Liberty Theatre

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This innocent inquiry letter printed in the Katoomba Daily 4th October 1938 was the harbinger of a major mountain scandal, with court cases reported in newspapers all over Australia. Edward Johnson and Robert Balfe Gelston, the new operators of Golby’s circuit, apparently couldn’t come to an accommodation with Otto Camphin of Katoomba Theatres Pty. Ltd. This was a problem, as Camphin was the sole exhibitor in nearby Katoomba, running the newly built Savoy and Embassy theaters. But that’s not all - he also had a major financial interest in the only newspaper in town! The claim here by GM Peters of the need for an admission price for “Snow White” of at least 10 shillings is, by the way, absurd exaggeration – most cinemas of the time were able to run the film at their normal adult price of around 2 shillings.