The cinema closed after celebrating their 100th anniversary. Blame it on the local laws that all buildings must be earthquake proof. The owners could not afford the massive cost. The building has now been stripped of it’s seats and cinema equipment. Anyway there was virtually nothing inside the building when it was last open, that resembled how the cinema used to look in the fifties – only the stairs leading from the
ground to the first level. Even the facade was different
You are both wrong ABCDE and Robert. The stalls were used when 70mm was installed but only for a very short time.I saw all of the 70mm films shown there until 1967.
Two smaller cinemas have been built in the downstairs area.The main cinema is on the first floor level. The cinema celebrates it centenary on 4 August 2017.
No Australian cinema ever installed Vista-Vision. VV was limited only to a few cinemas in the USA and one in London. Some U.K. and Australian cinemas did have a larger screen and a different lens to improve the projected image but the film was always 35mm not Vista-Vision. False advertising re films being in Vista -Vision (when they weren’t) was common in the fifties in the U.K.,Australia and where I worked in New Zealand and probably elsewhere as well. Anyone who said that V.V. was shown in Australia is wrong and probably suffering from dementia.
In 2014 I met a lady on a local community social bus outing in Sydney, Australia. She worked at the Paramount in the fifties at the same time as my mother did.I also worked there as a kid at the same time( in my mother’s confectionary shop).We had as lot to talk about We knew all the same people in the film industry. My mother had two shops,one on the ground floor next to the entrance and ticket box. There was another one on the first floor. There was also a second ticket box on the ground floor but it was rarely used.How is that for an amazing coincidence? We still see each other about once a month ,on these social outings. Naturally, the Paramount always enters our discussions .Having lived in Australia for the past 50 years,I only ever went back inside the cinema once during the seventies.In another coincidence, I was in the same class at school with David Lascelles. He later wrote 80 Turbulent Years which was a history of the Paramount cinema from 1917 until 1997. I also happened to run into David when I visited the cinema during a film festival. Having ceased working at the Paramount when it was cut in half in 1961,I continued working at four other Wellington cinemas Kings,Plaza,State/Cinerama and Tudor/Lido until I moved to Australia in 1967.I understand that the Paramount was the last city cinema to install cinemascope.A few years go I also got in contact with an usher who worked at the Paramount about the same time as I did. She now lives in Melbourne.
The Netherlands Dance Theatre played there once.They are still one of the premiere ballet companies in the world. One of the ballets that they played was danced by all males and they were completely naked.They entered the auditorium from the rear and danced down the aisles naked
Several rows in the stalls were used when 70mm was installed.You had to strain your neck and eventually they closed the stalls.I did sit there once but never again.The theatre manager’s brother was an actor in the fifties. It was truly the only place to see 70mm. The nearby Kings also had a fantastic 70mm screen ,only 2 feet smaller than the Embassy.The Embassy had the largest 70mm screen in Australia.Nothing in Australia or New Zealand matched the awesome screen as far as 70mm went.Australian 70mm screens were always small. I also worked at the State(later called Cinerama),Plaza,Kings,Tudor(later called Lido). as well as the Paramount. (as did my parents).As a child I remember cinemascope being installed at The Kings and seeing 3D at the Tudor.
I used to work at this cinema,as did my mother,in the fifties before it was reduced in size.The cinema was in the circle and there was a TAB downstairs with a seperate entrance.I remember seeing The Hogarth Puppets there when I was a kid.Seeing all those European films there gave me a great appreciation of Foreign films. It was a pity they changed over to double features and then reduced the size.They had wanted to put seats down the side walls from the balcony to the stalls floor. (in the fifties)I remember seeing the plan for this but it never went ahead.
I have 313 approx. in my list of cinerama (both 3-strip & 70mm)cinemas around the world (excluding kinopanorama and cinemiracle -have a seperate list of them) as well as details about each one.Can anyone top that?
The Embassy is now a triplex with two smaller cinemas on the ground level
The cinema closed after celebrating their 100th anniversary. Blame it on the local laws that all buildings must be earthquake proof. The owners could not afford the massive cost. The building has now been stripped of it’s seats and cinema equipment. Anyway there was virtually nothing inside the building when it was last open, that resembled how the cinema used to look in the fifties – only the stairs leading from the ground to the first level. Even the facade was different
Happy 100th birthday Paramount.Sad to see that you may be closing in the near future. I enjoyed working there in the mid fifties .
You are both wrong ABCDE and Robert. The stalls were used when 70mm was installed but only for a very short time.I saw all of the 70mm films shown there until 1967.
