Page 19 - CR

Jan 23
1941

June
1937

The December 1939 death of 77-year- The war years were a boom-time Into the 1950s the Lyceum was a shadow
old McGregor was a sad day for the for the cinema business throughout of its former self and survived on what
theatre staff. Born in Edinburgh in 1862, Australia, and particularly in little good product that was available to
he had migrated to Queensland aboard Queensland where many overseas it – which wasn’t much.
the Crown of Aaragon in 1884. troops were stationed.
It was often kindly referred to as “the
After serving in the Queensland Sadly, the behind-the-scenes drama out- bug house’ and B-grade material and
Railways for 20 years, he had purchased did any screen offerings at the Lyceum westerns programs such as Omaha Trail
the Grosvenor Hotel and then built and when on August 18, 1942 a 25-year-old plus In Old Sacramento were common
conducted the Lyceum until his death. American Soldier, Leon Begay, carried fare. Even old Tom Mix shorts like The
A cultured man who spoke several out a telephone threat to shoot usherette, Miracle Rider were used to fill out the
languages, he twice toured the world Lilliam Gwendoline Lloyd, with whom many of these lack-lustre offerings.
and was an ardent music lover who was he had been friendly. Besotted with the
remembered for his generosity and as older woman (33), the young corporal Expensive newspaper ads got smaller
patron of the Brisbane Municipal and trapped her in the theatre-staff dressing- (and so did the programs) as revivals
Excelsior Bands as well as vice-patron room where he shot her twice before filled the many gaps. In November1954
of the Scottish and Curlew Choirs. With fatally turning the revolver on himself. the main feature was the (1941) Errol
due respect, the Lyceum remained He died later that night in hospital, Flynn movie They Died with Their
closed on the day of the funeral. but thankfully his victim survived the Boots On - already 13-years old.
terrifying incident.
By the 1940’s the Lyceum had been
upstaged by a number of bigger,
flashier cinemas in the city centre and
the Lyceum soon found itself relegated
to screening second-run and revival
products. However in this pre-television The old Lyceum was showing her
era, this product could still prove very age and finding it harder to compete
lucrative – and much cheaper to rent!
with newer, more palatial competitors.
Periods of “going dark” grew longer
until closure came in 1964. By this
time, the Brisbane City Council was
keen to expand King George Square
and to make room, purchased the Tivoli
Feb 22 Theatre from Greater Union in order to
1940 demolish it.

Built as a Vaudeville/Cinema house,
the massive Tivoli also featured a
single-floored “Roofgarden Theatre”
atop the main auditorium. This meant
Greater Union would lose two film
outlets in the one blow, so the company
looked for a site to construct a new
outlet – conversion of an existing (and
currently closed) location would seem
an easy solution.

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