Prince Edward Theatre
Castlereagh Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2000
Castlereagh Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2000
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The Prince Edward Theatre opened on 5th December 1924 with the silent version of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments”. It was designed by the architectural firm Robertson and Marks, with marble staircases, a fountain, and a 16 foot crystal chandelier in the dome in the auditorium. The theatre had a Wurlitzer 2Manual/10Ranks organ which was opened by organist Eddie Horton. In the early days there was a full orchestra, and stage presentations.
Bob Hope attended the opening of his film, “The Seven Little Foys,” in June 1955, which included an appearance on the stage. Almost every film screened at the Prince Edward Theatre was from the Paramount Studios.
It closed on 4 December 1965 and was later demolished.
Contributed by
Graeme McBain
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
I have a somewhat vague memory of seeing a film at the Prince Edward when I was very young, not long before it closed. The film has long been forgotten but the organist and the sound of that great instrument remains quite vivid in my mind after all these years!
The demolition of the theatre and subsequent loss of the wonderful Hotel Australia nearby changed the centre of Sydney forever – glad I was able to see these landmarks before being swept away for non entities.
Paul Lewis
At age 14, I was a Page Boy at the Prince Edward Theatre, in the mid 50’s. I vividly remember the opulence of the theatre, and some names still ring a bell. I believe the alternating managers were a, Mr Gatwood and a Mr Garth, both of whom were always resplendent in dinner suits. The similarly imposing Commissionaire was a Greek named Tony who had a penchant for weightlifting and smelled of apples and oranges, his staple diet. The usherettes took great delight at my embarrassment, when I was summoned by buzzer to their dressing room, only to find most of them in various stages of undress. I soon became accustomed to it, and actually looked forward to the buzzer. I recall the live performances, the organ and also an orchestra which may have been Les McGrath and his orchestra of renown. Some of the movies played during my time were, The Man Who Knew Too Much…The Trouble With Harry…Anything Goes… Wer'e No Angels…South Pacific…The Court Jester, and possibly more I can’t remember. What I do recall is having to clean out those large silver bowl ashtrays, on ornate stands in the lounge areas of the foyer, and topping them up with water to extinguish the glowing stogies. More than half a century on at age 66, whenever I hear or see the name of an actor or film of the era, I immediately drift back to those halcyon days of the theatre when people dressed for the occasion and behaved like true Ladies and Gentlemen and partook of their entertainment in sumptious and regal surroundings, and I recall how, albeit in a small way, I was part of that.
i remember you david i was one of the usherettes and worked on all those movies and more dallas was the head usherette and she looked after us like we were family i was only 16 yes i lied about my age loli was also on the stand in the foyer for a dean martin and jerry lewis film in a white satin dress, mr gatwood gave me the job but only after i had to show him my legs lol he did that to every one ihave 2 old pics of us girls in our summer uniform i was so sad to see it go it really was the theatre beautiful the only one of its kind in australia. its good to see we have a web page for the PE
leebee60@bigpond .net.au
leebee60, can you remember the name of the head usherette? Was it by any chance Dallas Hudson?
Hi leebee60, I am afraid I cannot recall the names of any of the usherettes, but i think one of them was married to the band leader. Was that Dallas? I do recall my last night at the PE when the girls surprised me with a farewell gift, I think it was a smart mauve shirt and a tie,accompanied with lots of hugs and tears, very sad. So much water under the bridge since then.I would love to see your pics, it may just jolt the old memory banks into action. Perhaps we could arrange an e.mail exchange sometime.What a revelation about Mr Gatwood, at least he didnt ask to see my legs, but he had no trouble ticking me off if I was late in bringing his dinner tray up from the restaurant next door and downstairs, was that Romanos? I remember the girls on the upper level foyer entry were often plagued by a weird guy they called “Sandshoe Sam”. He used to wear a cloth hat, dark glasses, an overcoat and sandshoes, and used to peer at them from behind the billboards.Happy Days long gone.
This site has a photo of the Prince Edward Theater. Here is a close-up view from 1955.
Here is a link to the library where there are more Prince Edward Theater related photos.
hi paul yes it was dallas and hudson rings a bell with me dallas was tall and had red hair.
hi david yes there was one married to les mcgrath she had left just before i started i wasnt there when you left i went on to work at the st james theatre oh what a let down lol oh and sandshoe sam mmmm i used to wonder if he was a flasher lol gosh this is so great finding out about the pe if we didnt want to go out the front because there was a guy we didnt want to see we would go up through the organ into the theatre and out the back way the people in the front row used to get a shock lol
i often wonder about the girls my friend was june davidson and the 2 carmels the photos i will have to dig out and then scan them and email if you like i will let u know on here when thats done
Many of the light fittings from the Prince Edward are still in situ at the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba. The organ is preserved at Marrickville Town Hall and it has been there for over 40 years now !
A photograph of the interior of the Prince Edward with the organ being installed in 1924 can be found in the Wurlitzer book. The latter is available through the American Theatre Organ Society