Page 19 - CinemaRecord #83

Sometimes they would design
some set work for on-stage
promotions or make up the
artwork on a tram hoarding.
These posters and signs are
quite valuable to collectors
today.

It was not until late December
1953 that the Regent again
launched an old-style
campaign to promote its
Hollywood wares. The
arrival of the new wide-
screen technology called
CinemaScope caught
work for the ticket writers and artists who moviegoers’ attention in Brisbane when
made up the overhead foyer promotions and it held its debut at the Regent.
street signs. The art department was located
in the narrow Hoyts concessions building The Hoyts publicity department released
across the lane near the Winter Garden simultaneously at all Regents nationally
Theatre. Here the many beautiful posters the CinemaScope blockbuster The Robe.
were created by in-house artists such as Multi-column newspaper advertisements
Harold Parker and Norman Bushby. were booked and previews and news
stories appeared in the press.
Regent Manager, Edgar Betts, with Billy Moloney
Receptive to the promotion
“introducing a new era in
motion picture entertainment”,
thousands flocked to the
Regent in the following weeks.
They were overwhelmed by
the massive, slightly concave
screen, the stereo sound and
the brilliant Technicolor. Hoyts promotion at the theatre in May that year.
Regent had once again trumped its
opposition with the new technology. With the new wide-screen CinemaScope
universally accepted, the Regent continued
By 1954, other theatres in Brisbane to present quality films right up to the mid-
were also clamouring for this new 1960s with only the occasional large
film medium. The coronation of advertisement in the newspapers. Possibly
Queen Elizabeth was the next big the last major promotion in the original
Regent was for the popular Ken
Russell film Tommy which
commenced in June 1975 and ran
for eleven weeks. Huge silver balls
hung from the foyer ceiling and
pinball machines lined the walls.
In reality, the showmanship of
promotion had now all but vanished
in the film exhibition industry.
Accountants controlled theatres,
not showmen as in the past. It was
the end of a golden era, as
television was now the advertising
medium and the bête noire of the
motion picture promoter. H

Acknowledgements:

Text and images: © Mike Gillies
For more information, contact the
author by email:
theregentbook@gmail.com

CINEMARECORD # 83 19