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A fire occurred in the theatre on 27 July 1925
during the seating of the afternoon session.
The patrons, believed to be between 700 and
1000, were evacuated and no one was injured.
Faulty electrical wiring was thought to be the
cause of the fire which destroyed the screen
along with its supports, a velvet drop curtain
and some scenery.
The first sound film shown at the Capitol was
In Old Arizona which opened on
13 April 1929 and ran for three months. The
first CinemaScope film was Violent Saturday
which opened on 11 June 1955, but only
managed three weeks. At this time, the
original curtain was replaced by a deep red
(burgundy) curtain and the new screen was
moved forward and placed at the front of the
orchestra pit.

Griffin designed four other picture theatres for
Melbourne: Orpheum 1922, Ascot 1923,
Palais 1926 and Romance 1931. The only
one that was actually built was the Palais St
Kilda, but it was lost in a fire on 10 Feb 1926,
just before construction was completed. The
Ascot was scheduled for Ascot Vale and it is
believed the Romance may have been slated
for Malvern.

Paramount Pictures had the first lease of the
Capitol, beginning on 26 December 1930
then Hoyts took over from December 1940.
Their lease expired in October 1963 and was
not renewed. No new tenant was forthcoming,
so the Capitol closed on 5 February 1964.
Plans for a shopping arcade had been
considered as early as 1959. The owners were
thinking about demolition, but the campaign
to save it made an appeal to the owners not to
take any action that would prevent the
reopening of the theatre, even in a reduced
version. The campaign to save the theatre in Melbourne Institute of Technology on 20 May
Images:
1964 was headed by The National Trust, The 1999 for use as a lecture theatre. State Library of Victoria
Royal Victorian Institute of Architects and National Library of Australia
architect Robin Boyd (1919-1971). The The Capitol Theatre is a unique design and Powerhouse Museum
entrance and the stalls were swept away, but we are fortunate that at least some of this Ian Williams collection
the rest of the theatre was retained. The former extraordinary architectural wonder has
balcony became the new auditorium with a survived, but at the same time it is
raised floor raked down to the new stage area. disappointing that the lower portion of the More pictures on rear cover.
The old staircases leading to the dress circle theatre was lost. ✶
foyer were blocked off and a new staircase
from the front of the shopping arcade led to The well equipped projection room c. 1935 - Simplex projectors on Western Electric universal bases.
the new entrance. The Capitol reopened with
793 seats on 16 December 1965 with The
Great Race and Village Theatres had the lease
which they continued until 1987. It continued
to operate for a short time as an independent,
after which it was purchased by the Royal
One of the decorative wall light fittings

8 CINEMARECORD # 93