Page 7 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2002 #37

Briquette furnace
Stage
Exit Exit

Lounge

Cross Aisle

Stand by Manager Switch
plant room
Tickets Biobox
Ladies Rewind Switchboard
Foyer Store
Gents room
Lounge/foyer
Shop
Milk
Bar

Verandah
Nepean Highway
The plan drawn from the author’s memory. There were twice as many rows in the circle as in the lounge; the number
shown is only indicative. It must have been a shallow balcony because there were no side exits.

The projection room protruded After the curtains closed a great After the arrival of television the
into the auditorium and robbed the fanfare played and the curtains would theatre was forced into a policy of
rear of the circle of a few seats. re-open, as the decorative lights faded restricted screenings - three nights a
Seating capacity was 1095 in 1957. to reveal a wide screen---wow what week instead of the usual six.
The heating plant was a briquette- presentation---something that’s rare After seven years under Mel’s
fired furnace. Access was from the these days. Most wide-screen films management the Mayfair’s final
laneway behind the theatre. A blower were Paramount's VistaVision - a high screening was 23 January 1960 with
moved air across the furnace hot box definition process. MGM’s The Scapegoat. The theatre
and into the auditorium through air Mel’s contacts in the industry was soon demolished for the widening
chambers concealed by large plaster helped to smooth over budget of the Nepean Highway.
grills above the stage side exits. The problems. The
system was very effective. Although Mayfair never did
air conditioning was out of the have its own set of
question, running the blower without anamorphic lenses for
the furnace in hot weather created CinemaScope films.
enough air movement, assisted by Instead Mel arranged
ceiling exhaust fans to let patrons feel to borrow them as
that their needs were understood. needed from the
The projectors were Powers (later Western, West
replaced with C& W Juniors, by Brunswick (another
Arthur Pyers) on RCA sound heads Selleck house.) This
(gate type) mounted on Powers complicated the timing
pedestals. The arcs were Colda and of some bookings.
looked rather ancient with asbestos Programs were
blankets hanging on the back to stop booked from
light glare. A definite No. No these Paramount, B.E.F,
days! The sound amplifier was a M.G.M, Columbia,
Gaumont-Kalee “Duosonic” mounted Blake, and the
on the wall between the projectors. newsreels were from
The wall and proscenium lights were Cinesound.
dimmed manually by means of slide
resistors. The main houselights and
curtains were electrically operated but
the top and side masks were hand- The Mayfair came into its own when it showed
winched from the projection room via continental films. The Herald Friday 2 Nov. 1956.
very long cables. (Source: State Library of Victoria.)

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