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Empire
The

Theatre

The Empire Picture Palace, New Empire Deluxe, St James and Rialto Cinemas

By Gerry Kennedy

unedin is a port city situated on the south-east coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Today it has a population of c120,000. Most of the cinema history is centred on the inner city
Das there were only a few suburban venues. There were nine cinemas in Dunedin in the 1940s

The Empire Theatre has had a long and interesting history. It has evolved, with major alterations and additions, into the
current venue. The theatre has a modest footprint on the landscape in Moray St as the main theatre buildings have been
constructed at the rear of other commercial premises. The cinematic history of this site is quite an interesting one.

he Empire Picture Palace – 1916 The entrance vestibule contained an The concave fronted balcony
TOpened 6 March, 1916 octagonal-shaped ticket box, tiled contained about fifteen rows of seats.
Opening Film: Fanchon the Cricket floors, refreshment counters, office and The projection area was situated at the
starring Mary Pickford. storage areas. A grand staircase led to rear of the balcony. As the theatre was
the inner vestibule and the stalls built for films there was only a shallow
The Empire theatre was built by the
entrances. A left-hand staircase led to stage to accommodate the screen. An
Empire Picture Palace Company Ltd, a
the small circle foyer. A substantial orchestra pit was also included. The
local company, as a picture theatre. The
auditorium was built behind the hotel, theatre design was described as art
theatre was accessed from Princes St,
parallel to Princes St. It was a tall, long nouveau.
via an arcade entrance through a hotel
and narrow space built of brick and
building. A bow-shaped wrought iron In 1921 the theatre was leased to
concrete. Concrete beams also
veranda was built over the entrance. (1) & (2) Thomas A.O’Brien. He was an up-and
supported the side walls. coming theatrical entrepreneur from
Australia. He rapidly acquired many
Below: Empire Pictures (left) and the Queens Theatre (right) in Princes Street, 1911. cinemas in his burgeoning circuit
which, by the end of the 1920s, had
become the third largest circuit in New
Zealand. He was to construct the two
largest picture palaces in the country.
T.A.O’Brien acquired the ownership
of the Empire and a large amount of
land next to it. He then set about
building the largest theatre in the
Dominion.
In 1927 plans were drawn for the
conversion of the existing Empire into
part of a larger atmospheric theatre. It
was to be a Persian-themed theatre.
With the reconstruction the auditorium
was to be built at right angles to the
former theatre. The theatre closed on
28 June 1927.

14 2010 CINEMARECORD