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From the Editor....

Sometimes hoarding pays off; take the story about the Rialto Kew. When Gerry
Kennedy sent in his history, it rattled a memory. Somewhere in the pile of papers
that I call an office was a story by columnist Phillip Adams about the same theatre.
I rummaged and found it. I think that you will agree that even though Phillip’s
recollection was first published in 1978 when the building was still standing, the
two go together like the proverbial horse and carriage.
Sometimes it is hard to believe how much coincidence can improve an issue.
CATHS visit to the Australian Centre For the Moving Image is balanced by Ross
The official journal of the Cinema And King’s account of his time at the State Film Centre, the predecessor to ACMI.
Theatre Historical Society Inc. Peter Broome has entertained us with episodes from his life at 20th Century
Australia
Fox in Sydney and beyond. Here in part six, Peter’s story reaches a fitting
ISSN 1443-3664 • Published quarterly
★ conclusion. Remember how the call went up that CATHS knew little about film
distribution and could we find someone to write about it? Thanks to Henry and
Editor: Ian Smith
★ Mary Jamison we found Peter, who has changed our understanding of this
essential behind-the-scenes activity.
CinemaRecord Artwork:
The Ben Hur story by John Stevens may stir a reader or two to write in. I did
Bill Kerr, Optimum Design 9419 4144
★ not know of instruction sheets for projectionists, but perhaps producers of other
The main aim of CATHS and this ‘big’ films were fussy about the details of presentation. As a guess, one of the first
publication is to accurately document and might have been Gone With The Wind and later, some of the 70mm blockbusters.
create an archive of the history of Does any projectionist recall?
cinemas and theatres. Ian William’s scrutiny of the internet offers insights about theatre preservation
Input in the form of articles, in the United States. Some of these projects seem to be on a roll, others a bit pie in
constructive criticism, and substantiated
the sky, but enthusiasm seems boundless. Page 31 is another example of serendipity
dispute of printed matter is welcome, and
and the perfect complement to Ian’s summary. – Ian Smith
necessary to enable us to reach our
objective.
Opinions expressed are those of the
Editor or contributors, and unless NOW SHOWING!
expressly stated so, are not necessarily
those of the Cinema And Theatre
Historical Society Inc.
4 Letters and Newsreel
Articles printed in CinemaRecord
should not be reproduced without the 6 CATHS Visits ACMI
permission of the author or the editor. Behind the scenes at the home for screen media studies
All photos are from the collection of 8 At The State Film Centre - Ross King
the person or organisation stated. Every When a screen image was mainly a cinema image
effort has been made to trace the 12 The Rialto Kew - Gerry Kennedy
ownership of copyright. In the event of One of Hoyts’ smaller theatres is well remembered
any questions arising as to the use of any
16 Arise Rialto - Phillip Adams
material, the author and publisher will be
Memories of the matinee
happy to make the necessary corrections
in future printings. 18 Ben Hur at the Regent Albury - John Stevens
Contributions and suggestions for The start of a lifelong interest
CinemaRecord are most welcome. Please 20 Memoirs of a Film Distributor - Peter Broome
contact the Editor if you are planning Conclusion: The view from the top
to write an article for the magazine. 24 The Banks Family - Tony Froude
We may be able to assist you with
Three generations with cinema in the blood
information, contacts, etc and it will help
26 Saving Theatre the American Way - Ian Williams
us with forward planning.
An internet survey: dreams and reality
★
Contact: Ian Smith
Telephone: 5443 0692 (1-9pm) Images in this publication are from CATHS Archive unless credited to another source.
Email: iansmith8@bigpond.com
Postal Address: PO Box 476, Cover: For a prestigious suburb like Kew (Vic.) the Rialto was a modest yet
Bentleigh, Victoria, 3204 successful achievement.

CINEMARECORD 2007 3