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He tells the story of how building at the time of our visit were
townspeople were happy to leave cast- not for an additional screen, but for a
off furniture outside the premises when restaurant.
they learned that he was transferring his At Franz Joseph, in glacier country,
show from the town hall. As with the The Alpine Adventure Centre - a
Metro and the Geraldine, the sales outlet for souvenirs, tours and
personality of the proprietor is as much helicopter flights - includes under the
the show as the image on the screen. same roof a 60-seat, ‘poor man’s
How many cinemas can boast director IMAX’, called Helimax. The show is a
Peter Jackson as a visitor? professional documentary about the
The Regent, Greymouth Cinema Paradiso. When the owner glacier country, on a big screen
tongue-in-cheek told the locals that he was (relative to the interior), but projected
building a drive-in, he kept his word. in 35mm.
Image: Peter Wolfenden. Many adventure-worlds include a
cinema as part of the ticket price, but
Other committees following this
here the theatre was an attraction in its
model include the Trusts associated
own right, as well as an inducement to
with the Regent, Hokitika (population
book for a helicopter ride.
8,000) and the St. James, Westport.
Single screen DVD cinemas are a
(pop. 6,000)
rarity. Two deserve mention for the fact
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
This theatre exemplifies the that young people are having a go.
In smaller towns the impetus to save
possibilities for extending the life of a Academy Cinema, Dunedin
a theatre often came from a repertory or
cinema. Built for J.C.W. Ltd. in 1935
light- opera company. At Ashburton the The Academy is an experiment by
on a prominent corner, the building
Operatic Society saved the Regent,but partners Jeffrey Broughton and
includes commercial premises on two
now an ambitious plan for a state-of- Jonathon Duncan to attract the
levels along the street frontage. Later
the- art facility is likely to see that University crowd. The theatre occupies
operated by Kerridge and Pacer
theatre demolished. a former church and uses DVD
Kerridge it is now owned by the West projection. Jonathon co-opted his
Coast Theatre Trust Inc. At Gore it was the Operatic Society
Trust which worked to save the architect sister Skye, to design a simple
The renovations in mid -2000 installation for the foyer. The result is
St. James. It now screens films in a
emphasised flexibility of use. The bio- memorable: with horizontal strips of
foreshortened auditorium in which the
box was retained and the balcony film as the base, irridescent ‘flying
original proscenium has been moved
extended to the stalls floor, to make a saucers’ rise one above the other.
forward to create backstage facilities.
466-seat cinema. The original deco Welcome to another version of film-
walls are covered by curtains. The Although we saw theatres with a land, where imaginations can soar.
screen is framed by matching draw Cinema 2, formed by taking space from The small town of Hokitika has a
curtains. The former back stalls under a former shop or underused areas, not Regent theatre and also supports
the balcony is now a meeting room. one of the saved theatres had used Crooked Mile Talking Movies, set up
Australia's 1970s approach of creating
If required, the screen (the largest by the projectionist at the Regent.
a twin cinema by walling off the stalls
roll-up in NZ) can be hoisted to the Michael has converted a former bank
from the balcony. The groups that
ceiling. This opens up the auditorium building into an attractive 50-seat,
wanted these theatres needed stage-
to its original size and original stadium style cinema. Gloomy Sunday a
space, not two cinemas.
proscenium. A thrust stage has been German film was imported on DVD by
added for live performance. The bio-boxes in the older and a Christchurch entrepreneur, and
smaller theatres confirmed that in
Technically this auditorium seats Crooked Mile has done well with it.
sympathetic hands old equipment can
870 in its full version. Alternatively, the
be coaxed along indefinitely.
live performance on the thrust stage can
Kalee projectors were prominent
have the audience clustered around it.
(especially the model 19 and a GK 37),
Most of the time the theatre runs in its
as were Simplex and Kinotron.
cinema format.
Some sound heads had red LED
readers, and one was on mono sound.
Although most used xenon lamps,
carbons were also on the job.
One surprise was the continued
relevance of the single screen on the
west coast, where the scenery is a
magnet for international visitors.
Queenstown has a triple, but the cinema
Regent, Hokitika. Steel trusses (rear, at Te Anau, the gateway to Milford
over projection room) stabilize the interior. Sound, is a recent single-screen in tilt-
Foyer installation at the Academy
Image: Mel Elliott. slab construction. Extensions to this
Cinema, Dunedin
10 2006 CINEMARECORD