Kaplan & Sprachman, Architects

Between 1929 and 1965, Toronto architects Harold Solomon Kaplan (1895-1973) and Abraham (Abe) Sprachman (1894-1971) designed hundreds of movie theatres across Canada. The Kaplan & Sprachman firm was one of nation’s most prolific, creating numerous noteworthy designs ranging from flagship movie palaces to small-town cinemas. Their buildings featured the Moderne style, with flowing streamlined surfaces and neon-lit marquees. By using the newest finishes and the latest engineering and film technologies, they invited thousands of Canadians into the fantastic world of the “Golden Age” of cinema.

Despite their incorporation in the initial year of the Great Depression, Kaplan & Sprachman built a solid foundation designing office buildings, residences, and apartment blocks for Toronto’s Jewish community. From these beginnings, they rose to become the favoured specialists in Canadian theatre design, encroaching on American architects who were favoured by American chains such as Paramount and Famous Players as well as the Canadian Allen Brothers. Kaplan & Sprachman designed theatres for both the larger cinema corporations and many smaller independent owners and regional chains.

At the height of movie-going in Canada, Kaplan & Sprachman, introduced the Moderne style to the industry, designing several of the country’s marquee movie houses. Two of the best known are Famous Players’ flagship Eglinton Theatre in Toronto and Canadian Odeon’s Vogue Theatre in downtown Vancouver. These architects captured a modern, progressive aesthetic that symbolized high-class refinement and glamorized the machine-age. The Moderne style is reflected in their rounded, aerodynamic designs, and flowing interior surfaces.

In the 1930s and 1940s, when Canadians were drawn by the neon lights to the escapism of Hollywood, Kaplan & Sprachman’s designs amplified the new technologies of the talking pictures. Streamlined designs were accentuated in long, narrow auditoriums, lighting was indirect and subdued, and more attention was paid to acoustics and sightlines. Sound panels hid speakers, and air conditioning kept audiences comfortable. Before television changed the entertainment world, many Canadians were swept away by the glamour and suspense of the silver screen within the sleek designs of a Kaplan & Sprachman movie theatre.