Page 14 - CinemaRecord #11R.pdf

57. Camden Theatre by Gerry Kennedy, lan Hanson and Brian Miller

Architect: D.F. Cowell Ham
Owner: Camden Theatres Pty. ltd. - E.C. Yeomans, Secretary/Manager
Opened: December 1935
Closed: Saturday 11 August, 1962

The Camden Theatre was located at 360 Hawthorn Rd, near the comer of Glenhunlly Rd. in South Caulfield.
The large Imposing building is still dearly visible from most directions. The Camden theatre provided an Interesting
contrast, in architectural terms, to the other cinemas in the district.

The facade was contemporary art deco in style. Three large metal framed windows, shaped in the form of
upward pointing arrows, were the focal point of the cement rendered facade. The moulded rendered design of
the parapet, together with the theatre name on and above the building, completed the smart look of the
Camden.

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The theatre Is built in red double brick with a gable roof over the auditorium and a skilllon roof over the stage
house. The auditorium is of two levels. The stalls area has exaggerated splayed walls to the stage. Behind the
splay walls boiler and machinery rooms were located.

The theatre was entered through central doors at the street frontage. A rental shop was on the left of the
entrance and a sweets shop on the right (which was also directly connected to the foyer area). The entrance
foyer also contained a ticket box (next to the sweets shop), the manager's office, and ladies and gents retiring
lounges and toilets. Staircases on the left and right hand sides of the foyer led to the dress circle foyer. This
large space housed a long refreshment counter under the circle rake, ladies and gents lounges and toilets. and
staff rooms. Stair cases at the left and right hand ends of this foyer led directly to the circle cross aisle. The
auditorium was decorated In the new plain art deco style common in European Apart from the opalene lights
surrounding the decorative ventilation grills there is almost no decoration on the wall surfaces.

The ceiling of the theatre featured a large Inverted circular plaster light source which formed the focal point of
the ceiling. This was unique to this theatre and closely resembles the one Installed In the Titania Cinema In
Berlin - Steglltz (Germany) {1 }. Interesting light effects were created through the use of many light globes in the
recessed opal glass wall panels. Colored globes were also used as Indirect lighting in the large ceiling dome.

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