Page 11 - CinemaRecord #21R.pdf

The Bijou moved to its final (and current) resting place in Mitcham in 1967. The spare bedroom had to suffice for
a combined theatrette and production editing room for the next twenty years. The Bijou.only finally came into its
own at the end of the 1980's when our son moved out of home and his bedroom now became the editing room!

...

Entrance To The Bijou

(From The Foyer)

"The Bijou" is still small (19 people maximum and Heaven help the front row when we screen CinemaScope)!
The bio-box doubles as a laundry and projection facilities include Bell and Howell TQ3's for 16mm, the trusty
M8R for standard 8mm and two Eumig's for super 8mm. The auditorium is raked, with a motley collection of
seating: the original East Ringwood seats (the oldest at about 1925), a row from the first Cameo Theatre,
Belgrave (patented design 1922 by the Miller Chair Company), more modem seating from the defunct Telecom
Theatre, and a dress circle row home-designed and upholstered. Sound is fed through two channels to two
pairs of mid-range speakers plus tweeters mounted above and at each side of the proscenium and two sub-
woofers beneath the raked floor (a false floor over the original flat floor).

The proscenium runs the full width of the auditorium with motorised satin main curtains and the lighting grid
operated from the bio-box. The whole auditorium is hung with matching maroon satin drapes along the walls
and the theatre is accoustically treated with sound baffles behind drapes, as it also doubles when needed as a
sound recording studio for film production. Decorative features in the Rococo style include a chandelier,
atmospheric ceiling and ornamental plasterwork.
Despite some disparaging comments from operators of more palatial home cinemas, the reporters from the
Herald-Sun when conducting an interview for their Centenary of Cinema Supplement remarked that the Bijou
was, they felt, "a little gem"!