Page 38 - CR-90

THE
MELBOURNE

REGENT

Francis William Thring
- the ultimate humiliation?

Ian Williams
It is a matter of record that Hoyts/Thring were unable to gain a licence
to serve liquor at the new Plaza Ballroom located beneath Melbourne’s
Regent Theatre. Fortunately later, as the Plaza Theatre, it became a
good profit earner until its closure in 1970.

One feature of the Regent Theatre that has puzzled me over the years
is why did Thring give it a stage depth of forty two feet? Similar theatres
in Australia and America had stage depths of only about thirty to thirty
four feet.
I recently learned that the original plans showed that Thring had allowed
space at the rear of the stage to accommodate kitchen facilities, as well The Regent stage c. 1947. Image: Ian Williams collection.
as storage space for liquor and other supplies for the planned ballroom. Just think - it was almost sixty seven years (1929 to 1996) before the
extended depth was finally used to its fullest extent.
Thring had been caught by the law relating to early hotel closing brought
in as a wartime measure in 1914, as well as the rise in the power of the Thring left Australia for Europe soon after the Regent’s opening in 1929
“wowser” vote which was to last into the 1960s. to buy more film stock for his movie-making activities. It is fitting that
the Melbourne Regent has outlasted the remainder of the Regent chain,
He must surely have felt humiliated that a relatively small part of the and has become much in demand for staging blockbuster musicals which
population had gained such influence to stifle such a worthwhile project. go with its magnificent decor.

38 CINEMARECORD # 90