Page 8 - CinemaRecord #85

Stadiums Ltd. which controlled the West Mel-
bourne Stadium, now Festival Hall.
By 1918 it was apparent that two cinemas so
close together were more than the public
needed. The advertisements for the Glenfer-
rie Theatre began asking residents to loyally
support the theatre which has always given
2
you the best. Apparently audiences preferred
the Palace. Lean closed the Glenferrie in
November 1921. It re-opened as the Glen
Palais de Danse on 25 January 1922.
Hoyts was the lessee, and their management
of the building was decidedly lax. On 25
November 1925 The Age informed its readers
that an inspection of the Palais had revealed a
certain amount of immorality going on out-
side on the promenade. (The promenade was
an exit lane way leading to Glenferrie Road).
This news was the result of a routine inspec-
tion by the Health Commission.
Expecting the usual litany of minor infringe- Above: The upstairs foyer and left hand staircase
ments the inspector who made the visit was following the 1939 make over. CATHS Archive
taken aback by the revelations offered by a Where one management sees stagnation other
garrulous caretaker. “See that girl over there? minds see opportunity. Manresa Hall, around
[Yes] Well, she has taken on six different the corner in Burwood Road, was one of the
chaps tonight, and the funny part, not for best appointed church halls in the suburbs.
money.” 3 The church Fathers converted it into a cinema,
the Apollo Glenferrie. Its better product,
A subsequent police investigation came to from MGM or Paramount, ran fourth week,
nought. Plain clothes and uniform police have but it survived from 1934-39 (See Cine-
visited this place frequently and only on one maRecord 41).
occasion have they been called on to stop a
row, and that was on a night during the visit In August 1938 the Secretary of the Glenferrie
3
of the American Fleet. Sensing the need for company engaged architects Cowper, Murphy
discretion Hoyts closed the Palais for renova- and Appleford to return the Palais to films.
tions. Christopher Cowper was a Hawthorn boy, and
his first theatre commission had been the Pal-
When it did re-open (possibly in March 1926) ace in 1918. His firm would now revitalise an
it now faced competition as a dance venue old competitor.
from Ziegfelds, even closer to the station.
Teddy Riggs used it for occasional variety The period 1934-41 was the last flowering of
concerts, but by 1931 the building housed the single screen, and Cowper, Murphy and
miniature golf, run by a Hoyts subsidiary. Appleford were at the forefront of this boom.
Mini-golf was a proven Hoyts stand-by for Their work for independent showmen includ-
properties of uncertain future. ed the new Waverley East Malvern and the
Vogue Hawthorn (both 1936); the Sun Yar-
raville (1938); a makeover of the National

January 1917
Richmond (1939); the Dendy Brighton (1940)
and another makeover, the Moonee Moonee
Ponds (1940).
The Edwardian facade of the Glenferrie The-
atre was simplified. The obvious external
change was to replace the cast-iron verandah
with a cantilever version. The big changes
were inside. The former billiard and tea
rooms became the dress-circle foyer. Substan-
tial modifications were needed to bring the
toilets inside the building.
The stripping back for the rebuild now under-
way has revealed the plaster ‘skin’ of 1939

Left: Catholic Young Men's Society Ball at the Glen
Palais. Image: Hawthorn Historical Society.

8 CINEMARECORD # 85