Page 8 - CinemaRecord #86

by Ian Smith

Early facade featuring leadlight fascia on the veranda. (best available image used).
he Barkly was the most ambitious When the St. Georges Yarraville opened, just described the towers as heavy and ugly but,
(4)
Tsuburban theatre built in Melbourne in the two km distant, it claimed to be “the most as status symbols, they were an inspired choice.
period 1910 to 1920. Its location in Footscray, brilliantly lighted around Melbourne”.
six km west of Melbourne, might seem a Assessing the Design
surprise. At a heated public meeting in 1927, Amidst these enticements a reader of the time
the Mayor of Footscray denounced a common could be excused for missing a small In fact the architectural partnership of Blackett
perception, “No government would dare foist paragraph - the Barkly Picture Theatre and Forster, a firm with a client base in the
such changes on St Kilda, Toorak, or any other Company was to hold a statutory meeting of ‘aristocratic suburbs’, had produced a theatre
of the aristocratic suburbs”. (1) shareholders at the Mechanics Institute on ahead of its time. Innovations which later
Saturday 13 December 1913. At this meeting became standard for a picture theatre included
Well before planning for the Barkly was the directors and shareholders agreed to the original cantilevered verandah with a
underway, the locality was well-served by proceed with the construction of the most leadlight frieze along its length, the words
biograph entertainments. At the Mechanics up-to-date theatre in Victoria. (3)
Institute, patrons were able to move inside if
the weather turned bad, but this wasn’t the case The Barkly opened on 29 September 1914, the
with the show at the Napier Street Gardens. At one distinctive building in the western section
another outdoor venue the lessee was served a of Barkly Street, well away from its rivals the
foreclosure notice, and the dismantling of the Grand, and the Trocadero. It wasn’t close to
screen in front of a crowd of onlookers, with the train station like the others, nor did a tram
the lessee on-hand hurling abuse, was an service pass the door until 1921.
entertainment in itself. (2)
With suburban picture-theatre design in its
Screening films indoors was the obvious way infancy, some architects compensated for a
to guarantee an uninterrupted show. The minimalist interior with a top-heavy facade,
Victor Picture Theatre on Irving Street, but the Barkly has a wide, imposing frontage.
opposite the train station, the Grand and its The style was Edwardian Baroque, also known
affiliate, the Federal Hall, ran prominent as Free Classical which, as the latter suggests,
advertisements in the local papers. The denoted a willingness to play with a mix of
Williamstown Theatre always placed the styles. The distinctive mansard towers
showiest ones, even though it was almost concealed water tanks. The writer for Building,
seven km away. West’s Open-Air Pictures a magazine edited by two brothers who saw
at Race Beach, Williamstown also took space. their role as arbiters of architectural taste,

8 CINEMARECORD # 86