Page 31 - CinemaRecord #84

The bio box consisted of a small rewind room
and a projection room suspended high in the
ceiling above the dress circle seating. The
projectors were a Pathé and a Powers on
universal bases. There was also a slide facility.

Before the show, I would watch Dad when he
went to the generator shed in the corner of the
property, and spin the generator over using the
belts (no guards in those days!). When he had
some speed up, he would pull down on the
starter to start the engine. The generator then
supplied power for the arc lamps.
Before the show began, Dad would give me
1/- to buy a glass of lemonade, usually cola
costing 8d, and a packet of musk lifesavers for
4d, served by the ladies in the kiosk.

I was always fascinated by the halfpenny coins
littered about the rewind bench. Apparently,
these were wound into the film at the motor
and changeover positions to provide a rattle
rather than a cue spot in the top right hand Ryrie Street frontage of former Plaza Theatre (now Geelong Performing Arts Centre) ▲
corner of the picture on the screen.

The Palais provided much excitement, and
not only on the dance floor. Twice there were
fires in the bio box due to a breakage in the
old nitrate film stock. The second one was
more serious, with the fire taking hold in the
ceiling of the building. As any projectionist
worth his salt would do, Dad bolted down the
steep rickety stairs leading out of the bio box,
only to crash headlong into the fireman
heading the other way! The fireman ended up
at the bottom of the stairs, whilst Dad made a
hasty getaway! The fire was dutifully
extinguished, and the Palais still trades to this
day, but as a bingo hall. I can still remember
Dad scrubbing down the projection heads in
our kitchen after such fires!
In 1956, Dad took over the lease of the The Palais Royal
Torquay Cinema in the public hall in Price
Street, Torquay (a popular beach resort about We started with a clean slate at the Torquay The speaker was a massive unit supported on
19 km south-west of Geelong). At this time, Cinema. Dad bought a pair of new rails which allowed the speaker and high
there was a proliferation of small movie shows Raycophone CP10s with C&W heads and 10 frequency horn, able to be pushed back into an
dotted around the coastal towns, all full of inch arcs running 6 and 7 mm carbons. This enclosure built into the adjacent meeting room
holiday makers keen to catch up on the year’s was complemented with a Raycophone sound wall so that the stage could be fully utilised.
movies and happy to make the theatre head and a 20 watt amplifier running a pair of
proprietors rich! KT66 output valves. The screen was 16 feet x 9 feet miracle mirror,
also on rails. The Torquay Cinema had a
West Park Theatre, West Geelong roomy and well ventilated bio box. The hall
was a replacement for the original, which was
destroyed by fire in 1939.

Our first show was in December 1956, when
we screened The Purple Plain starring Gregory
Peck. We endured a lot at the Torquay
Cinema over the years, but as long as the
paying customers kept rolling up, we were
happy to take their money. Often, there would
be a queue several blocks long when we
arrived at 6:30pm.

Some of our more adventurous patrons at the
time were a little naughty, bringing along their
farmyard friends from the paddock next door.
Chickens and the occasional horse were
attempted to be brought in, but we explained
no ticket, no entry. Stink bombs, tomatoes,eggs
and other fruit and veggies were also popular,a

CINEMARECORD # 84 31