Page 23 - CinemaRecord #83

The interior was modified on the Skouras style
that had proven popular in the United States.
Spyros Skouras was head of 20th Century Fox
at the time, and the company was building·a
new circuit of cinemas (and modifying some
older ones) to feature extensive use of scrolls,
swages, decorative curtains and curving wall
decorations. It has also been described as the
“chocolate-box style”. Hoyts Theatres brought
the style to Australia post-war in the
construction of several of their new Quonset
cinemas, such as the Castle and Crest cinemas
at Granville in NSW.

The tastefully furnished foyer

curved roof building, costs were minimized, The starkness of the exterior was pleasantly
and so too was the use of scarce building contrasted by the attractive, intimate
products. The stadium styled auditorium was atmosphere of the auditorium. Neither the sky
also cost efficient. The building was pylon nor the marquee was adorned with the
functional, comfortable, and space was name of the theatre. There were no advertising
efficiently used. The floor plan was similar to boards above the entrance doors or external
those used by the Sun Theatre (Yarraville) poster cases.
and Hoyts in their smaller suburban
Melbourne and Sydney cinemas (late 1930s), Building materials were sourced from several
as well as other independent Victorian countries, and the following examples were
operators in the 1950s. The architects were typical: pre-fabricated steel arches (England),
responsible for the design of several Victorian cement (United States, England, Japan and
cinemas. Sweden), roofing iron (Japan) and nails (made
in Japan from American wire). Because the

This approval was on the basis that only
imported or second hand materials could be
used. The second stage architectural drawings,
dated 10 November 1950, were approved by
the Council on 6 February 1951.

At the suggestion of Mr. Jim Lawrence, the
theatre was named the Valley Theatre and it
was to become the flagship of the Lawrence
Brothers’ theatre chain. Its design was
The proscenium and stalls area
innovative. By using a Quonset shaped, or
CINEMARECORD # 83 23