Grand Illusion Cinema

Davidfox on February 14, 2007 at 12:43 pm

For many years the auditorium space was occupied by a dentist’s office. The Grand Illusion was originally The Movie House, the first cinema in what became Randy Finley’s Seven Gables circuit, now part of Landmark Theaters. The current name came from Paul Doyle, who ran the cinema for 20 years before selling to a non-profit. He now owns the Columbia City Cinema in Seattle’s Rainier Valley.

TLSLOEWS on July 16, 2010 at 6:56 pm

Well it is a Grand Illusion.

neeb on March 12, 2013 at 10:30 pm

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7275

A bit of history as to how everything got started.

Wonder if they’ll play Inadmissible Evidence when they hit 50 years?

Grand Illusion Cinema on February 27, 2023 at 1:42 pm

As of January 2023 our building is for sale, likely to be razed and developed. We have a two year lease and will relocate the cinema. Until then, it’s business as usual. https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/grand-illusion-cinema-building-for-sale-in-seattles-university-district/

David_Schneider on October 28, 2023 at 9:15 am

During several trips to Seattle starting in 2008, I visited the Grand Illusion three or four times and it became my favorite Seattle cinema for its cozy environment and interesting offerings.

When I returned to Seattle in September/October 2015 to consider moving there, I found that many of the decades-old local businesses whose presence imbued the area with a vibe of creativity I had enjoyed being in were suddenly gone and continuing to disappear, apparently due to an influx of tech industry workers and the rising rents they can afford, changing the feel of the city and my mind about living there… but at least the Grand Illusion was still there.

Reading here that the Grand Illusion will be forced to relocate, and assuming its original location will be replaced by new construction of less character, I am reminded of my disappointment. (I felt haunted into early 2017, like I had visited an old acquaintance named Seattle, and found them changing in a direction that suddenly ended what might have become a friendship.) I hope the coziness I remember will relocate with it.

This context of accelerated change inspired a song for a Seattle area band which became my “theme song” for this situation, “Gold Rush” by Death Cab For Cutie.

If I had moved to Seattle, by now I would have had enough stamps on the Grand Illusion “Cinephile Card” I still keep as a souvenir to earn a free admission.