Why Chilliwack Is Showing the First Movie Ever Played at the Paramount Theatre Again

Jun 24

Tomorrow night, Chilliwack isn’t just hosting a movie.

It’s replaying a moment from local history.

On June 25, the Chilliwack Cultural Centre and Chilliwack Museum are screening Sorrowful Jones — the first movie ever shown at Chilliwack’s historic Paramount Theatre when it opened in 1949.

But what makes this event especially meaningful is not only the film.

It’s where the film will be shown.

The screening will take place on the original Paramount silver screen itself, preserved and relocated after the theatre closed.

For one evening, a piece of Chilliwack’s movie-going history gets to do exactly what it was designed to do.

The Paramount Theatre Was Once Part of Downtown Chilliwack Life

Long before streaming and endless entertainment choices, going to the movies was an event.

You made plans. You went downtown. You bought popcorn and shared the experience with a room full of strangers.

When the Paramount Theatre opened in Chilliwack on June 9, 1949, Sorrowful Jones was the featured film for its sold-out Canadian premiere.

For decades after, theatres like the Paramount weren’t just places to watch movies. They were places where communities gathered.

The Story of the Paramount Silver Screen

When the Paramount Theatre eventually closed, not everything disappeared with it.

Its original silver screen was preserved and moved to the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.

That means tomorrow’s audience won’t simply be watching a historic film.

They’ll be watching it on the same screen generations of Chilliwack residents once sat in front of.

There’s something special about that.

Preservation doesn’t always mean placing things behind glass.

Sometimes preservation means letting people experience them again.

Why This Screening Matters

This screening is part of a larger collaboration with the Chilliwack Museum and ties into an upcoming exhibition exploring the history of cinema and live theatre in Chilliwack.

If you love local history, old theatres, or simply finding unique things to do in Chilliwack, this feels like one of those events that probably won’t happen often.

Even if you’ve never heard of Sorrowful Jones before.