Page 32 - CinemaRecord #86

THE THEATRES OF LISMORE, NSW (Part 1)

By William Gray
Federal Hall c. 1925. Later became the Federalette in 1927, and finally the Vanity in 1953
In Cinema Record # 84, Charles
Betteridge wrote about his recollections
of going to Lismore’s cinemas in the
1950s. This article, traces the history of
those cinemas from around 40 years
earlier.

Readers should note that the history of
the venues named “Star Court” may be
somewhat complicated, due to the fact
that this theatre occupied three different
locations over the years. To alleviate
st
this confusion, 1 Star Court refers to
the Windsor Gardens site in Woodlark
Street, 2 Star Court refers to the
nd
rd
Diggers Theatre site, and 3 Star Court
refers to the present location at 126
Molesworth Street.

Windsor Gardens Picture Palace opened in
around 1914, and soon after changed its name
to Star Court Theatre (1 ). The Diggers
st
Theatre received a licence and opened in
1919. In 1920, it was purchased by
Mr. T.J. Dorgan, who was to become the
dominant exhibitor associated with theatres
on the North Coast. In the same year, a
prospectus was issued to raise funds for
construction of a more suitable venue for
Mr. Dorgan’s operations. The sum of $22,000
was raised to begin construction of the two-
level, 3 rd Star Court Theatre at
126 Molesworth Street.
The operators of the Windsor Gardens/Star
Court Theatre became directors of the new
company, with some of the equipment and the
licence being moved over to the new venue. It
opened on 18 July 1921 with a seating
capacity of 1500, and was the first major
venue for musical and theatrical events in
Diggers Theatre (also known as the A.I.F Theatre)
3rd Star Court Theatre Exterior in the 1920s
ome 835 km north of Sydney is the City
Sof Lismore (pop. 42,000). From the early
years of the 20 century, there has been a
th
cinema presence in the city.
The earliest known screening took place at
8pm on the evening of 8 August 1903, when a
free Cinebiograph was screened by F. Brault
in the open air from the balcony of Mr.
Stone’s Bridge Hotel in Molesworth Street,
according to the Northern Star newspaper of
that date. Research also indicates that silent
movies were being screened in Federal Hall
(later to become the Federalette, and later
still the Vanity) as early as 1907. Biotint
Pictures also screened in Lismore’s Theatre
Royal (1912-1913), with Lyceum Pictures
and Elite Pictures also using that venue.
However, these had ceased operation by
around 1915.

32 CINEMARECORD # 86