Page 9 - CinemaRecord #85

wrapped inside the original walls. This in-fill For as long as MGM, Para-
made it a smaller auditorium, with space be- mount and the Rank Or-
tween the new and original outer wall for ganisation stayed on top of
ventilation and heating ducts. Whereas surfac- their game, the Glen was a
es in the body of the old theatre were mostly worthy competitor for the
smooth, the new fretted fibrous plaster was Palace and better looking.
designed to trap sound and avoid echoes. In terms of design and am-
Lighting from behind it emphasised the de- bience however, it was
signs. A colour scheme of light buff was said never in the class of the
4
to be particularly effective. This interior seat- Rivoli. Once widescreen
ed 1,299 (stalls 958, balcony 341). was an option the Rivoli
broke ranks with the Glen
A savvy lessee was now in charge. Eric and was screening MGM’s
Charles Yeomans had just been elected Presi- CinemaScope films much
dent of the Victorian Independent Exhibitors earlier.
Association. He either controlled or had an
interest in seven cinemas, including the Hoyts scale and muscle
Vogue Hawthorn/Kew. also meant that the Palace A remnant of the original pressed metal proscenium. Image: Shane Moore
went widescreen four
The New Glen opened to an invited audience months before the Glen’s first VistaVision beautifully maintained theatre, right up to the
on Friday 21 April 1939. [On Saturday night] attraction - White Christmas - which opened day it closed. The projectionist was a legen-
the theatre was crowded, and the proprietors Thursday 24 March 1955. dary character of the 1950s, a fellow called
received many expressions of congratulation Robbie Brown. He kept the projection room
on the appearance of the theatre and the ex- Thereafter competition between the two thea- in pristine condition and was quite strict, but
cellence of the tres was again evenly matched until the de- very fair with his staff.
programme pres- cline in the quality of MGM features so
entation. 5 weakened the exhibition structure of the inde- I saw the whole theatre the day after it closed.
pendents that competition between the Glen A cold and rainy Sunday, and poor Robbie
Mickey Rooney and the Palace became one-sided. had the unenviable task of showing potential
and Judy Garland equipment purchasers around. In the splen-
in Love Finds While television continued to hollow-out all didly clean projection room, were a pair of
Andy Hardy, audiences for all exhibitors, Hoyts access to ancient Bauer projectors, looking as new as
were supported broader, more vigorous range of films pulled the day they were installed.
by Melvyn Doug- the Palace ahead. Even so, Glen manage-
las and Florence ment stoically maintained each program for Below: Variety concert ad. The Campbell Boys, who
Rice in Fast one week. also appeared at the Tivoli, dates this as 1928.
Company.
The Glen went under in the first wave of
This program was
in its third week in the suburbs and inaugurat- closures, which took out some other big
names including the Village Toorak. The last
ed the Glen into its place in the release hierar-
chy. Naturally enough, programs at the Glen show at the Glen was Saturday night of 14
were switched with its stable-mate the Vogue May 1959. It was a lacklustre MGM double
feature: Steve Reeves as Hercules and Alan
only two km west.
Ladd and Ernest Borgnine in The Badlanders.
The Palace held out for another three years.
One year later, the opening of the prestige
Rivoli, in what was then called Upper Haw-
thorn, placed three independent theatres in an The late Don Kennedy who was a projection-
east-west line, with the Glen in the centre. ist wrote to me about the Glen: It was a
The Glen’s secrets revealed: moulded acoustic plaster cleverly disguises an old interior. Image: Shane Moore

CINEMARECORD # 85 9