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The introduction of Cinema 6 was no minor
undertaking. Movie News reported that Hoyts
spent one-quarter of a million dollars
implementing Cinema 6. Reinforcement of the
concrete floor was necessary. An architectural
plan for the new cinema dates back as early as
February 1974. The plan includes a projection
box situated towards the Little Bourke Street
end of the arcade, beneath the proposed
cinema, in the form of an octagonal display
unit, 15 foot 6 inches at its widest point. This
would lend itself to an ingenious, but
problematic projection facility. A newspaper
stand was converted for this purpose. The
projection box was to be constructed of 5 inch An artist’s impression of the distinctive Cinema 6
reinforced concrete.
CATHS member, Keith Lumley, recalls once name a few. I have fond memories of The
The exterior walls of the arcade level arising from his seat in Cinema 6 in order to Eagle has Landed, Eye of the Needle and Hunt
projection box were covered. So it was only inform the projectionist that the show was for Red October. Midnight Express, A Touch
when the door opened that aghast shoppers demonstrably out-of-focus. Unfortunately, on of Class and Ghostbusters also enjoyed good
encountered the sight of a projectionist and his that occasion, Keith need not have bothered. runs at Hoyts Mid City.
equipment.
As patrons entered at the front of the new
Hoyts also took the opportunity to add a quick Cinema 6 auditorium, both the seats and the
service coffee lounge, servicing patrons of all screen were located to their right hand side.
three auditoria. The décor was striking. The theatre spotlights
highlighted pale gold walls featuring exuberant
David Kilderry describes the extraordinary painted murals, such as a balloon with attached
projection configuration of Cinema 6 as basket launched above the ground and a
follows: “The light from the Phillips FP20 photographer behind a tripod- raised camera.
projector hit a mirror and went 40 feet up a All wall and ceiling junctions included curved
shaft to another mirror and then through a cornices. Deep foam, continental style seats
porthole and onto the screen! The projectionist were in bright vermilion, yellow and orange.
in Cinema 6 would have to go up to the back The seats were set in a fanned formation. The
of the auditorium in order to check focus, as screen was tiny. Surprising to audiences of the
focusing the image via the mirror assembly era, there was no curtain over the screen and
was not easy. The depth and width of the no proscenium.
periscope projection shaft dictated a smaller
screen. We often thought that only 15 or so In the 2009 publication The Picture Palaces of
seats would have been sacrificed for a regular Melbourne, Trevor Walters recalled that
bio at the back of the cinema, so I was never “Cinema 6 screened many R-classified films
sure why all the trouble of a bio box 40 feet of the sex variety in the early days as Hoyts
below was required. Because of the periscope tried to cash in on this lucrative market, but
set-up, no slides were ever shown in Cinema 6. later screened mainly move-overs from A selection of the films listed by Trevor
It had a no-smoking and exit image printed Mid City Cinemas 4 and 5” and “this theatre Walters that screened in Cinema 4 are Man of
onto a length of 35 mm film that we spliced was solely set up for 35 mm presentations.” La Mancha, Young Frankenstein and Sleuth.
onto the first film ad. The cinema did receive Cinema 6 also played host to some long-runs, Trevor remembered the screening in Cinema 4
complaints due to the screen size.” such as La Cage Aux Folles (1978). of the more than three hours long, 1971 revival
movie Nicholas and Alexander. “The first-half
Movie News reported the projection technique By contrast, the two large Mid City auditoria, of the film was shown in 35 mm and the
employed for Mid City Cinema 6 as a “first so conducive to big action films, are second-half in 70 mm.”
for Australia” and “one of the largest mirror understandably best remembered for movies
systems in the world.” such as Apocalypse Now, various of the 1970s However, Trevor asserts that Cinema 5
and 80s James Bond instalments, Return of the audiences were the real beneficiaries at Mid
Jedi and The Man from Snowy River, just to City. He recorded that the Bond movies The
Below: Cinema 6, with periscope projection, was innovative, but sometimes challenging. Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and
Octopussy filled Cinema 5 for weeks.

Towards the end of Hoyts Mid City tenure,
Martin Powell fondly recollects seeing the
1991 film Terminator 2: Judgement Day on
the big Cinema 5 screen: “The image on the
massive deep curved screen in Cinema 5 was
sensational! I will always remember the
background menacing, rhythmic ‘machine’
sound in Terminator 2, through the surround
speakers. It was totally immersive.”

In practice, it would have been near impossible
for Hoyts to consistently distinguish the
Cinema Centre and Mid City strategically,
by means of different programming.
Unification was more practical than
segregation.

CINEMARECORD # 94 9