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THE PALACE THEATRE CAIRNS - A Postscript
By Brian Hunt

style space and
Since the completion of my article we held a few
regarding the theatre in Lake Street Cairns functions in there
(CinemaRecord Issue #87), I have made on occasions,
contact with Kim Gunst, one of the partners including our
who opened the cinema. I have been seeking farewell party
information about the use of the upstairs and our first
part of the building between 1973 and 1995. birthday party.
Kim has been able to provide some details
and her comments, in part, follow:
There were many
rumours about
The Capri Cinema was re-opened by Peter
Cominos after Birch Carroll and Coyle the place,
including that
(BCC) closed it and built their Cairns 5
somebody had
cinema complex. I am unsure when it was
been murdered
re-opened, but it closed in approximately
there. Some of
1992. There was a nightclub / restaurant in
the old faithfuls Andrew and Kim Gunst c. 1995
the space next to the foyer that faced Lake
were sure that
St. I think it was called George’s. I don’t
was the origin of
know when it closed, but the room had been
a cinema ghost.
gutted to bare beams and cement floors
when we took over. It was a big warehouse
For a couple of Andrew and I were introduced to the owner
months in late of the building, Peter Cominos, by a mutual
1994, there was a friend and, on 10 March 1995, we got the
Nature Slide Show green light to open The Palace. We
occupying that celebrated by heading straight to the
area. It never really RSPCA and procured the cinema cat, K2.
took off and closed
in early 1995. The We opened on 10 June 1995 with “The
names of the people Blues Brothers”. We forgot to get change
running it were for the opening night (it was a long weekend
David and Kirsten, – no banks) and resorted to sending friends
but I am unable to to Cazaly’s Sports Club a couple of hours
recall their last before opening. They pretended to get
names. He was money for the poker machines and left with
Canadian and she heavy pockets.
was German.

Remember When ……

· The lights dimmed in a city picture palace and the pure notes of the organ died away to be replaced by the flat, tinny,
fanfare of the Fox Movietone News or the Cinesound Revue? And for as long as organ interludes were a part of the
show, there was no eliminating that jarring comparison between rich musical tones and thin ones.
· MGM theatres smelled different to the theatres of Hoyts and GU? Whatever the brand of aerosols used, they were
certainly distinctive.
· It was possible to read Screen News in your seat while the advertising slides drifted past on the screen. Cinema interiors,
while never brightly lit, had pastel or neutral-toned walls that reflected enough light to actually read a printed page.
Try that in a multiplex today.
· On the first visit as a child to an MGM theatre - The Theatre of the Stars – the disappointment on finding out that there
were no actual stars in the ceiling?
· Every capital city had at least a couple of theatres with side exits leading into unfamiliar lanes? The worst of these lanes
had a dog-leg which obscured a view of any main road. A typical reaction when leaving by one of these exits was,
“Where am I?”
· In an MGM house, ‘lion fatigue’ could set in when the feature was supported by shorts? The Metro News, Tom and
Jerry, a James A. Fitzpatrick Travel Talk, The Passing Parade or a Pete Smith Specialty, at least one trailer, not to
mention the feature – were all introduced by the lion’s roar. Ars Gratia Artis was a fine logo, but did it need that much
repetition? (Ditto for a Paramount house.)
· The special Test Cricket edition of the Movietone News was advertised for Hoyts Suburban Theatres and hawked
around as many theatres as could fit it in on one night? Occasionally, to keep the promise, it was shown after the main
feature at 11.20 pm, halting the scramble to the exits to avoid the Anthem.
Ian Smith

38 CINEMARECORD # 88