1812 Theatre

UP DATE – Greg Lynch says – The village of Upper Ferntree Gully nestles in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, During the early 1930’s this was a popular spot for large numbers of holiday-makers and weekend travellers who stayed overnight in local boarding houses and cottages. It was only a matter of time before a purpose built cinema was built. A search of Public Building Files reveals a submission of application for building a theatre in Rose Street, under the name “Loyalty Pictures” dated 25/09/1939. Approval was granted that same year to the applicant C. Spalding..The Loyalty Theatre (clad in A/C sheeting) was built in 1939 with 376 seats, by Charlie Spalding who became the owner / operator until 1950. The theatre’s original screening policy was Mon / Wed / Fri / Sat with a special Sat matinee. It was necessary to book for Saturday nights at least one week in advance. The Australian Film Weekly dated Feb 23, 1950 tells us that Charlie Spalding sold his theatre while on a holiday to the UK to Messers LC, and HW, Peters. The Peters Brothers ran the theatre from 1951 to 1959. – By 1960 the capacity had been increased to 409. In Jan 1960 there was a change of exhibitor as Roy Farmer took over the running of the theatre, while at the same time operating the Electra theatre, located in the adjacent suburb of Boronia. Roy Farmer ran “The Loyalty” until 1971?. During this period there was a sub lease arrangement with the talented Rob (sprockets) Weybury, who installed a theatre organ and personally performed nightly for patrons in the style of the traditional grand picture palace, regretfully it seems to indifferent box office. – NAME CHANGE – The cinema now showing it’s age was re-named “The Festival Theatre” and was run for a short time by hopeful industry identities, Len Harvey & Eric Yeomans – The old cinema after 32 years of entertaining a generation of local film-goers was finally dark, later to emerge after a major re-build as The 1812 Theatre. For the people of the Upper Gully and surrounds (this writer is one) “The Loyalty” was a special place, a meeting place, a place of dreams….