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When the Victory was opened by the Mayor of St. Kilda, Councillor S.T. Alford, on Monday April18, 1921 , the
Argus reported it as being the second largest picture-house in Melbourne and its suburbs and praised both the
excellence of its sight-lines and the acoustics of the building. 6 The Age wrote that "Mr. V.C. Marshall, Director,
in outlining the policies of the theatre, said the best films obtainable would be produced, and a special feature
would be made of the music". 1 The Director of the orchestra was Bert Howell, who had earlier been associated
with V.C. Marshall in the operation of the nearby Barkly. The Victory also had a motor park with room for eighty
cars and provided free lockers for the motorists' rugs and overcoats. 8 These facilities, apart from being quite
an innovation in those early days of motoring, indicate that the theatre was not only hoping to attract patrons
from outside the locality, but also assumed that these would have been patrons of some means.
Contemporary descriptions of the theatre make much of both the lighting effects - " ..... as the stage curtain is
drawn back the lights automatically dim, until they eventually go out" - 11 and the ventilation system which was
able to pump 59,000 cubic feet of fresh air into the auditorium per minute. 10 The Argus described it as being
designed on modem principles 11 and the Age wrote of the good taste of the interior decorations in the hand-
somely-appointed theatre. 12 An examination of an aerial photograph of the area taken about 1922 shows a
building that dominated the locality by its sheer size and also gives some clues to the extent of the exterior
changes resulting from the reconstruction of the theatre in 1928. 13
The program for the opening night consisted of both live entertainment and film. The main feature was
"Conrad in Quest of His Youth" and there was a Christie Comedy "Two A.M." and a "Gazette". The orchestra
played Friedmann's "Slavonic Rhapsody" and a Miss Pauline Bindley sang "Down In The Forest" and Verdi's
"Caro Nome". 14

By the later 1920s V.C. Marshall had sold his interest in the Victory to finance his 1927 film "Environment". 1s
The film was unsuccessful, but his second film "Caught In The Act" of 1928 starred Zillah Bateman 1e who was
to appear live at the re-opening of the reconstructed Victory that year. By that time the directors of Victory
Theatres P/L were F.L. Nelson (Chairman), F.W. Thring, T. Cope and G.F. Griffiths. 11 It was they who opened
the reconstructed Victory on March 19, 1928. Ross Thorne has said that "The question of how much of the
Victory is of the original design built in 1921 is still to be answered" .18 The point is valid, but an examination of
the building itself as well as other written sources can provide some clues.

Under the heading "Achievement", the souvenir program for the re-opening of the theatre began thus: "The
Victory Theatre was opened almost seven years ago and was then generally acclaimed as being the most
modern picture-theatre in Australia. During recent years, however, theatre construction has been revolution-
ised both in comfort for the patrons and the artistic surroundings." 111 While making allowance for the usual
language of self-advertisement, one can agree with the general tone of this.

The 1920s saw the construction of the Capitol (1924), State (1929) and Regent (1929) in Melbourne alone- not
to mention the more pressing competition of the nearby Palais Pictures of 1927. Picture Palaces were also
constructed in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth at this time. With Frank Thring Snr. as one of the Victory directors
there is also a further connection between the Victory and the chain of Hoyts "Regent" theatres. In 1928 Hoyts
Pictures and Electric Theatres merged to form Hoyts Theatres, 20 a merger that included F.T. Thring and G.
Griffith. 21 A further connection linking the luxury of the city theatres with the new luxury of the Victory was the
architectural firm of Cedric H. Ballantyne and Associates. It was this firm that was responsible for the recon-
struction of the Victory in 1928, just as it had designed the Melbourne Regent which was then under construc-
tion. 22 The cost of the reconstruction - 40,000 Pounds - was larger than the original cost of the building. 23
Most of the work appears to have been done on the interior, apart from the stepped roof replacing the single-
level one. 24 The program also mentions the new proscenium and the larger orchestra well. 2s As the theatre
continued to operate during the building works (except for three weeks prior to the re-opening and the cancel-
lation of Wednesday matinees) 26 and upon obseNation of differences in the brickwork around the stage area,
it may be that the new proscenium and stage area had been constructed behind the old one. Inside the
entrance the foyer had been enlarged to replace the old narrow crush hall. 21

Much attention had been given to carpeting and furnishings, with the seating within the auditorium being
provided by the local firm of W.E. Ham P/L of 76 High Street. 28 Photographs reproduced in the program show
that the entrance foyer with its marble stairway and the upstairs barrel-vaulted promenade and lounge foyer
looked much as they do at the present, although it would appear that the chandeliers have been replaced at a
later period. Also interesting is the cover drawing on the program. The classic elements of the facade have
been drawn in such a way as to make them look more like part of an Art Deco design. 29 The decorative
treatment was described as being "Rich and palatial, yet unobtrusive and dignified." 30 Three new Simplex
projectors were installed as well as "an efficient and entirely new system of lighting throughout... .. (using) more

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