Barclay Theatre
681 George Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2000
681 George Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2000
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Address was 681 George Street. July 1980 print ad added credit The Sun, courtesy Ron Pettersson.
The site is now the Citymark building(23 shops, commericial/professional offices and a restaurant(Marigold).
The timing in this article is incorrect. The premiere of The Squatter’s Daughter was 29 September 1933, which was when it was renamed the Civic Theatre. It had already abandoned its all-Australian policy by 1935.
April 29th, 1916 grand opening ad as Haymarket also in Photo section.
June 19th, 1962 grand opening ad in photo section as Barclay.
WHat a top projection room to work in fully soundproofed .A rare setup with a pair of canica vic 8:s and one Kalee made presentation easy if running a70mm print with 35mm ads & trailers.I recall a Saturday dayshift the dimmer for main house lights smoked up ,the only temp fix while show was on was to get afew wire coathangers from the locker room[yes there was a change room probably the old generator before referb &fitting rectfiers]and bridge the blown sections.TRY DOING THAT TO YOUR SOLID STATE AUTOMATED DIMMER,arh those were the days
Added to Photos: a shot of Nat King Cole who was appearing in the Harlem Blackbirds show although he got no billing on the front of house. Several cast members were photographed taking time off at various locales like clubs and the children’s hospital.
Remember seeing a double bill of COMA plus THE ONE & THE ONLY with my sister here and THE WIZ with Aunt Muriel
The Barclay was named for Sir Norman B. Rydge’s wife whose maiden name was Barclay.
Seating was reduced to 950 after the new shell was erected in 1962.
I remember seeing a double feature of Jaws and Jaws 2 at this beautiful cinema in September 1981. It had such lush blue/purple interiors and I always felt it was out of place in this more run down end of town. I also remember seeing The Great Waldo Pepper here in 1975. Good memories.
The Barclay continued to run films into the 1980s. One of the last was a reissue of ‘Gone With The Wind’. It was looking very tired in its last few years. Around 1984 it closed for good when the Greater Union Orgainization built a new multiplex a few blocks up the road on the site of the former Rapallo and Paramount theatres.