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By regular habit, I looked back to the projection Dear Mike and Dick,
room and could see one of the projectors
through the observation porthole. I believed it Re the article by Ron McVay in CR#97, I can
to be a Powers. When the movies started, the provide some further information which I
sound of the intermittent movement was just discovered when researching the New Mentone
audible from where I was sitting. I thought that theatre at the Public Records Office.
the unique pin-cross movement used in the
Powers might have been responsible for this. I Their records show the the fire occurred on
had no complaints about the theatre, a full hard 8 October 1951 in the bio box and involved
top with no open air section. At that time it 2,000 feet of film. The fire was caused by worn
would have been the earlier building. sprocket holes on a trailer attached to the main
film. The show recommenced 15 minutes later
Dear Sirs, The next morning, one of the other travellers, and a portion of the projector in the bio box was
also stuck at the Palace, told me he was going destroyed. An insurance claim was made on
Thank you for CinemaRecord No. 97, again to attempt the trip to Mackay that morning and 11 October 1951 to Colonial Mutual. The
some interesting theatre stories … And CR is he offered me a lift, which I accepted. We did operator was a Mr McCormack.
coming up to the mighty figure of 100! Some get through to Mackay, but it took most of the
years ago, after a cruise on the Barrier Reef, a day. We went through a hell of a lot of water, I am not sure whether this was a second fire,
friend and I visited the town of Proserpine and some of which came into the interior of the but a lot of the details seem to correspond with
went to visit the local theatre. We met with the vehicle those described by Ron. The major difference
owner, Bill Ironside, who was very friendly and seems to be that Ron says the fire ended the
took us on a tour of the El Dorado Cinema. I The next morning I walked to the Mackay show for the night whereas the Public Records
was pleased to see a fine tribute to that theatre railway goods yard, and there was my car, show that the screening recommenced after 15
in the last edition. alongside the ramp, waiting to be picked up. minutes. My research did not discover records
of any other fire.
The Regent and Plaza Theatres in Melbourne On the way back to my Mackay hotel, I passed
must be one of the finest venues in the world. a service station, and there on the hoist was the I was researching the New Mentone Theatre
vehicle I was in the previous day, hood and all (so-called as it was the second theatre built in
With the introduction of stereo sound, I the doors wide open, drying out. Mentone at the time), as I spent many hours
remember there was talk within film circles that there as a child, when my father was relieving
patrons were complaining that the sound was The £15 freight the railways charged, I thought assistant projectionist there for a short period
too loud. The loud sound was a shock to the was money well spent. later in the 1950s.
older patrons at the time. I also recall when I
saw later films in CinemaScope, the sound was Regards, Re Les Tod's letter to the editor in the same
not as powerful as when I first saw The Robe. David Bliss edition of CR, he mentioned that the Cairns
These days however, the younger patrons enjoy � Palace remained open during the influenza
it, and demand loud sound for all their Dear Dick, epidemic. I wish to point out that the screenings
entertainment. were relocated to the vacant block of land next
Her Majestys in Ballarat is in trouble. It has door and operated as an outdoor theatre during
Sincerely, been closed since December to await 2 million the flu epidemic. A photograph of this appears
William Gray dollars worth of renovations to the roof, but in my article on that theatre, which featured in
� now they find the foundations are stuffed and the CR#87, where I wrote...
Dear Mike, it will cost 20 million to fix! It seems that in
the 1980s, concrete was poured underneath to In 1919, all schools, churches and theatres
I read your CinemaRecord article on the support the foundations, but it appears there is were closed by the Council due to an influenza
Eldorado Theatre in Proserpine with much a mine shaft below and the concrete is only epidemic. Palace overcame this by moving to
interest. I attended an evening session at that capping it. the vacant allotment next door, and operating
theatre one night between 1954 and 1956. At an open-air-theatre. A screen was hung from
that time I was a travelling sales rep. and I had This year's Royal South Street competitions the wall of the adjacent building and the
to put up for the night in Proserpine, as the road will be held at the 700 seat Founders Theatre allotment was enclosed with hessian walls.
to Mackay was closed due to flooding. (at Federation University, Mt. Helen), but South Palace advertised in the local paper “We still
Street is worried that it might take two years to comply with state regulations and show in the
I put my vehicle on to a railway goods wagon fix Her Majestys, and the cost of transport to open air. Remember, patrons are protected
then walked back to town and booked in at the and from Mt. Helen is too much to afford two from the wind and are quite cosy under healthy
Palace Hotel. I'm sure there was a cinema next years in a row! All in all, even if the Ballarat conditions”.
door to the hotel which I thought was also council can get the 20 million (from the federal
called the Palace. It didn't appear to be open and state governments) it will be over a year at This information was sourced from The
that night, but the Eldorado was, so I walked least before the old theatre is reopened. Historical Society, Cairns, North Queensland
the short distance from the hotel, and took my Inc. Bulletin 443 dated February 1998.
seat well towards the back of the hall. Regards, Regards
Earl Martell Brian Hunt

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