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Every Thursday morning all the
Hoyts assistants took their cinema
advertising slides and records into a
small city office in Little Bourke Street
to be changed for the next week. It was
a great meeting place to also exchange
news and gossip from around the
network before going off for lunch and
then heading back to our respective
cinemas to get ready for the new show.
At this time, films were spooled-off
reels onto flats; put into 1000-foot tins
and cases for transport between the
distribution companies and cinemas.
The metal film boxes would be
waiting in the foyer. These were taken
to the rewind room where the parts
were wound and joined in pairs onto
2000-foot reels and checked for any
The Upstairs Dress Circle Foyer. damage to sprocket-holes and joins in
the film.
This was a very important job as it
The front-of-house staff comprised They were followed by third-release
reduced the likelihood of breaks and
of the Manager who dressed in a black houses including the Footscray
damage to the film as it was shown.
dinner jacket, white shirt and bow tie. Trocadero just down the road.
He was assisted by a secretary/ticket- Finally came the others whose It was done every time a reel was
seller. She and the usherettes wore the programs were determined by the rewound and required skill.
Hoyts uniform – a white blouse with supply of film prints. This included the As the assistant wound the film
full-length burgundy skirt and jacket. older Barkly with its 1403 seats. from one reel to another, it was held by
The ushers wore matching uniforms The Barkly ran evening shows each edge between the fingers and the
– burgundy jackets over white shirts Monday to Saturday, with intermediate thumb. Although it was moving
with black tie and trousers. There was shows and a special kids’ matinees on through at speed, experienced fingers
also a page-boy in matching uniform Saturdays. All theatres were closed on could detect existing joins and damage
who opened doors and sold ice-creams Sundays! to sprocket-holes. When this happened,
and sweets from a tray at interval. the spools were stopped and wound
Occasionally there was a special
As front-of-house staff they took live stage show for the kids’ matinees. back to inspect and repair any damage.
pride in their appearance as they Programs were changed twice weekly Another important part of an
welcomed and assisted patrons on their on Mondays and Thursdays with the assistant’s duties were to thoroughly
arrival – making going to the movies Thursday films being the better of the clean the projection area. Any dust and
something of an occasion. two for the weekend audiences. oil gathered on the projectors could
It should be noted that most patrons scratch film as it ran through them.
also dressed up – women wore dresses
and hats with men in jackets, shirts and
ties – especially if sitting in the circle!
The seats and the tickets were
numbered and many patrons had
regular bookings for their seats. They
were of course, greeted by name when
they collected their tickets for a night at
the movies.
There was a definite pecking order
among the assistant-projectionists who
worked the suburban circuit.
Hoyts had its city theatres with
long-run new movies, and the second-
release suburban cinemas such as the
Regent at South Yarra, the Park at
Albert Park, and the Padua in
Brunswick.
Ready for the show.

CINEMARECORD 2011 33