Elizabeth Street road works in progress in front of the St James Theatre June 1935. Current MGM attraction Garbo “The Painted Veil” plus “The Night is Young”.
Last day of Winnie Lightner in “Hold Everything” Friday 7th November 1930. Popular Australian singer Gladys Moncrieff visited city cinemas that day, with 50 helpers in fancy dress, promoting ‘Poppy Day’ sales. Headquarters for this Remembrance Day charity event was the State Theatre vestibule. (‘Our Glad’ performed on stage during Matinee and Evening sessions of several film seasons at the State from the following day.)
Narrow venues like the Town had proscenium shapes ideally suited for pre-1954 Standard Ratio films. Screen sizes in its later years were: Widescreen 13’8” x 10’4.5” and Scope 24’8” x 10’4.5”.
The Cameo closed on 30th January 1946 for re-carpeting re-seating and re-naming. The opening attraction at Hoyts Esquire “This Happy Breed” enjoyed a thirteen week run: 15th February – 16th May 1946. Ticket sales windows were located on the footpath at each end of the entrance doors.
After the Australian ‘R’ certificate film censorship classification arrived in the early 1970s Hoyts would program many ‘risque’ titles into the Town, such as “The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio” shown here. Another – “The Case of the Smiling Stiffs” was a major hit.
As the Astor auditorium looked 1936-54. A new proscenium was constructed for a wider screen in 1954, which was further altered when reconstruction took place in 1966. The theatre initially closed 30th May 1984, but re-opened briefly a few weeks later – 19th July to 8th September, after which it was sold and gutted for retail use.
Burwood Road frontage of the Astor at time of opening – August 1936. The shop on the left is part of the property, and could be accessed directly from the entrance vestibule. Above the ‘Astor Café’ are the three windows of the Dress Circle foyer. This north side addition, which also included toilets, was sold to Westfield in 1966 – requiring replacement facilities to be constructed within the new cinema building.
Astor entrance foyer shows stairs up to Dress Circle and upstairs foyer August 1936. Ladies Rest Room door centre (Gents was located at side of building behind Astor Milk Bar.) Doors to Stalls on right.
As the signage implies, the Burwood Cinema opened in 1920. It continued screening films after the Palatial opened nearby in 1921, but was increasingly used for other purposes as well: roller skating, live theatre, political rallies and dancing – as the ‘Burwood Palais’. This photo – from September 1934 – shows the southern side wall at right, which was the only part of the building used in constructing the Astor on the site two years later.
That appears to be Arnold Spry (1911-1991) on the left. According to Geoff Searl (Avalon Beach Historical Society) this was on opening night, and gentleman on right is Spry’s Assistant Bob Rychbyn.
There were several versions of Jack London’s “The Sea Wolf” filmed over the years. This one, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino and John Garfield, screened at the De Luxe in September 1941.
Walt Disney’s spectacularly successful first feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered at the Melbourne Hoyts Plaza in 1938. It was revived on numerous occasions at various cinemas over the years. It screened at Hoyts Esquire for a season from 20th August, 1953 – which is when this photo was probably taken.
Elizabeth Street road works in progress in front of the St James Theatre June 1935. Current MGM attraction Garbo “The Painted Veil” plus “The Night is Young”.
Last day of Winnie Lightner in “Hold Everything” Friday 7th November 1930. Popular Australian singer Gladys Moncrieff visited city cinemas that day, with 50 helpers in fancy dress, promoting ‘Poppy Day’ sales. Headquarters for this Remembrance Day charity event was the State Theatre vestibule. (‘Our Glad’ performed on stage during Matinee and Evening sessions of several film seasons at the State from the following day.)
Narrow venues like the Town had proscenium shapes ideally suited for pre-1954 Standard Ratio films. Screen sizes in its later years were: Widescreen 13’8” x 10’4.5” and Scope 24’8” x 10’4.5”.
This Fox CinemaScope/Color double-feature of “Freckles” and “Tess of the Storm Country” opened at the Esquire 19th October 1961.
The Cameo closed on 30th January 1946 for re-carpeting re-seating and re-naming. The opening attraction at Hoyts Esquire “This Happy Breed” enjoyed a thirteen week run: 15th February – 16th May 1946. Ticket sales windows were located on the footpath at each end of the entrance doors.
After the Australian ‘R’ certificate film censorship classification arrived in the early 1970s Hoyts would program many ‘risque’ titles into the Town, such as “The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio” shown here. Another – “The Case of the Smiling Stiffs” was a major hit.
As the Astor auditorium looked 1936-54. A new proscenium was constructed for a wider screen in 1954, which was further altered when reconstruction took place in 1966. The theatre initially closed 30th May 1984, but re-opened briefly a few weeks later – 19th July to 8th September, after which it was sold and gutted for retail use.
Burwood Road frontage of the Astor at time of opening – August 1936. The shop on the left is part of the property, and could be accessed directly from the entrance vestibule. Above the ‘Astor Café’ are the three windows of the Dress Circle foyer. This north side addition, which also included toilets, was sold to Westfield in 1966 – requiring replacement facilities to be constructed within the new cinema building.
Astor entrance foyer shows stairs up to Dress Circle and upstairs foyer August 1936. Ladies Rest Room door centre (Gents was located at side of building behind Astor Milk Bar.) Doors to Stalls on right.
As the signage implies, the Burwood Cinema opened in 1920. It continued screening films after the Palatial opened nearby in 1921, but was increasingly used for other purposes as well: roller skating, live theatre, political rallies and dancing – as the ‘Burwood Palais’. This photo – from September 1934 – shows the southern side wall at right, which was the only part of the building used in constructing the Astor on the site two years later.
That appears to be Arnold Spry (1911-1991) on the left. According to Geoff Searl (Avalon Beach Historical Society) this was on opening night, and gentleman on right is Spry’s Assistant Bob Rychbyn.
Auditorium circa 2008 when ‘electronic’ projection was installed to show ‘specialist’ features, supplementing 35mm presentations.
“Slave Ship” starring Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery screened at the De-Luxe in January 1938.
There were several versions of Jack London’s “The Sea Wolf” filmed over the years. This one, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino and John Garfield, screened at the De Luxe in September 1941.
“White Heat” plus “Lonely Heart Bandits” screened at the Esquire in October 1951.
Walt Disney’s spectacularly successful first feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered at the Melbourne Hoyts Plaza in 1938. It was revived on numerous occasions at various cinemas over the years. It screened at Hoyts Esquire for a season from 20th August, 1953 – which is when this photo was probably taken.
The fact that the cinema front and shop next door are boarded up, suggests that this photo was taken after the Esquire closed in March 1976.