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REELS ACROSS

THE CITY

Part One: Don’t Be Solemn, Check The Column

By Brian Miller

Cinema programming began to
interest me when I became a lolly-boy
at Hoyts New Glenhuntly. Later, as a
projectionist at the Camden Caulfield,
on the giving and receiving end of
switching, I marvelled even more at the
wheels-within-wheels of it all.
At the peak of the old system - the
late 1940s - Melbourne’s daily papers
carried advertisements for some 39
Hoyts Suburban Theatres, 38
Independent Theatres and another 19 in
a column called Suburban
Entertainment.
Some of these ‘independents’ were
part-owned by Hoyts.
Distributing films across the city
and its suburbs was like turning on a
garden sprinkler. First turn of the tap
covered the city theatres, another turn
covered the inner suburbs and each
subsequent turn reached further out
until suburban Melbourne was
saturated.
A number of CATHS members have
asked for the specifics of release patterns
in Melbourne. I apologise to all other
readers for the detail which follows,
though you will recognize that a similar
principle was at work in your city.
HOYTS SUBURBAN THEATRES
Hoyts distribution system grew as
they added theatres, but the release
strategy over 30 years stayed much the
same: mainstream theatres closer to the
city screened a particular title sooner
than ones further out. For example the
New Malvern (opened 1921) was
closer to the city than the Regent
Gardiner (1925), and always screened a
new title at least one week before
Gardiner.
A three-night run was the norm at
Hoyts; six nights was something
special. Left: An early 1930s version of
today’s style: title prominent and
location secondary. At this time
Hoyts basically had access to all
films. Above: The style of column
from 1936 to 1960s.

24 2006 CINEMARECORD