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EXPLOSION AT THE PICTURES

Wendy Harvey

s far back as I can remember every
ASaturday afternoon my three siblings and
I would take the five minute walk from home
to the Padua Theatre in Sydney Road
Brunswick for the matinee session. We looked
forward to it all week and would stand in long
queues to buy our tickets.
We saw films featuring Roy Rogers, Tarzan,
Superman, Hopalong Cassidy, as well as
serials, cartoons and newsreels. Sometimes
during interval the management would put on
a concert, with anyone getting up on the stage
to put on an act or sing, to try and win a prize.

As we grew up we progressed to Saturday night
pictures. I used to go with Mum and Dad and
then later with my boyfriend Ron, my husband
to be.

On Grand Final day (Collingwood had beaten
Melbourne) 20 September 1958, my Dad was
working night shift so Ron and I went to the
Padua by ourselves. In those days there was Credits:
always two films plus shorts and cartoons. It The film continued as though nothing had This article first appeared in the Brunswick Historical
was after interval and during the second film happened and it wasn't until we left the theatre Society magazine, it is reproduced with the
when the theatre was rocked by a deafening to go home that we realised the extent of the permission of the Society
explosion (similar I should imagine to a bomb damage done by an explosion. (We found out
blast). The screen and lights all went off and later that the gas main had blown up under The Sun News Pictorial ( SLV )
the theatre was pitch black, people were Sydney Road, just outside of the theatre.) There
screaming and scrambling over seats and others were lots of shop windows shattered, shop
trying to get out. alarms sounding, concrete manhole covers
thrown up onto parked cars and huge craters
We stayed in our seats for fear of being in the footpath and road.
trampled. It seemed like an eternity, but I guess
it was probably about 10 minutes when the I never heard of any injuries, which was truly
lights came back on (I guess they had an amazing. Sadly the Padua was closed down
emergency power source). in July 1968, but I will never forget the great
experiences and enjoyment we had there. ★

32 CINEMARECORD # 100