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Stories From Australia's Film Production And Does Any Body Want To See The Film ?
Exhibition Industry
By Rod Cook
Peter Wolfenden
During the 1970's and 80's many cinemas were· going
We are all aware of the impact of visual media in "get- through pretty lean periods, as colour television and then
ting the message across" to students. the advent of the domestic video cassette recorder made
dramatic inroads into box office takings.
Prior to W.W.ll, only limited use was made of educa-
tional films. This could have been partly due to the cost It was interesting, however for cinema architecture fans
of production and screening prior to 16mm sound becom- to see the interior of a number of suburban theatres that
ing readily available. had been catering to the ethnic population, screening
English language films during school holiday
However, The Professor of Education at Melbourne Uni- periods.Some of the theatres in Melbourne that did this
versity felt that there was also a reluctance on the part of included the Kinema at Albert Park, The Metropolitan
educators to fully use the medium. (nee Padua) in Brunswick and the National in Richmond.

In the foreword to FILMS - THEIR USE AND MISUSE The Metropolitan screened 'Back & Beyond' which was
(1945) By Squadron-Leader N. H, Rosenthal, the Profes- about near death experiences (great holiday fare!) and
sor wrote:-" ... As a result this powerful teaching aid did the Kinema, Albert Park, a new print was screened of
not function properly, and the moving picture was left to Johnny Weissmuller in 'Pygmy Island' which was filmed
demonstrate its popularity and effectiveness solely in the in 1950. Both these films screened as per their advertised
realm of entertainment, where it achieved outstanding session times and were promoted in the. mainstream press.
success. The sessions I attended, for which the stalls only were
open, had few patrons and 1 don't recall it being repeated
Then came the war. Where the ordinary schools had failed for more than one or two school holidays. The Kinema
to seize the opportunity, the schools of the Defence Forces, did revett later to become a 100% English language film
less trammeled by conventional beliefs and less hampered venue before its closure.
by inadequate funds, began to experiment with various
methods of Visual Education . Success was immediate. Other theatres in this period, not only for school holiday
The Air Force in particular carried out many interesting matinees but nightly screenings were a little more flex-
experiments and found out a great deal about the compo- ible in tlteir screerung policies, due to patron numbers.
sition of training films and the best ways of using these
effectively in teaching. I recall going to the National in Richmond, where 'Su-
perman - The Movie' was screening. We duly purchased
Many educational libraries were subsequently established. our tickets and went up to tbe lounge to await the start of
The major ones were associated with·Govemment Edu- the film. During the wait, I did what most cinema enthu-
cation Departments but educational films were also held siasts do, I went and inspected the bio box. It was during
in libraries established by large private companies. A my visit there, that I realized why there was to be a delay
number of small film producers came into being to sup- in the screening. Edweena and I were the only d1e pa-
ply specialised local productions for an increasing de- trons and they would not run the movie until they had
mand. five. I thought this a little unusual at the time but thought
nothing of it as a few more souls entered and the screen-
By the way, the Professor of Education was G.S. Browne ing began. I also recall that one projector screened higher
later to become weLl known on Melbourne television host- on the screen than the other thus making seamless
ing the popular Professor Browne's Study. changeovers impossible between the Bauer projectors.
Reference: The lovely Astor Theatre at Ararat, bad a similar dilemma
FILMS -THEIR USE AND MISUSE- 1945 whilst they were running 'Stripes'. Was it worth screen-
By N.H. Rosenthal R.A.A.F. ing a filin for a few patrons who braved the winter weather
on a Sunday night? Manager Rod How was unsure, but
once patronage reached double figures, the lights were
dimmed and on went the show. The highlight for me,
however, was the complete tour of the theatre afterwards
with Rod, which lasted into Monday morning_.

Other incidences of low attendance's almost cancelling
screenings included the Liberty in East Brunswick where
the ten patrons who were present for "The Slim Dusty
Movie" were reduced to two, my father and I for "Dad

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