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CinemaScope. By 1964, seating capacity had
been reduced to just 953 but, with television
now available in Tasmania and with Greater
Union having already closed His Majesty’s in
Hobart because of a fall-off in ticket sales, 953
was more than enough back then.

By the early 1970s, seating was reduced to just
the stalls area with the Health Department
having declared the dress circle to be unsafe.
The Prince of Wales continued to plod along,
showing blockbusters from the mainland and
even installing high powered four channel
sound for the screening of the rock opera film,
Tommy in 1975.

1982 saw Hoyts open a second cinema in
Hobart, the 414 seat MidCity, downstairs at
the corner of Collins and Murray Streets. The
Company claimed it would operate in
conjunction with the Prince of Wales, but the
Hoyts Prince of Wales Theatre c. 1949. Three years after taking up the lease, still no Hoyts sign

showing films, with Hoyts and the National
Theatre Company jointly taking out the lease
on 12 March 1938. They also took out the lease
on the Princess Theatre in Launceston at the
same time. Had they been unsuccessful in
gaining the leases, Hoyts had planned to show
films at the City Hall in Hobart and the Albert
Hall in Launceston. With Greater Union
having two theatres in Hobart and one in
Launceston, Hoyts was determined to get a
“foot in the door” one way or another.

The Prince of Wales was given a refit and
upgrade, making it the most technically
advanced cinema in the country at the time.
The seating capacity was also reduced to 1010.
It showed only those films that had proved
very successful in Hoyts mainland cinemas.
In 1946, Hoyts took over the entire lease,
ending its partnership with the National
Theatre Company. By 1953, seating was
further reduced to 971 with the installation of
a CinemaScope screen. The Prince of Wales
in Hobart and Princess in Launceston were the
first theatres in Tasmania to convert to
old theatre was tired and the seats were
uncomfortable so, when fire badly damaged
the Theatre Royal in June 1984, Hoyts
offered the Prince of Wales as a replacement
until rebuilding was completed.
After the Theatre Royal reopened in March
1986, the Prince of Wales was left idle until
1987 when the wreckers moved in and razed it
to the ground!

Hoyts quit Tasmanian in December 1989,
when the MidCity cinema was also closed. �
Credits:

Cinemas of Australia via the U.S. by Ross Thorn.
Paul McIntyre, ABC radio Hobart.
Film Weekly.

Images:
CATHS Archive

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