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A Cockatoo

at the Park

By Gregory Gilpin

As a child I went to Hoyts Park
theatre every Saturday afternoon, on the
corner of Montague Street and Dundas
Place Albert Park, a suburb of
Melbourne. Although the theatre is long
gone, much of the streetscape is
unchanged. The Albert Park Hotel,
which once faced the theatre is still
there. So too is Dundas Lane which ran
behind the theatre from Montague
Street to Dundas Place. For many years
it was in this lane that a Starting Price
On and on it went. What a beauty!
(SP) bookmaker ran his business.
When the words House of Wax finally
At first I took no notice of the
splashed across the screen the audience
throng milling around in the lane, nor
cheered and applauded. The
the occasional ring of a bell, which
presentation had finally got to the point.
definitely wasn't the chimes in the foyer
The mother of a friend was a
sounding the start of the show.
cleaner at the Park. She had told him
One day it was all explained to me.
about changes she had seen at the Park
Two ‘spotters’ or ‘cockatoos’ were on
and we were curious. One school lunch
duty at each end of the lane. If either
time we walked to the theatre to see
man became suspicious about a police
her. The curtains were drawn back,
presence, he pressed a match to a
revealing the biggest screen I had ever
contact in his hand which rang a bell, a
seen. So this was CinemaScope.*
warning to the bookie who hid in a
Why the mind selects some images
shelter behind the theatre.
and makes them permanent memories
The foyer of the theatre was
is unfathomable. One memory from
spacious with a confectionery counter
Interval of a Friday night is the
on the right of the entrance. Stairs led
confectionary counter on which rows of
to the dress circle beyond. Alongside
waxed drink containers were set out
the doors to the stalls entrance was the
ready for the throng; with more orange
entrance to the Crying Room with a
drinks poured than lemon ones.
picture of a baby’s face on the door.
The space around the counter
Looking back from inside the theatre
couldn’t contain the crowd. They would
the Crying Room was recognizable by
spill out the doors and dash to the Park
the large glass panel in front of a row
Milk Bar on the opposite corner. The
of about six seats, two deep.
owner, a Mr. Casey displayed a
By 1953 I had graduated to Friday
baseball bat behind the counter to deter
nights at the Park. Admission price for
any trouble-makers.
children was seven pence, plus a State The Park opened in 1938, one
Entertainment tax of two pence; total of seven distinguished designs from The Park was a classy theatre. I
price nine pence (eight cents). the firm of H. V. Taylor and don't know if Hoyts’ management
viewed the SP business as a blot on the
One night I will never forget. The Soilleux, the leading exponents of theatre, or whether they turned a blind-
theatre had decorative side boxes. After the moderne style for picture eye. Many of those men in the lane
Interval the lights faded to total theatres in Victoria. Their Windsor were probably in the audience on a
darkness. A spotlight beam lit a (1936) and Regal, Harwell (1938) Saturday night. In any case the two
‘skeleton’ standing in one of the boxes. emphasised simplicity of form, but enterprises co-existed for a long time.
The skeleton spoke. It told us that next the Park, with its balconettes and If the theatre had to go, at least the
week the Park would be showing boxes, melded a contemporary and a library now on the site is a worthy
House of Wax, with Vincent Price. Then twenties look. The Park might be replacement. H
came the trailer. “It will TERRIFY said to be a practice run for the
YOU, It will THRILL YOU, Don't Rivoli, Camberwell (1940). * The Park, and four other Hoyts
theatres opened to CinemaScope on
Come Alone!” The story of the Park and other
2 December 1954. By then 11 theatres
cinemas of Albert Park can be found
had been converted in a chain of 35.
in CR 31 or in Kino 66.
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