Metro Theatre
99 William Street,
Perth,
WA
6000
99 William Street,
Perth,
WA
6000
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 13 comments
On the last day of operation, there was also a “Tom and Jerry festival”.
On the last day, before the screening of “Gone with the wind”, there was also a screening of “The Wizard of Oz”.
The last film screened in the Metro Theatre, “Gone with the wind” was sold out(full theatre).
The front of the building seen in the streetview photo on the grond floor at the front(formally a Dick Smith electronics store) is now a Commonwealth Bank branch.
The Bank building has been rebuilt as Wesley Quarter.
The Metro Theatre closed on 13/10/1973. There is articule about the closure in the West Australian newspaper on 15/10/1973(page 14).
The Metro Theatre close in October 1973 with “Gone with the wind” to a sold out audiece. As the last few feet of film went through the projector gate, a slide of “Leo the Lion ” was super imposed on the screen and the lights came up slowly, the sound of a lone piper then being heard as he slowly walked down the aisles playing The Last Lament. This truly was a wonderful tribute to this warm, friendly cinema that had always been popular. Many patrons were seen leaving with tears streaming from their eyes, remembering the good old days when they had sat in the theatre watching many a silent and sound melodrama through the years. The Metro Theatre was demolished and replaced with Perth Building Society(later called Challenge Bank,now called Westpac). Perth Building society had a time capsule in the side of the staircase that went around the lift that said to opened sometime in the year 2000,if it was opened, i didn’t hear about it,i have no idea what was inside the time capsule,there could have been some stuff to do with the Theatres that were there!? There is some information about the Theatre organs at the website( http://www.oswa.org.au/waorgans/perthmetro ).
After the Metro theatre was demolished in February 1972,the site was used to build a the(head office?) of Perth building society(later Challenge Bank,now Westpac). I believe that during the demolishon,there one of the beams in the theatre building was hard to dislodge. There is a bas-relief that survived from the demolishon gracing the walls of Exit Nightclub(in Stirling Street,Northbridge),pictured in the book,Stage Screen and Stars(page 24).
There was two theatre organs in the Metro Theatre(I think of the organs might have been in Wesley Church(Perth) before being installed in the theatre?). One of the organs is now in Hale college(Wembley Downs),the other organ is now in the Karrinyup Comminity Centre.
My Sister worked at The Metro from mid 1960s till marriage in the early 70s. She warched the tickertape parade of Neal Armstrong , John Collins & Buz Aldrin motorcade down William St in 1969 from the balcony fronting over William St that had an outside doorway from the bio box upstairs. I saw one of my earliest vague memory films at The Metro, it was MGM’s ‘The Shoes of the Fisherman’ in the late 60s. This is a great site. Im facinated with movie theatres & the MGM Studio lot in Culver City USA. Will see if my old Albany WA theatres are listed. Would be a hoot, they wete demolished decades ago.
Exterior Regent photo from 1929
View link
Theatre was also named The Regent before Metro Theatre:
View link
Photo of Regent auditorioum in 1932 where seating was 2000, it was reduced to 1405 in 1938 and change to Art Deco style and renamed Metro:
View link
In 1950, Perth’s Metro Theatre screened MGM’s THE REFORMER AND THE REDHEAD, starring June Allyson and a lion cub named Herman. At the time, two lion cubs had just been born at the Perth Zoo. Marketing opportunity! The zoo named the female cub ‘June’ and the male ‘Herman’. In the image that is linked below, we see one of the Metro’s box office girls (‘June’) posing with ‘Herman’, one of the two cubs. It’s a fun pic!
‘JUNE’ AND LION CUB ‘HERMAN’ POSE AT THE METRO BOX OFFICE, PERTH
View link