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matinee at the De Luxe. (A hyphen in the foyer of the theatre. Marching the Visiting American Fleet will be
the name had a short vogue.) sailors broke rank to help ambulance Admitted Free - The Pleasure is Ours.’
The decorum of the interior was men. Many of the injured were carried The Sun on Monday ran a full-page ad
sometimes at odds with the carnival across the road to the foyer of the for the latest Rin Tin Tin adventure. It
atmosphere on the street. Table Talk Tivoli, which became a casualty was back to business as usual, except
began one review: clearing station. (6) that the verandah was not replaced until
Naturally a girl in pink tights swinging One hundred and twenty people 1957.
in front of Hoyts in Bourke Street were injured, 17 severely. One of three The De Luxe became the one city
arrests the eyes of the curious crowd tie-rods supporting the verandah had theatre not to have a veranda. Open
and draws them inside …’ (5) snapped, and the extra weight on the access was taken to its limit, but the
And no doubt the anchor-man for other eye-bolts had pulled them out of entrance looked unfinished.
all the buzz in the street was Charlie the wall, ‘as if coming out of butter.’ (6) When Hoyts opened the Regent and
Fredericksen. His record tenure as the Whether by coincidence or fast later the Plaza in 1929, a demotion to
Man Outside Hoyts (1908 – 1959), thinking, the Herald advertisement for lesser films was inevitable. Even the
created a lasting persona for the Hoyts that night read, ‘All Ratings of conversion to sound was slow.
theatre.
The People’s Popular Picture
Palace, presenting pictures properly
projected, the best from America,
England and Fitzroy. – C. F.
Corny lines and doggerel seem
unlikely ways to cajole a passer-by into
buying a ticket. However, the stories
that grew up around him – rivalry with
Bill Parry at the Melba, egging each
other on to even more frenzied
shouting, or Charlie doing a sketch of
the robber for the police after a hold-
up in 1938 – were priceless publicity.
A phrase from the war years of 1914-
18, ‘Tell It to The Man Outside Hoyts’,
suggests another role; the willing ear,
the comforting word to the troubled
stranger, even if the word was
directions to a lost shopper.
If you haven’t seen ‘Swamp Water’
- Then you Oughta – C.F.
The opening of the Capitol in
Swanston Street in 1924 dislodged the
De Luxe from its comfortable position
at the top of the cinema ladder. Horace
Weber, who had inaugurated the seven
rank Wurlitzer at the De Luxe changed
allegiance to be the first organist at the
new wonder theatre.* Even so, Hoyts
strong line-up of films, and the public’s
appetite for them, buoyed the theatre
along.
THE DARKEST DAY
The visit of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
in 1925 was a time for celebrations
down the east coast of Australia.
Crowds had gathered in Bourke Street
to watch the march. At the De Luxe,
the office staff had climbed through the
windows on to the verandah, shared at
that time with Spencer’s Drapery. The
verandah began to sag, spilling about
30 people onto the street.
One eyewitness told how the
verandah “closed like a door.” Those in In his element. Charlie Fredericksen on the pavement c.1938 (top) and with the staff in
its path instinctively pressed back into costume for South Pacific c.1960

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