Page 14 -

WHO WOULD WANT TO

WORK AT THE PICTURES?

By Steve Maggs
The theatre impressed me at the time as it had Watching films in those days took place in
a giant illuminated clock inside the theatre large single screen screen cinemas. Many of
beside the screen. I only know of two Sydney these were very beautiful and ornate. They
theatres that had this type of clock. They were often dated back to the 1930s. My regular
the State Theatre and the Palace Theatre. cinemas were The Mayfair and Embassy in
The Palace Theatre stood on the site of the Castlereagh Street, the Lyceum, Ascot and
Hilton Hotel. It would be very easy to check Town in Pitt Street, the State Theatre in
old newspapers to see which theatre the film Market Street and the Regent, Century, Plaza,
was actually screened in. Perhaps this will be Rapallo, Paramount, Barclay and Forum in
a future project? It may turn out that I saw the George Street. Each of these theatres had an
film in Brisbane which will be harder to check. identity. They all had different decor ranging
from art-deco to art-moderne and even Roman.
My parents had an interest in film and Most of these theatres contained a dress circle
photography. My father worked at Harringtons which meant you could choose to sit upstairs
which was an early camera store. This must or down in the stalls.
have been in the late 1930s to early 1940s. He
worked alongside a young lady by the name of
Gwenn Plumb, who was later to become a
famous Australian actress . He later worked at
CATHS’ Queensland Convener, Steve Maggs, Kodak in George Street, where he was
has a long history of working in the cinema Manager of the Motion Picture section. My
industry. In 1995, he produced a book which, mother also worked at Kodak developing and
in his words, was “…not intended to be the printing film. In those days this was all done
greatest story of all time. It is simply a flow of by hand. She often told me about her younger
events that happened to me over a number of days in Brisbane when she would go to the
years.” Over the next few issues of movies with a friend and sit in the theatre all
CinemaRecord, we look forward to day as the movies were continuous. As a child
reproducing chapters from Steve’s book “Who I was often taken to the movies by my parents.
Would Want to Work at the Pictures?”
From about the age of nine I was allowed to
t may seem strange to people who work as travel into the city (without parents) to see
Ian usher in theatres as a temporary job whilst films. The first film I saw with a mate was a
studying that other people would want to spend martial arts film starring Bruce Lee. It was
many years or, in fact, a lifetime working in called Fist of Fury and it featured a slow
them. I have worked in cinemas since 1981 and motion scene of a sword penetrating a person's
the Orpheum at Cremorne is my third torso. I thought it was great. The film was
complex. screened at the Forum Theatre which was in
George Street, near Railway Square. I ventured
I was always interested in cinemas. Some of to this theatre a number of times over the years
my earliest memories are of going to the as it was the only theatre in Sydney to have the
movies. I recall seeing Those Magnificent Men equipment to show films in Sensurround. This I only went to these theatres for a short time as
In Their Flying Machines in the mid 1960s. was a gimmick where the whole theatre the day of the multiplex arrived. In 1977,
vibrated along with the Hoyts opened their seven cinema complex in
film, so that one could George Street and shortly after this they
feel and experience what closed all of their other city cinemas. Greater
was happening on Union opened the Pitt Centre and later their
screen. There were a George Street complex which meant the end
number of films made of all the mighty picture palaces. Today, from
with this process. the theatres listed above, only the State
E a r t h q u a k e , remains intact, with the Plaza building being
Rollercoaster and converted into the Planet Hollywood
Battlestar Galactica restaurant. All of the other theatres have been
were just some of these demolished.
films. I believe the fad
was over by the mid It is a shame that city theatres of today lack the
1970s. personality and feel of the older theatres. There
are a few surviving examples of the suburban
picture palace that keep these memories alive.
The Forum was
demolished shortly after I hope that these theatres will keep some of the
traditions of going to the movies alive for
this and left Sydney with
another hole in the future generations.
ground until 1995 when
a new building was The city was not the only place to see movies.
erected on the site. I grew up near Parramatta which had a number
Greater Union Pitt Centre, Sydney (CTA Collection) of theatres. Parramatta had one of the largest

14 CINEMARECORD # 88