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The Maling Canterbury : Last Growth Spurt of the ‘40s

Tony Tibballs and Ian Smith

s the worst of the Depression receded and
Ahousehold wallets began to swell again,
Hoyts assessed that the time was right to
re-connect with Melbourne audiences. From
1936 to 1941, they opened seven theatres*, and
another two in conjunction with Robert
McLeish. The Maling Canterbury concluded
this building spree.

The advent of war forced the pace of
construction. Balwyn and Canterbury are
adjoining eastern suburbs where Hoyts ran two
projects almost simultaneously. First to start
was the Time Balwyn. This stand-alone theatre,
on a large corner site, with tram past the door,
and a car park alongside was meant to impress.

With the walls rising at Balwyn, work started
on the Maling, only 2 km away by car. This
was the replacement for the antiquated
Canterbury Theatre (see CR 95). The site
extended over partly what was originally John
Pepper’s Boot Palace (c. 1889), then taken over
by James Bissett (c. 1911) until demolished in
1940. Sandwiched as it was between shops, the
theatre lacked the ‘show-off’ style of its
neighbour at Balwyn. Only at night, with the
neon ablaze, did it blossom into the stand-out
building of the street.

The Maling was further from the train than the
old theatre, with the popular Broadway,
Camberwell only two stations west and also
located two stations east was the “independent”
Surrey Theatre, Surrey Hills. Its position
showed that management had no illusions – the
theatre was unlikely to be a big earner. And
with the Time Balwyn also close, the obvious
question is – why build it? In 1941, with
audiences swelling, it was not in Hoyts’ genes
to close an antiquated theatre and leave a gap
for someone else to fill.

In this period Hoyts usually shared their
building projects between two architectural
firms. Both were practiced at bringing a job in
on time and cost, and could guarantee a high The exterior with vertical neon sign removed c.1989. The left-side slatted windows look into the lounge
standard of workmanship. H.V. Taylor and foyer. The other side look into the projection room. Image: John Budge collection.
Soilleux did the larger, balcony theatres, while
Cowper Murphy and Appleford usually handled H.V. Taylor’s firm is credited with the design Both the Maling and the Time were stadium
the stadium designs. of the heating and ventilation system for the design, in which stepped rear stalls replace a
Maling. Taylor had made his reputation as an conventional balcony. The photo of the view to
The Time Balwyn was a Cowper Murphy acoustics expert, bringing old theatres up to the the Maling stage shows a proscenium defined,
project seating 20 percent more than its cousin mark for “talkies”. His firm had recently in fact overwhelmed, by “stacked draughts”. Or
at Canterbury. The 942 seat Maling might have completed the landmark Rivoli Camberwell, was it piles of coins which supplied the
been expected to go to the same firm, but Hoyts and it doesn’t take much imagination to believe inspiration? A photo can mislead, and we can
broke with custom. For whatever reason, the two principals conferred on more than pipes assure readers that when it was show-time,
Charles N. Hollinshed was engaged for the and plumbing. those shapes did not overpower the interior
designing of the Maling. His theatre work balance of light and shade.
included the Comedy in Exhibition Street The CATHS archive held a very limited
Melbourne, the Regent Brisbane, the Regent selection of photos of the Maling, whereas the The Maling opened on Friday 24 September
Fitzroy and theatres in New Zealand. Time was much photographed. Fortunately 1941, three months after the Time commenced,
Hollinshed’s 1930s reworking of His Majesty's CATHS member Les Tod supplied additional and two nights after the Canterbury Theatre
in Melbourne and the new Village Toorak were photos, with his photo of the foyer taken after went dark. Unlike the custom of the 1920s
his first in the new Art Moderne style. the building had been left derelict. when an opening meant multiple speeches,

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