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one day when the late Marcus Loew’s son was
there, looking the place over.
George Spencer was a bit apprehensive about
working for Metro; he did not like the idea of
all the paperwork involved.

I remember when I worked at the Embassy
under MGM, I had to go around the theatre
with a wet and dry bulb thermometer about six
times during each performance and fill in a
form with the readings.
George left and went to work at the Star
Theatre in Adelaide (now the Capri run by
the South Australian Theatre Organ Society).
He was not a well man, suffering from
emphysema which was possibly exacerbated
by inadequately ventilated carbon arcs which
covered the surroundings with a white dust
that had to be cleaned every night.
Main foyer and ticket box c. 1939. Image: Wayne Barnett collection
I think BEF also released Australian films, the bass speaker unit and the big baffle for it. MGM replaced George with Stan Tew and
because I remember seeing funny man, The speaker was eighteen inches in diameter eventually increased the sessions to four a
George Wallace, in one film. I saw him in and the baffle was twelve feet square. The day. When Stan left, he was replaced by Tom
person once, when a sequence for Let George high frequency speaker was a Western Paine from the Metro, Collins Street. Much
Do It was being filmed at the top of our street, Electric 594 compression driver mounted on a later, I worked with Stan again at the
opposite the Malvern Police Station. The multi-cellular horn with a crossover frequency Northland Drive-in. Stan died there from a
street was roped off, but you could still walk of 300 Hertz. I was once told by the local WE stroke while doing a ramp tramp, I then
around the set. As long as they weren’t representative, Frank Nairn, that these replaced him full time.
shooting, you could also talk to the actors; speakers were so efficient, that the same
they didn’t mind. As soon as the camera speaker system was used in Melbourne’s 3000 With MGM’s take over of the Embassy, came
rolled, George Wallace was hilarious. I seat Regent, with only a 5 watt amplifier. a change of name to the Metro. They also
particularly remember him in Gone To The introduced a greater emphasis on promotions.
Dogs; that was a funny show. The amplifier had an output power of 30 watts During Tom’s time there, they screened The
and was mounted in a huge six foot six inch Long, Long Trailer, Metro advertising it with
The Embassy advertised in the daily high rack. The 30 watts was more than Tom towing a big caravan around Malvern,
newspapers under the banner “Australian adequate to fill the theatre. with me in the passenger seat.
Independent Theatres”. These theatres ran as
a circuit, with the first suburban run of a As well as working casually at the Embassy, After Tom’s retirement, Geoff Atkinson from
movie at the Village Theatre, Toorak, then I sometimes helped Frank Nairn, who was Sydney replaced him.
at the Embassy. After that, it went to the running movies in halls at country locations
Camden, Caulfield and then to the Waverley like Warburton, Wandin and Mt Evelyn. MGM replaced the screen speakers with
in Waverley Road. English made Western Electric units during a
Eventually the Embassy started to decline, run of Showboat. I used to listen to the
The Embassy’s screen was big for a suburban and there were rumours that it was going to be overture music in the auditorium and during
theatre, most of the other suburbans having sold. Then, all of a sudden, Mr Letique the movie. The sound was magnificent.
comparatively small screens. disappeared and MGM took over. I was there The Monday after the speakers were changed,
I had a listen to the new units. They had to be
The projectors were fitted with Stelmar arc
lamps. The Stelmar system was unique and Upstairs foyer. Image: Wayne Barnett collection
looked good on paper but, in practice, it was
very inefficient. The lamp houses were fitted
with a small centre condenser lens which used
to get pitted and had to be replaced every few
months. The lamp house was also fitted with
concentric, specially shaped cylinders which
were chrome plated and highly polished on
the inside, the idea being that they were
arranged to pick up the light and reflect it to a
spot at the same focal point as the condensing
lens.
The projectors were Australian-made C&W
(Cumming and Wilson) machines, made in
Sydney. The Embassy had a pair of their
largest model, the C&W Senior, each sitting
on Western Electric (WE) Mirrorphonic
sound heads. The loudspeakers behind the
screen were also Western Electric.

The WE speakers were designed by MGM
sound expert, Douglas Shearer, who designed

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