Page 31 - CR

Early days at the Capitol.

The theatre finally re-opened as a sound Towards the end of 1936 the film
venue on 5th July 1930 with the film booking contract came to an end, a
Bulldog Drummond starring Ronald buyout offer was made and on 2nd
Colman and Joan Bennett. December 1936 the Capitol Theatre
Company Ltd was acquired by New
After the April 10th, 1931 screening Zealand Theatres Ltd.
of The Divorcee the theatre withdrew
On 23 January 1929 at 8pm the Capitol th
Theatre opened for business with a the film because of faulty sound. They On January 26 , 1937 Llewellyn
double feature of Mockery starring replaced it with Up The River from the Williams was commissioned by
Lon Chaney and Spring Fever starring Fox Film Corporation and in an unusual N.Z. Theatres to redesign the
William Haines. move issued a public apology in the auditorium.

‘Evening Post’on April 11th.
However just re-decoration took place
Shortly after opening, the theatre
moved to single features with newsreels By 1933 Gordon Harcourt was managing instead, with the brown wall curtains
and shorts, but by September was back the property and theatre with film bookings removed and replaced with vertical
to double-bills and changing twice or being brokered by Kemball Theatres plaster wall sound baffles with neon
three times weekly. Ltd to ensure best rates. (In June 1936 strip lighting and three multi coloured
Kemball Theatres would be re-organised ceiling domes (neon) spaced evenly
as New Zealand Theatres Ltd). from projection room to proscenium.
On 21 June 1930 after the final
screening of The Unholy Night the
theatre closed for installation of
sound equipment. It was advertised
to open again on 28 June with the
MGM film Dynamite but problems
with installing the Realtone Sound
System prevented this.

1946.

CINEMAREC ORD 2012 31