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The design was the result of a
commission by Tsar Nicholas II for the
Russian court, after a visit to Paris in
1896. Manufactured by Baccarat, and
known as the Tsar candelabra, this pair
were probably made in 1911. Each one
comprises 3,500 pieces of crystal.
The tenth anniversary souvenir of
Capitol News described them as ‘...two
lofty electroliers of intricate woven
crystal.’ The candelabra were presented
to the Arts Foundation of Victoria by
the Town Hall Property Co. Pty Ltd.
and the Central Theatre Co. Ltd., the
original owners of the theatre.
Adelaide Loses Regent
In costume and in mourning, film
lovers united on 28 January 2004 to
farewell the Regent theatre in Rundle
Mall. A sell-out crowd climbed the
marble steps to Cinema One, the least
modified section of the original theatre,
to be greeted by former manager Ted
Winter 88, who started there part-time
at age 13. The feature was a Regent hit
The Seven Year Itch. The entertainment
ended an hour overtime in a hail of
streamers, a few tears and rendition of
Auld Lang Syne.
The building façade is heritage Top: The marquees say it all. Above: Cinema One retained some original wall and
listed, but the future for the interiors is ceiling decoration.
uncertain. Not surprisingly, there have
been calls to bring back the full-scale Regent Wollongong Threatened
Regent, in the same way that
The 1,500 seat Regent Wollongong
Melburnians again enjoy theirs.
(over page, top right) closed on 1
Regent Collins Street Turns 75. February 2004. The closure was set in
The Regent Collins Street has an train by the death of its owner Ms.
auspicious birthday on 15 March, but at Rowena Milgrove. Built in a fifties
the time of going to press, there has style, the building was an example, also
been no announcement of a celebration seen in the Riverina and northern
with an organ concert or film. Victoria, of the influence of the ‘great
Regents’ on the next generation of
Lyric Fitzroy Wall detail, Lyric Fitzroy.
theatre builders. The Regent
Nicholas Dattner’s plan to move his
Wollongong showed that the owners
furniture business from the former Screens Site Wrangle had absorbed the principle that to be a
Lyric theatre in Johnston Street Fitzroy
Plans for a new cinema complex in true Regent, the impression of
(The Age 10 January) raises doubts
Launceston, first announced two years spaciousness was everything. The foyer
about the future of a building that is not
ago, are mired in claims and counter alone in this building would
on the Heritage Register.
claims. The proposed site, land in the accommodate three modern cinemas.
Elements of the original theatre – rail yards at Inveresk, is on a flood A campaign to save the theatre is
bow-steel ceiling trusses, round plain and the cost of suitable underway. Mr George Florence of the
windows and minimal wall decoration - foundations was enough to deter one Astor theatre St. Kilda asked
suggest an interior almost identical to potential exhibitor. Enter the Sydney- CinemaRecord to publish his letter to
the Lyric Prahran (demolished 2003), based Metro Cinemas that run a the organizers. Here is an edited
which is not surprising, since they were multiplex at Burnie. The Metro bid for version:
both in the same chain. The Lyric a six-screen complex was rejected by The only way to save the theatre is
Fitzroy opened in 1911, one year after council, which preferred an alternative to get government and council fired up
Prahran. Surprisingly, for such a bare proposal. To add to the confusion, a about doing something. This usually
bones place, it continued to be listed in Greens MHA has revived a claim that involves intense lobbying of councillors
Film Weekly until 1938. Newsreel has the site was never council land to sell and politicians as well as government
heard a whisper that there is a group or lease in the first place. or semi-government bodies tasked with
interested in refurbishment of the
the preservation of the nation’s
building to cinema status.
CINEMARECORD 2004 5