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Post war, Hoyts Theatres i11troduced a policy of screening Hoyts 'Regent Theatre' continued to operate, partly sup-
action films. Its more prestige films were screened at the ported by the 'Plaza Theatre' beneath it and the fact that
company's OW11 theatres, The Regent and Plaza in Collins Hoyts' offices were also in the bt,lilding. Hoyts had jts OW11
Street. theatres and the leasing of the large 'Capitol Theatre' was
an unnecessary luxury. Even 'The Regent' was down-
Minor alterations were carried out with a change in cur- graded, showing films that would normally go to 'The
tain line softening the edges of the ceiling above the pro- Capitol'. The smaller city theatres in the chain got the
scenium. The organ was moved to one side and addi- better programs that ran for extended seasons.
tional decoration in the form of floor model 'candelabra'
were added. [n 1963, Hoyts announced they were going to allow their
lease to lapse. The problem faced by the owners was that
Modifications to the theatre were undertaken in 1955 to such a large auditorium was not an attractive proposition
screen CinemaScope. This required further modifications, as a cinema any longer. Fears were held about the build-
with the screen being brought further forward and placed ing's future when it was believed that consideration was
in front of the abutments of the proscenium. The vast cur- being given to its demolition or the conversion of the theatre
tain disappeared (as did the candelabras) and was replaced section of the building to shop and office space. The mag-
with a new but simple replacement, described by fonner nificent ceiling would probably remain but cocooned above
manager Ian Williams, as ' the worst CinemaScope instal- the ceiling of the shops and inaccessible.
lation that Hoyts bad'. This was due to the nanow pro-
scenium and the angle of the throw from the projection The public came to realise that the theatre was under enor-
box which combined to hamper the effectiveness of this mous threat. The 1960's was a time when large numbers
process. of classic buildings were being demolished and replaced
with modern and purely functional architecture. There
The first film in this process was Elvis Presley in 'Love was little sentiment fore the past. The future of 'The Capi-
Me Tender' tol' however, did invoke a response. A 'Save The Capi-
tol' campaign was organised by the Victorian Institute of
Acoustically the building remained very good, with short Architects and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).
reverberation times even when empty, a credit to the ar-
chitects and builders who built what was originally a si- Noted architect and writer for The Australian newspaper,
lent theatre. Robin Boyd, refened to 'The Capitol as "the best cinema
that was ever built or js ever likely to be built' . A marvel-
Wide-screen presentations were commonplace by the mid lous compliment indeed, but would this view hold sway?
1950's and just as this attraction was expected by the pic- He made an appeal to the owners to take no action on
ture going audience, a threat to the motion picture indus- altering the building that would preclude its reopening as
try's viability was looming- television. a theatre, should a suitable lessee come along.

Trade papers of the time, warned of the threat, but also There was only partial success in the campaign. A com-
tended to dismiss it with promises of better pictmes and promise was finally reached whereby the seating capacity
hopeful assurances that the novelty would wear off. The would be reduced to 79 I. This involved removal of the
theatre chains and major distributors were publicly putting stalls and street entry foyer and their replacement by a
this view, whilst also becoming shareholders in the com- shopping arcade through to Howey Place. The arcade is
pany's that had purchased television broadcasting licences. s ti 11 in use today.

The Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 brought large ln February 1964, the curtain came down for the last time
numbers of visitors to the city, but it also introduced tel- on the complete theatre. Ian Williams remembers with
evision. Although primitive by today's standards, the at- sadness that last screening which was attended by a 'cou-
traction of visual entertainment being provided in your ple of hundred people'. Ironically, the foyer of the now
own home was very enticing and was taken up by the popu- closed cinema was used to sell television sets.
lation with great enthusiasm. Suburban theatres began to
close in greater numbers as the 1950's came to a close. Eventually, work commenced on the conversion of the
The city theatres, maintaining a certain prestige, weath- ground level area. In the auditorium, the floor was raised
ered the storm a little longer. However, with capacities from the proscenium to meet the balcony area of the origi-
well in excess of2,000 patrons, their viability was in ques- nal theatre. A third of the proscenium was carefully re-
tion. moved during this process. Entry to the cinema was now
by a new foyer. It is situated on a new intermediate level
Hoyts lease ended on a disappointing note at the begin- directly under the space incorporated in the original up-
njog of the I 960's, the theatre suffering from the effects of stairs foyer. The original upstairs foyers were conve1ted to
television. The foyer was used as Maxwell's Radio store small spaces for use as small factories or storage. Apart
for about two years. (I) from concrete brick partitioning, much of the architecture
remained relatively intact.
Greater Union's ' State Theatre' was twinned in I 962/3.

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