Page 19 - CinemaRecord #11R.pdf

Another oldie was The Austral in Johnson Street, Collingwood. We called it The Bug House. There was a mob
which hung out a few doors from this that was called "The Don Mob", and they used to be the terror of the local
people. Another old theatre, before my time, was in Collingwood towards· the Yarra and it was "The Star". It was
in an old galvanised iron building and it cost you 3d. To go to the toilets you had to go otlt through doors at the
back of the screen and when they opened light would come in and people would yell out "shut the door'.

There was another theatre also called Lyric in Smith Street opposite the old MacRobertson lolly factory, and
there was a Crown in Richmond -you got in for 4d. In summertime they had pictures on the Collingwood
Football Ground with the screen between the goal posts. The kids got in for one penny and adults threepence.
Also there was the Amphitheatre in Fairfield Park.

Talkies At The Coburg Town Hall-13 June, 1930
(From a book "Coburg, Between Two Creeks)

"Public entertainments were rarely stifled by the depression. Community singing in the Town Hall was a regular
bright spot and dances held by churches, lodges, the Labour Party and progress associations attracted streams
of people.

The cinema was also popular. When the first 'talkies' in Coburg were staged at the Grand Theatre in January
1930 hundreds of disappointed patrons could not get in to see "Weary River". Later "Mickey the Mouse"
complained in the local press that 'yapping in the audience is a real curse to those who desire to get their
money's worth, and to follow the film with intelligent interest'. The 'talkies' were so well patronized that the
Council was forced to install sound equipment in the Town Hall where silent pictures had been shown weekly by
Henry Peterson since April 1929. As the Council had invested 40,000 pounds in the hall a regular theatre
income was needed to help repay the loan.

When the Town Hall Talkies' opened on 13 June 1930, Mayor Alexander Campbell announced that half the
profits would go to the unemployed. A Mexican musical extravaganza "Rio Rita", a film about Amy Johnson, the
American aviatrix, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon were screened. Campbell declared that "he wanted the people
of Australia to become more and more Australian, and it was hoped to screen British films as far as possible. At
the present time they were unprocurable". The Premier and Prime Minister, who sent their apologies, were both
gratified that the new Raycophone sound system, which reproduced "with the fidelity of life itself', was Australian
made.

With the infant Australian film industry swamped by Hollywood productions, Coburgites thrilled to the Marx
Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette McDonald, and Johnny Weismuller as "Tarzan the
Ape Man". In March 1931, 7000 people saw Eddie Cantor in "Whoopie" over six nights to create an attendance
record at the theater. So many children came to see the wedding of Mickey and Minnie Mouse that Henry
Peterson ran out of pieces of give-away wedding cake. Thereafter, Peterson devoted Saturday matinees to
children's enjoyment.

The Town Hall Talkies netted Council 2000 pounds and the Coburg unemployed 500 pounds each year.
Peterson's lease allowed for its use by others once a month on fourteen days notice. Because of this
inconvenience and as a result of the boom of the talkies, Peterson converted his shops on the corner of Harding
Street and Sydney Road into a cinema. The rebuilding was carried out by Robert Irvine who did not live to see
its opening on 22 December 1934. Peterson's Plaza boasted fine furnishings and fresh flowers in the foyer and
double lounge suites in the dress circle. Marie Butler, cashier and assistant manager of the Plaza, recalled that
being newer, it was more toney than the Grand. Hard times were forgotten while at the silver screen and some
people booked permanent seats in the stalls or even the plush dress circle, dressing up as they would for a
dance. The staff set a standard by wearing dinner suits and velvet gowns.

Thanks to Bill Lowden for the research and running about needed to obtain the above story, and to the Coburg
Historical Society for their kind assistance. Some of the comments and statements make very interesting reading
in today's turbulent times. Bill Worley

(Thanks to Bill Lowden for sending this article in to CinemaRecord. It is a reprint from the March 1997
edition of VOX, the newsletter of the Theatre Organ Society of Australia.)-