Page 34 - CinemaRecord #86

rights to product by Paramount Pictures local radio station (2LM), with over 1400
secured. An agreement was also reached to children and adults in attendance. I attended
meet demands for dancing, concerts etc. The that highly successful party, with some
opening feature was Padlocked (Paramount leading stars on stage as their shows were
1926). In November 1927, the Northern Star extremely popular.
newspaper reported that, although talkies
rd
were screening at the 3 Star Court Theatre, In 1940, instead of films it was back to variety
silent pictures would continue to be screened shows. In April, there was an atmosphere of
at the Federalette (formerly Federal Hall) old Japan with pretty ballets and colourful
under the banner of T.J. Dorgan Holdings. costumes. Also in that year there were further
Stan Coroneo’s time must have been very boxing bouts of fight and fury. Among those
short. on the bill was Constable Jack Reilly,
Australian Police Champion, who
The Federalette measured 132ft long x 35ft endeavoured to defeat Constables Askew and
wide, and was constructed of wooden walls Langham of Lismore within four rounds. The
and iron roof. The stage area was 35ft x 37ft program comprised mostly Lismore
with two dressing rooms. Seating capacity policemen.
was 650. The projection room was built on
wooden piers in front of the main hall, with its Another of T.J. Dorgan’s theatres was the
entrance from a private stairway. Two locked Vogue at 41 Molesworth Street, built in 1935
shops were provided at ground floor level, and originally to be called the Plaza. It
together with a caretaker’s dwelling of six became the leading cinema venue in Lismore,
rooms and a separate room for film rewinding. and was originally a single level auditorium
The theatre owner at the time was listed as a but, in 1954/55, the theatre was extended and
Mr. Sommerville, and the lessee was the roof lifted to add a dress circle and install
T.J. Dorgan Holdings. On 5 October 1935, Cinemascope. Since its closure as a cinema in
The Arcadians with full operatic chorus, 1964, the Summerland Christian Life Centre
bright ballets and operatic orchestra was has occupied the building.
performed. In March 1953, T.J. Dorgan Holdings was
proposing to add a third venue in Lismore.
In December 1937, the hall was used for a Work to convert the old Federalette hall back
Palace Advertisement, Northern Star, March 1934
huge childrens’ Christmas party, put on by the into a picture theatre commenced in that year,
equipment was provided by RCA
Photophone. Film product from all of the Former Vogue Theatre today
major distributors was under contract to
T.J. Dorgan Holdings, so the Palace had to
seek whatever was available, such as
Goodnight Vienna (Jack Buchanan and Anna
Neagle), There Goes the Bride (Jessie
Matthews), and Vanity Fair (Myrna Loy).
I recall the Palace very well, as it was used by
the local Catholic Church for a juvenile fancy
dress and debutante ball in October 1937. I
participated as some fancy dress personality,
which became my most vivid memory of
being inside the Palace. I often passed the
building, and would view any changes whilst
it was the premises of the Producers
Distributing Society. The building eventually
burned down, and was replaced with a more
modern structure.

Lismore was also the home of the Federal
Hall in Molesworth Street, said to have been
erected in the 1870s. In around 1900, it was
moved to a new site at 214 Molesworth Street,
and was in frequent use for concerts, dancing
and plays, and also for films as early as 1907.
It was formally licensed in July 1909 for the
exhibition of films, with a seating capacity of
514. In January 1921, it was advertising the
All Diggers Company live production under
the direction of J. & N. Tait, which was also
performing at the Centennial Theatre in
Ballina.

In May 1927, the Northern Star newspaper
carried an announcement that a new cinema
enterprise was to be launched at the Federal
Hall, under the proprietorship of Stan
Coroneo of Cessnock and Tamworth. New
projection equipment was installed, and sole

34 CINEMARECORD # 86