Page 11 - CinemaRecord #86
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The Barkly 1930s: Firmly in the Hoyts camp.

                                             Barkly there were plenty of them. Hoyts was
                                             instructed to widen the entrance and doorways,
        So popular are films in war-time, the Trocadero runs  widen  the  ramp  from  the  circle  to  the  foyer,
        two sessions daily.                  increase the size of the bio-room, and upgrade
                                             all the toilets. This work was in the hands of
        Hoyts owned a site in Barkly Street closer to
        the Grand. This was the Royal Hall attached
        to the rear of the Royal Hotel, now made-over
        as apartments. The Royal was Footscray’s first
                             (7)
        theatre,  dating  from  1876.   Hoyts  finally
        abandoned the idea of a new theatre, deciding
        instead to revamp the Trocadero and make it
        their premier Footscray outlet. The makeover
        was completed in 1939 after which the Barkly
        slipped down the release hierarchy.

        A  top  film  would  run  for  a  week  at  the
        Trocadero, skip the next weekend then run for
        three  week  nights  at  the Barkly.  It  became
        home to a stream of lesser product, changing
        twice weekly, with Fright Night or Ranch Night
        taking over as the Wednesday staple. However,
        this demotion was not set in stone.
        In 1940, Hoyts commissioned architects H.V.
        Taylor  and  Soilleux  to  make  modest
        improvements, including a re-alignment of the
        staircases which made a little more space in the
        entrance foyer.

        The YMCA took a lease on two of the theatre’s
        shops and turned them into a recreation centre
        for  women  working  in  munitions  and  other
        factories.  “Members  of  the  Footscray
        community are aware of the need for a place
        where  women  war  workers  may  have  the
        opportunity  to  relax  and  meet  their  friends,
        partly owing to the fact that a large number of
        them are living in crowded conditions. We feel
        that such a place is necessary to maintain the
        health  and  morale  of  the  women  who  are
        serving our country”. ((5) May 1942)

        By 1946, cinemas were coming off their best-
        ever  years.  The  Health  Department  began  to
        enforce  regulations  long  deferred.  At  the


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