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The handbill for the letter-box drop.

advertisement) and to make much of her sister were old enough to join them, sometimes a clown. We would sing,
the quality of the ventilation system. In they added D 35 and D36 to the ‘Come along and have a Peters Ice
fact the Eclipse was dogged by booking. Later on, Kay was the one Cream,…’ and of course, the Hoyts
ventilation problems, including the who picked up the reserved seats at Children’s Cinema Club song.
need to fix the noise for ‘clearer 5.30 pm each Saturday. The family “We saw RKO, 20th Century Fox
reproduction of sound,’ and a demand home was close to the Eclipse and their and Warner Brothers pictures. For
in 1931 to introduce ‘efficient involvement became more than just MGM or Paramount it was the Kinema
warming’ for the winter months. patronage. in Albert Park. Some of the serials were
These problems did not affect In the fifties Kay’s father Arthur Jungle Jim, Sir Galahad and one that
attendances. From opening night and worked at the Eclipse as an usher on a looked a bit like Biggles.” (Probably
for many years the Eclipse was usually Friday night during the time when his Republic’s Bruce Gentry.)
booked out on a Saturday evening. This nephew was manager. A brother-in-law, “Programs changed half-way
said a great deal about the design and Eric LeGassick also worked there for through the week. Most English films
comfort of the theatre, as the locals ten years. “Just after my mother was were on at the beginning of the week
agreed that it didn’t always have the married she was sitting in the audience because they didn’t seem as important
best films. when one of the slides flashed on the as the ones from Hollywood. The ‘B’
‘Robbery Under Arms’ was how the screen had her photo on it as a bride. films were always shown before
local paper headlined a hold-up in May Her wedding photographer had selected interval.
1937. The manager, Mr. John Follett was her photo for his advertisement! “The Eclipse had ushers, not
counting the day’s takings in his office “It was a big excitement for my usherettes, and one lady ticket seller,
when a youth entered with a sawn-off mother as it was on the screen for Jean Elmslie who spent many years in
pea rifle, ordered him to put up his several months. You might say the the ticket box. I admired her outfit so
hands and demanded the money. Eight Eclipse got into our blood. I loved that much - a floor-length gored, maroon
pounds ($16) was handed across. An theatre and I loved living near it.” skirt, with a cummerbund of the same
alert usher who had seen the man enter Kay’s recollections extend from material. She wore a long, very full
the office followed and grappled with stories told by her parents, and her own sleeved, white blouse with a wide, open
him, and the two men overpowered the first memories to the time the theatre collar. Over the blouse she wore a little
intruder. That evening a 20 year old was closed. As well as descriptions unique bolero, also maroon. The ushers wore
charged and locked up. to this theatre, many readers will black trousers and a short maroon
First-hand memories. recognize the same weekly rituals in jacket with a double row of gold
their local Hoyts suburban theatre. buttons.
Local History Librarian at the Port
Philip Library Service, Kay Rowan, “Presenting your ticket to the usher “I have vivid memories of all parts
spent many a Saturday night at the at the children’s matinee was an of the theatre. The porch area had
Eclipse, first as a babe in arms with her opportunity to purchase Screen News, ochre-coloured tiles, and was often
mother in the 1940s, who took along a with a lucky ticket number to be used as a short cut to Crockford Street
small bottle of drink in case she cried. announced by the manager from the from Pickles Street - great when it was
Kay’s parents always had the same stage. He was followed by a stage act, raining!
seats D33 and D34, and when she and maybe a dance or a song, and

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