Page 7 - CinemaRecord #85

central location and the fact that the soon to
be completed electric tramway would make
the theatre well served in regard to transit
facilities. The building was an acquisition to
the architecture of the neighbourhood. The
facade, pleasingly symmetrical in brick and
render, matched the scale and style of the
buildings alongside.

Viewed from Glenferrie Road the wide front-
age suggested that the long axis of the audito-
rium was parallel to the road (as in the
Princess or Her Majesty’s), but this was
illusory. Viewed from the rear the building
was a “T”, the auditorium at right angles to
the road. Two shops on the south side of the
entrance and three on the north side explained
the width. A sliding roof provided ventilation
on summer’s nights.

A rather mean corridor entrance (with folding
gates) was typical of the time. Upstairs, a
billiard room and a tea room faced Glenferrie
Road. There was no balcony foyer. Patrons
entered the balcony from a very wide and
1
massive stairway which divided mid-way to
reach a corridor with entrances to either the
commercial rooms or the balcony. The balco-
ny was small; only 10 rows of seats with a
cross-aisle separating the first four rows from
the back six. Since this was a purpose-built
theatre, the gallery and stalls had sloping
floors. The initial seating capacity according
to the local paper was 1,800, but the Health
Commission recorded it as 1,655.
The Argus noted that the appointments are
handsome in design and well carried out. A
special feature is a fine proscenium. It stands
at some distance from the wall and harmonis-
es completely with the elliptical ceiling.
Although suburban cinema design was in its
infancy, the reporter sent to critique opening
night had some basis for his judgement. At
least a dozen picture theatres were then open
across Melbourne. Plan of 1912. Seemingly arbitrary aisle layout in the stalls was typical of early suburban cinemas.
For cinemas of this age it is rare to be able to
match a contemporary description to the
present reality, but the Glenferrie does offer
this chance. Remnants of the original interior
are revealed in the rebuild now under way.

The patterned pressed-metal ceiling glows in
burnished bronze and a decorative pilaster
near the stage is surmounted by a plaster motif
very different to the wreath designs in cine-
mas of 1919-21.

A change of name to The Glenferrie Picture
Theatre Company Pty Ltd. may have coincid-
ed with the buy-in by John Wren, Mel-
bourne’s most controversial business man.
Wren had an interest in four suburban picture-
houses: the Palace and the Glenferrie, the
Rialto Kew, and the Cinema Richmond. His
front man at Glenferrie was, as always, Rich-
ard (Dick) Lean, best known as the director of

Left: The theatre was a handsome addition to the
streetscape.

CINEMARECORD # 85 7