Page 22 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

One Projectionist’s Life:

From A Regent To The Regent

Brian Quigley interviewed by Jim White
Part 3: Full Circle

JW: At the (MGM Twin) drive-in I I was one of two engineers and
imagine one of your biggest problems we’d go out to fix something at a drive- Village Comes To Town
was always the car that drove off with in and be there until six or seven at For a generation of Melbourne
the speaker still attached. night to get it finished. I wouldn’t be film-goers accustomed to Hoyts as
That was the least of anybody’s able to get home for tea at a reasonable the largest exhibitor, the rise of
problems because it was easy to take hour and that caused family problems. Village Theatres in the CBD was a
the speaker apart and put a new cord But it was a very interesting and surprise. Village’s takeover of mostly
on, a five-minute job. So we had a slide informative time. I found out what newsreel venues - ‘dungeon
to the effect of ‘If you drive off don’t really happens in theatre engineering. cinemas’ to Brian Quigley -
worry if you happen to break the cord, ‘The show must go on’ sort of thing. eventually gave the company more
just leave it on the ground or leave it on city outlets than their rival ever
How many theatres were you looking
the post and we’ll find it.’ controlled.
after?
In Collins Street, the Australia
Why did you leave Clayton? About nine drive-ins at the time and
Cinema and the Tatler newsreel in
By the time I left it was no longer all the downstairs cinemas round the the basement of the Australia Hotel
run by MGM. When MGM fell on hard city - ‘dungeon’ cinemas we called became Village Australia Twin. In
times Village leased Number Two field. them. There was routine monthly the same block and closer to
We ran Metro product in Number One maintenance on all the projectors. In Swanston Street, the Albany
and Village did theirs in Two. It was theatres where equipment dated back to newsreel retained its name but not its
easy to see that in later years Village the 1940s or 50s we installed new original purpose - it now showed sex
knew drive-ins better than Metro did. projectors. Finally I had had enough films. Just around the corner in
They were getting good houses and and went back to projection. The Swanston Street, Village was lessee
Metro poor ones. Village knew how to Dendy Lonsdale Street was looking of the Capitol. Two buildings along,
appeal to the audience segment which for a manager/operator. It was run by the basement Century newsreel,
wanted adult programming. Dendy Theatres and Village in became Capitol Two.
Finally, Village Theatres Ltd. as it partnership. Later it became the In Bourke Street Village opened
was at the time, took over and ran both Lumiere but it was a twin when Dendy a downstairs venue the Roma, near
fields. Their General Manager David opened it. the site of the former Tivoli. A few
Aalders had an office at the drive -in The equipment was American blocks east on the opposite side of
and one night I was told to call in and Century projectors and Christie platters. the road, Tyes’ furniture store had
see him. “Well, you’ve heard we’re That was the first time I’d worked on been converted into the My Fair
bastards to work for?” and I replied, platters or even seen a platter. You cut Lady Cinema a few years earlier. It
“Yes I’ve heard that, but I’ll take you as the leaders and tails off all your spools became the Palladium and
I find you.” We clicked from that and splice them together in order, put eventually passed into Village hands
moment and were always able to share them on the platter and run the program as East End Cinemas.
a joke. in its entirety. Only need one projector, In Exhibition Street Village at
Village had set up an engineering but the projector needs an automatic one stage ran the programming for
department in Richmond to service the lens and aperture changer to facilitate the attractive Bryson. A block north
cinemas that they were accumulating. the changing of ratios if you have one in Lonsdale Street, where cinema
One of the engineers there was an ex- during the show.
had never had a presence, the Dendy
projectionist who wanted to get back Any trouble with the film jamming or was a joint venture.
into the projection room. So we struck twisting on those large hubs?
a deal: I took over his job as engineer Village consolidated their city
Very little. Once it’s up and running holdings when they opened the
with theatre supplies and he took over
it’s gentle on film, but sometimes film Village Centre Bourke Street, next
my job as projectionist at Clayton.
jumps out of the control arm and pulls door to the former Esquire, in effect
What was supposed to be a nine-to-five
tight. One story that has gone the consolidating almost on the site
job turned out to be a nine-to-whenever.
rounds is about the new unbreakable where Hoyts had started. No longer
Constant call outs, on call twenty-four
Mylar film jamming in the control was there any truth in the industry
hours a day virtually.
arms. The projector kept pulling the joke, ‘At GU and Hoyts you went
up, at Village you went down.’
- David Kilderry
22 2009 CINEMARECORD