The Curzon, when it was still showing movies.

Photo Info

Uploaded on: April 10, 2012

Size: 1.8 MB

Views: 1,659

License:

This photograph of the Curzon, then Adelaide’s leader in the exhibition of European and other foreign language films, is by courtesy of my friends, fellow theatre historians Ross Lange, and John Thiele. The theatre was built for the Wondergraph Company, but that organization got into financial difficulties and had to sell it. I have been told by the two surviving members of the Waterman Brothers' Ozone Theatres head office, Alan Woodard (101) and Ray Hasse (89}, that their company bought all of the Wondergraph Theatres, but that some of them were leased to the Star Theatre group, owned by their friendly competitor, Dan Clifford. When he opened the New Star (now the Capri which can be seen a few doors away) in 1941, Ozone Theatres operated it under the Ozone name until the advent of television caused a catastrophic decline in cinema attendances. The Ozone was leased from 1955-64 to the Adelaide legitimate theatre identity Alec Regan to replace his little CBD Liberty/Curzon in Rundle Street, which had begun life as a newsreel theatre converted from a shop, and to which use it reverted when it in turn closed. The Goodwood Curzon was gutted internally and converted to house several businesses. A false third story was added to conceal mobile telephone antennae built on top of the former theatre.