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These labels, even if tongue-in-cheek, reflect the class-conscious,
anglophile nature of Australian society at that time. The labels
differentiated between the classes without seeking to demean. The term
“Pioneers”, although a long way from “Empire Builders”, was still
sufficiently inspiring so as to instill a sense of pride in the working class
audience in the stalls.
Although dividing the classes, these cinemas also sought to cater for each
class’ desire for grandeur and a sense of importance. The different terms
used for males and females reflect a gendered society. Men were the
traditional breadwinners and “pioneers”, and it was their actions and
efforts that built the British Empire. Women, on the other hand, were
supposed to be homemakers - demure and beautiful, supporting the men
in their endeavours.

During the silent era, most cinemas had a piano or organ to play the film’s
accompanying music. The picture palaces went a step further and had
full orchestras. When it opened in 1929, the Regent boasted that it had
“the finest Wurlitzer Organ yet brought to Australia”, as well as a concert
orchestra. The souvenir programme boldly stated: “Definitely the Regent Victory Theatre, Barkly Street, St. Kilda, Victoria
Theatre has linked the screen with symphony”. The Regent's
Orchestra played two pieces of music on opening night, as well as Many suburban and country cinemas tried to imitate the scale and style
accompanying the films, and there was also a solo performance on the of the picture palaces, but there were few that lived up to the challenge.
Wurlitzer organ. An orchestra’s performance and reputation was an Even the status of the Victory in St Kilda (Vic) is debatable. After all, it
important factor in attracting patrons. was reconstructed into the picture palace style, and thus could be
regarded as a mere copy. This begs the question, what constitutes a picture
palace? The term is certainly one that has been bandied about a great
deal. Historian Ross Thorne notes that “the term ‘picture palace’ was
used to describe some Australian cinemas from 1908”. The Sands and
McDougall Directory for 1913 lists two cinemas using the term: the
Jubilee Picture Palace in Carlton and the Picture Palace in
Yarraville. Thorne states that the Regent Theatre in New York,
opened in 1913, “is generally accepted as the forerunner of all picture
palaces”. It is the early 1920s that this style of cinema building came to
the fore in America, and in Australia picture palaces as a style of building
did not begin until the Prince Edward in 1924.

Regent Theatre, Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria

The picture palaces received wide publicity when they were
constructed, but only a small number were ever built. The majority were
in capital cities, with a few in the surrounding suburbs, such as the Regent
in South Yarra (1925), and the Palais in St Kilda (1927), both in Victoria.
In Melbourne three were constructed in the city area, the Capitol, the
Regent and the State.
Jubilee Picture Palace (in name only), Nicholson Street, Carlton, Victoria
Below: Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St. Kilda, Victoria
We need to distinguish between the term “picture palace” used to
describe a style of cinema, from the term used simply as a synonym for
a large cinema or as part of a cinema’s name. To be an Australian picture
palace, the large grand cinema had to have been built between the mid
1920s and the early 1930s. Cinemas such as the Jubilee Picture Palace
in Carlton and the Picture Palace in Yarraville are therefore not
considered true examples of this cinema-building phenomenon. It is
interesting to note that none of the Australian picture palaces actually
used the term as part of their names.
What actually characterises a picture palace? It was not merely the size,
for West’s New Olympia seated 4,000 while the Melbourne Capitol
only seated 2,600. Picture palaces had their emphasis not only on size
but on comfort, decoration, services and image. Their design was
American influenced and they were supposed to look more like a live
theatre than a cinema. It was a combination of these elements as well as
the time period (the extravagance and indulgence of the so-called “Jazz
Age”) in which they were built, that acquired for them the title of picture
palaces.

38 CINEMARECORD # 96