Civic museum displays new exhibit.
On Oct. 19, 2013, Guelph’s civic museum hosted the reception for “The Magic of Guelph’s Cinematic Past,” with talks from both David J. Knight and Bill Cardinal. Knight, a local author, musician and archeologist, has been working on a new project that tracks the progression of Guelph’s cinematic past and is a part of the upcoming Festival of Moving Media. The reception at the museum was a look inside what this project is all about.
Knight spoke about how Guelph’s cinematic history is much broader than most people know, and stated that he is ready to draw open the curtain and share the magic with the community and the public at large. Throughout the early twentieth century, Guelph housed a total of six theatres in the downtown area including: the Odeon, the Regent, the Castle, the Palace, the Royal, and the Capital.
In his talk, Knight shared some information of a man named John C. Green (who was also known as Belsaz the Magician) who had a well-defined position in Guelph’s linkage to cinema. Green was not only a man who helped the theatres run, but was also accredited with creating a short, silent clip titled “The Kiss,” which is available to look at in the civic museum’s exhibit.
Following Knight’s introduction and discussion of Guelph’s cinematic history, he passed the floor to Bill Cardinal, whose family has a long lineage of connection to the cinema in Guelph and the surrounding area. Cardinal passionately spoke of his own and his father’s experiences with cinematic culture. Cardinal brought with him a silent film projector that his father had recovered from the basement of the Capital theatre (now the Baker Street parking lot) after a fire had burnt the theatre down in 1929. He said that his father came with his wagon the morning after the fire to retrieve a piece of the historic theatre he felt so close to. This silent projector that was reclaimed from the rubble is displayed in the civic museum, to be viewed by the public as a part of this exhibition that runs until the beginning of 2014.
Knight hosted a walking tour of historic locations downtown Guelph on Oct. 20, during which he took all attendees around downtown to the locations of theatres past. This event is linked to Guelph’s Festival of Moving Media, which begins in early November. Knight will be hosting another historic walk, and an exhibition reception will follow at Ed Video.