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conversion to a single level cinema, it
had been repainted, and the gold leaf
redone. The WurliTzer was in daily use
until the end, its music broadcast every
Sunday night.
The charm of this theatre was its
balance of detail and restraint. Upon
entering, the central marble staircase
was an immediate focal point. The
marble eagle at the head of the stairs,
said to have been purchased because it
resembled the eagle in the Republic
Pictures logo, was just the right touch
of Hollywood. The foyers were lavish
but not overdone, in fact, the same
could be said of the whole theatre.
The auditorium was elegant in reds,
tans and gold. The three Moroccan-
style windows, softly backlit gave just
the right ornamentation to complement
the sweeping arched proscenium, which
was never altered.
The chandeliers in the two recessed
rectangular domes added just the right
amount of glitter. The large front
central one had originally graced the
Regent, Fitzroy. I can’t think of
anything that needed to be done to
improve the appearance of this well
proportioned interior.
I hold memories of the Regent,
Adelaide as the most elegant and
cohesive of this family of theatres, and
the Regent, Melbourne as the most
magnificent.
FURTHER READING.
A history of each of the capital city
Regents is to be found in Ross Thorne’s
Cinemas of Australia via USA.
The story of the Regent, Melbourne is
also documented in The Regent Theatre,
Melbourne’s Palace of Dreams,
ELM publishing 1994.

Left: Regent, Ballarat; stage detail in the familiar style. This interior was destroyed by
fire in 1940. Image: BPC
Above: Regent, Adelaide. Refrigerated air conditioning installed in the mid-1930s
justified the slogan, Every seat a cool retreat. The Advertiser 2 Dec. 1932. JTC

CINEMARECORD 2006 19