Two smaller cinemas have been built in the downstairs area.The main cinema is on the first floor level. The cinema celebrates it centenary on 4 August 2017.
No Australian cinema ever installed Vista-Vision. VV was limited only to a few cinemas in the USA and one in London. Some U.K. and Australian cinemas did have a larger screen and a different lens to improve the projected image but the film was always 35mm not Vista-Vision. False advertising re films being in Vista -Vision (when they weren’t) was common in the fifties in the U.K.,Australia and where I worked in New Zealand and probably elsewhere as well. Anyone who said that V.V. was shown in Australia is wrong and probably suffering from dementia.
In 2014 I met a lady on a local community social bus outing in Sydney, Australia. She worked at the Paramount in the fifties at the same time as my mother did.I also worked there as a kid at the same time( in my mother’s confectionary shop).We had as lot to talk about We knew all the same people in the film industry. My mother had two shops,one on the ground floor next to the entrance and ticket box. There was another one on the first floor. There was also a second ticket box on the ground floor but it was rarely used.How is that for an amazing coincidence? We still see each other about once a month ,on these social outings. Naturally, the Paramount always enters our discussions .Having lived in Australia for the past 50 years,I only ever went back inside the cinema once during the seventies.In another coincidence, I was in the same class at school with David Lascelles. He later wrote 80 Turbulent Years which was a history of the Paramount cinema from 1917 until 1997. I also happened to run into David when I visited the cinema during a film festival. Having ceased working at the Paramount when it was cut in half in 1961,I continued working at four other Wellington cinemas Kings,Plaza,State/Cinerama and Tudor/Lido until I moved to Australia in 1967.I understand that the Paramount was the last city cinema to install cinemascope.A few years go I also got in contact with an usher who worked at the Paramount about the same time as I did. She now lives in Melbourne.
The upstairs cinema also screened films in 70mm
The cinema also installed 70mm projection but the screen size remained the same as the one used for 35mm films.Such a waste of 70mm
The Netherlands Dance Theatre played there once.They are still one of the premiere ballet companies in the world. One of the ballets that they played was danced by all males and they were completely naked.They entered the auditorium from the rear and danced down the aisles naked
The cinema was originally build for grandeur (70mm wide screen) in 1930 but the brief 3 year wide screen era never eventuated in Australia.
The cinema had a dreadfully very,very small screen for screening 70mm films. What a waste of 70mm.
The 70mm screen was terribly small.
A MAN AND A WOMAN ran for just over a year.
It has been restored and is now open
The Cinerama film THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD was shown there in 70mm on the huge deeply curved screen, but not advertised as being in Cinerama.
I understand that Cinerama Inc were not impressed that they installed 70mm Cinerama size screens but never advertised them as being Cinerama.
Definitely not the place to see films in 70mm. Very small uncurved and slanted backwards screen(due to the steep angle of projection.)
They showed 70mm films on small screens.
The air-conditioning unit was also very loud and ruined my seeing films there.
The Village complex was later demolished and never became part of the Greater Union / Hoyts complexes when they were joined together.
Meant to say the largest 70mm screen in Australasia ,not Australia
Several rows in the stalls were used when 70mm was installed.You had to strain your neck and eventually they closed the stalls.I did sit there once but never again.The theatre manager’s brother was an actor in the fifties. It was truly the only place to see 70mm. The nearby Kings also had a fantastic 70mm screen ,only 2 feet smaller than the Embassy.The Embassy had the largest 70mm screen in Australia.Nothing in Australia or New Zealand matched the awesome screen as far as 70mm went.Australian 70mm screens were always small. I also worked at the State(later called Cinerama),Plaza,Kings,Tudor(later called Lido). as well as the Paramount. (as did my parents).As a child I remember cinemascope being installed at The Kings and seeing 3D at the Tudor.
I used to work at this cinema,as did my mother,in the fifties before it was reduced in size.The cinema was in the circle and there was a TAB downstairs with a seperate entrance.I remember seeing The Hogarth Puppets there when I was a kid.Seeing all those European films there gave me a great appreciation of Foreign films. It was a pity they changed over to double features and then reduced the size.They had wanted to put seats down the side walls from the balcony to the stalls floor. (in the fifties)I remember seeing the plan for this but it never went ahead.
I have 313 approx. in my list of cinerama (both 3-strip & 70mm)cinemas around the world (excluding kinopanorama and cinemiracle -have a seperate list of them) as well as details about each one.Can anyone top that?