed it to focus solely on the Danforth outlet.
Walking into the store, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the range of books and posters available for film (and TV and theatre) lovers. Around 15,000 books and 3,000 posters are on offer, with the price determined by the item’s rarity.
Don’t expect just a handful of books on any given topic. One sectionisdedicatedtobooksabout music in the movies, and another is stuffed with books on sex in cinema.
One dizzying section is brimming with actor biographies, often offering more than one book on a recognizable name. Love Peter Sellers, of “Pink Panther” fame? Choose from nine different books about him. Are you a fan of Marilyn Monroe? There are a couple of shelves devoted to the movie icon.
“If you want to learn about special effects in movies, we have books on that,” Orlando says, “and if you want to learn about the use of religion in cinema, we have books on that, too.”
One of the store’s more popular sections is chock full of books about horror films, with titles such as “Terrors of the Screen,” “Splatter Movies” and “Bloodsuckers: Vampires at the Movies.”
“Horror books quickly go out of print because the under-40 set, who aren’t (otherwise) known to be collectors, really like collecting books and posters in this genre,” says Orlando.
Hollywood Canteen’s impressive selection of original movie posters, reproductions and lobby cards (smaller 11”x17” promotional posters that studios used to release to theatres) is the meaty attraction for collectors. Many pre-1990 posters, from such films as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Psycho” and “The Wiz,” are available. “I’ve seen some people who want to fill their room with ‘Back to the Future’ posters, so they’ll shell out $1,500 for an original,” Orlando says.
Inside the store, it’s hard not to gawk at the vintage posters on display, such as the one for 1936’s “The General Died at Dawn” ($800) and an original “The Exorcist” ($500). After 20 minutes in the store, you soon begin to appreciate the art and design of posters that many of us have rarely given a second thought to.
Orlando unrolls the most expensive item in Hollywood Canteen: an original poster for “L’Avventura,” the 1960 drama by famed Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. It retails for $2,500.
Orlando says that his poster booth at the CNE had long been a strong marketing tool and revenue generator. And if he weren’t selling rare posters online through third-parties every day, along with a handful of books, Orlando doesn’t know if he would still be in business. “Walk-in customers are great, but we do a lot of business online, and we have so many buyers from the U.S.,” he says. “I look forward to cataloguing everything we have in the store so fans can go beyond Amazon, AbeBooks and Alibris to buy our stuff online. Hopefully, we can have our own online store available in the coming year.”
What consistently motivates Orlando are those moments when he finds just the right item for a customer. “I remember one guy came in to get a book for his father who loves movies, but he wasn’t sure what to get him,” Orlando says. “So I showed him a book about Robert Wise, who directed ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘West Side Story,’ and it was autographed by Wise, too. The customer flipped out, telling me this was one of his father’s favourite directors. He called me later to thank me for finding the perfect book.
“You know,” he adds, “that kind of stuff happens a lot around here.”