Hoyts Chatswood Theatre

This is the cinema that gave birth to my love of movies. The first movie I ever saw here was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in August 1969. It then became our local, as it was four blocks away from our house. I then spent almost every Saturday of my youth here. It had a great wide stalls area, with a slight slope. The hardly used dress circle was very large, but I only ever recall it being used a few times. An old bloke named Charlie who was the head usher collected tickets and always treated the regular kids with a great deal of fun. In 1972, I recall seeing Bedknobs and Broomsticks here. I remember in 1974, seeing a movie here cost 95 cents. The next year, it went up to $1.05. Among the many movies seen here were The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Funny Lady (1975), Tommy (1975), Towering Inferno (1975), Silver Streak (1976), The Deep (1976) and Star Wars (1977). A very sad day when they closed this cinema down.