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96. THE BERCY CINEMA MELBOURNE by John Holloway

increased seating capacity of this propor-
tion was to drastically reduce the size of
the ground street foyer. The planned ' in-
ner' foye1·, which bad been designed as a
crush space for waiting audiences was
dispensed with entirely.
When confronted with the problem of
how inadequate the foyer space would
now be, Sir Norman, always the consum-
mate Showman, decreed that every ses-
sion at the Bercy would therefore be on
hard ticket, thus eliminating crowding in
the foyer.
Approval for the plans of the new cin-
ema were granted by the Commission of
Public Health on the 22nd of December,
1964, and building under the direction
of the consulting engineers, Thomas
Anderson and Partners, began immedi-
ately.
Be1·cy Theatre c. 1975

The 1960's was a time of major expansion and refurbish- On a site 53' wide, and 168' in length, the eventual ground
ment for the Greater Union chain of cinemas. Old theatres foyer was only 33' in depth. Six doors at the rear of the
were undergoing major transformations, and brand new foyer led directly into the auditorium, which was the height
cinemas were being built to counteract the impact of tel- of the 3 storey building. Stairs on either side of the en-
evision. Foremost for Melboume was the 1960 conversion trance doors led to a very narrow 2nd storey foyer housing
of the Majestic Theatre in Flinders Street to the outstand- male and female toilets, managers office, and the projec-
ing 70nun house, The Chelsea, followed in 1962 by the tion box. Consistent with the Greater Union style of the
twinning of the magnificent State Theatre, into a luxuri- day, the foyers wereof"Roman" combined with a touch of
ous twin-cinema complex, (the world's first) namely, the "French Renaissance" style. Wall treatments were textured
Forum and Rapallo. and then wax scmmbled in gold hues. Three decorative
arches, back-lit with blue lighting were also a feature in
In 1964, Greater Union decided to build a brand new cin- the main foyer, along with wrought iron balustrading, and
ema in Bourke Street, which, at the time, was the new chandelier lighting. A notable exception from similar in-
"mecca" of the cinema-strip for Melbourne. Primarily, stallations such as the Forum and Rapallo, Melbourne, The
this was planned to replace the Grosvenor cinema in Lit- Paramount, Sydney and the Fomm and George cinemas
tle Collins Street, which, despite a solid history of success in Brisbane, was the lack of any statues. The 3rd level at
with British and the more difficult "art" house films, was the front of the building contained staff rooms, and plant
no longer in keeping with the new-look Greater Union room in which an oil fired air-conditioning furnace was
house style. situated. Oil storage for the furnace was in a 950 gallon
concrete compartment beneath the stage.
The former three storey Cox Bros. Department Store at
128 Bourke Street, on the comer of Market Lane was pur- The 3 storey section at the front of the building was coo-
chased and the building completely gutted to accommo- crete, while the flooring in the auditorium was timber. The
date the new cinema. The Architectural firm of Messers foyer contained only one ticket box to the left of the en-
R.G. Monsbrough and Associates of East Melbourne (who trance, and on the same side, tucked beneath the stairwell,
later, were to design many of the YiJlage hardtop theatres) was a very small candy bar. Opposite the ticket box was a
were commissioned to draw up the plans for the new Bercy. floor to ceiling back-lit mirror, possibly to create a feeling
of space, but within months of opening, Manager Jack
Designed as a one level auditorium, the original seating Stroud fought for, and won, a second box office built into
capacity was for 600. Even before the original plan was this area. Cleverly, it was not only designed for advance
off the drawing board, Sir Notman Rydge - Chairman of ticket sales, but of an evening, could also function as a
Greater Union - demanded an increase in capacity of at mini candy bar, taking some of the pressure off the inad-
least another 200 seats. The only way to accommodate an equate concessions area.

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