Page 18 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

Mad About Movies:
Preston Boys Go DIY
by Fred Page
The year is 1947 and second form
(year 8) is about to begin at Preston
Tech. My friend John Miller appears
with a gadget in his hand. I ask him
what it is. “It’s a film projector and I
can get you one if you’ve got twelve
and six”. ($1.25) Since I was working
after school as a grocer’s delivery boy
earning seven shillings and sixpence
($0.75) a week, I was able to make a
quick purchase.
To get film for this Lion 35mm toy
machine I was soon off to Job’s
Warehouse in Bourke Street to buy
some simple loop cartoons - Monkeys,
Monkeys, Monkeys, The Pugilist and
others long forgotten. Somehow I was
also able to acquire 200 or 300 feet of
the first reel of the Marx brothers in
Monkey Business and a Universal
newsreel about biscuit production for
the troops.
With a projector and films - total
running time 20 minutes - we needed a
theatre. Brian Harris offered his
parent’s unused garage. A screen and
seating (forms supported on stacked
bricks) were set up and the garage
became the Paramount Theatre. We
were especially careful when painting
the curved corners of our plasterboard
screen.
At two pence admission (1.7 cents)
local kids came back week after week to
see the same program, supplemented by
quiz shows based on Bob Dyer’s radio
show Can You Take It? The penalties for
wrong answers included drinking a
bottle of Coke without taking a breath,
or selecting all one colour from a heap
of Hundreds and Thousands.
As with all theatres the Paramount
did well from its Drinks and Candy
Bar. As only the rich had refrigerators
in those days, keeping drinks cold was
a baby’s bath half-full of water with a
bottle of cordial standing in it.
On one occasion the penalty for a
wrong answer in the quiz was to be
‘hosed’. The contestant was made to
put on a raincoat and sou’wester. It was Above; Seen at the Paramount Preston.
to be a bluff, go no further than scare The cartoon images and Universal logo
him, but somebody sneaked out, are in negative because a film frame was
brought in the hose and sprayed it projected onto photographic paper.
18 2009 CINEMARECORD
around. The victim jumped about and
knocked the uncorked cordial into the
bath water. Spray from the hose wet the
sweets and musk sticks, which foamed
and bubbled. Everybody got wet, the
day’s profit washed away. No stage
antics could ever again match that day’s
fun. When audiences dwindled, three
showmen found themselves out of
business.
My father worked at the Austin
Hospital when they were updating staff
training equipment. He bought me their
Kodascope 16mm silent projector. John
persuaded his parents to let us use part
of their double garage, then used as a
cowshed and fodder store. The cow’s
hay and chaff needs were consolidated
along one wall and we put up a hessian
screen to hide them. The screen and
seat planks were retrieved from the
Paramount and a primitive projection
box was built at the rear. As well as
housing the Kodascope we installed an
electric 78rpm turntable and amplifier,
with the speaker near the screen.
The new theatre was called the
Crown. Herbert Small’s 16mm library
was our film source, so for a while we
had silent films with music provided by
just a few records. We managed to
persuade the projectionist at the
Gowerville to give us a frame of King
George VI from his anthem film. This
frame was placed in the gate of the
projector and momentarily screened -
little more than the Kings head was
shown - while we played God Save The
King, until at one session it was left in
too long and smoke and smell wafted
from the box - no more King.
The supply of new films was
running low at Herbert Smalls, so the
Kodascope was traded at the Carr
Camera Company in Elizabeth Street
for a 9.5 Pathe and the Home Cinemas
Library became our product source.
Audiences were growing and the cow’s
days were numbered, so before long we
had the whole building. The ceiling was
lined with cardboard from large cartons
and the stage enhanced with maroon-
dyed hessian curtains and ply barrels
stacked as columns to frame the
proscenium. This latter touch was
inspired by the stage of the Circle
Preston. Homemade 12volt triangular
decorative lights and a kalsomine job
also brightened the place.
When John’s grandfather saw a
local ad. for 36 theatre seats he bought
them for us. They were from a private
chapel in a disused shop. An organ was