Page 19 - CR

Tom with Michael Paspalis.

When Cyclone Tracey hit the region on
Christmas Eve in 1974, it changed the face
of the northern city forever. Old Darwin was
virtually obliterated overnight, but in time a
new and modern city would rise in its place.
Losses were great, and one of those losses was
the long-serving Star. The theatre sustained
cyclone damage and the screen had been
demolished by the 200km+ an hour cyclonic
winds. The old theatre never re-opened.

Over the years there have also been a number of
other public cinema venues: the pioneer open-
air Don Picture-Stadium during the silent-
movie era in Cavanagh Street; the suburban Star 1960s.
Parap Cinema; the old Darwin Town Hall ran
matinees (as the open-air’s couldn’t); the large
Darwin Paspalis Drive-In Theatre at Nighcliff
(1965-85), and after the closure of the Star, a
former Dunlop Tyres outlet was converted into
the modern (single screen) Cinema Darwin.
With the passing of time, all these too have now
been replaced.

Today there are four venues showing movies
in Darwin. The unique Deckchair Cinema
is an open–air show that started life in 1994
and shifted to its current location in 2003. As
well as three modern multi-screen complexes
with Birch, Carroll and Coyle’s Cinema
Centre 5 in the CBD, their Casuarina
7 in the suburbs, plus the independent
C-Max Cinemas.

The old Star Theatre was for many decades
a major part of Territory life, and although it
showed its last movie nearly 40 years ago and
now serves the community as retail premises, its
place as the entertainment centre of the Darwin
community will never be forgotten. H

* Although these terms may be offensive to some
people today, they have been retained because it was Cyclone Tracey damage.
the language of the day

Photographs & Information from the collections of:
Star Village; Ross King & Kevin Adams.

THE S T AR THE A TRE T OD A Y

CINEM AREC ORD 2012 19