Page 9 - CinemaRecord #82

RICHARD STEPHENS

He made enquiries with Pathe Frères about the
equipment needed and received brief tuition
on Bioscopes. He then met another gentleman
who was also interested in this new fancy
that was taking the world by storm and they Richard thought that showing moving
decided that they should give this picture show pictures in Brisbane parks would be a good
business a go. money spinner; the Botanical Gardens were
accommodating 10,000 people twice a week
After the exhibition, Richard and his new at a band concert, and Richard thought if
partner had purchased a Bioscope and some he could get in with the band and show his
short films, they then set up a picture palace moving pictures then all would benefit.
in a rented shop in Cheswick, London, where
they screened short films to whoever wanted to However the curator of the garden was not
pay 2d. to sit on a hard wooden form. impressed at this and the idea was squashed,
so he then tried another park but this too went
After a few months of trading in London, nowhere, so his last hope was Dutton Park.
Richard decided it was time to go back to Richard had tried this over 12 months
Queensland, and was thinking that he could previously, yet again they came back with their An American, Mr Badger, had been making
again try this motion picture business in tails between their legs. The tour had been a improvements to the Dutton Park so that the
Ipswich. disaster as the country folk didn’t like parting public could enjoy the area, as it was snake
with their money, but he was not about to give infested and overgrown. Badger had spent a
So late in 1908 with a new Urban Bioscope, up. lot of money on the park and when Richard
and a suitcase of films he headed back to approached him with his idea, Badger thought
Australia to follow his dreams. One of these Carroll was still showing in Ipswich and it would be a good way to get back the money
films was Aladdin and his Magic Lamp a Pathe Richard decided that he would go to the he had spent, and so a contract was made that
Frères hand coloured film. council (as they controlled the cricket ground) the ‘Stephens Ogilvie Picture Show Company’
to see if he could also lease the ground, and would start showing moving pictures at the
He had decided that the perfect place to start discovered that Carroll had only leased it until Dutton Park Garden Theatre.
this moving picture show venture would the end of the summer season.
be at the North Ipswich Cricket Reserve in Richard, seeing an opportunity to cut in on Dutton Park Garden Theatre opened to the
th
Ipswich. Imagine his surprise when, on his Carroll before he leased the ground for the public on the 24 August 1909 to a crowd of
return, he picked up a newspaper and saw an next season, acquired the lease for that next 6000 people. They piled into the park, courtesy
advertisement for an open air moving picture season at the rate of £2 a night. Richard has of the local tramway company, to see over 30
show at the North Ipswich Cricket Ground, been quoted in saying “All is fair and love and performers, brass bands and moving pictures.
director E J Carroll. war” and this is definitely something that the When they screened Living London, 7,000
He had been pipped at the post and his plans early picture showmen lived by. people attended. This was the big start that
of being the first to show moving pictures in Richard and Dave Ogilvie needed to get their
Ipswich were shattered. Richard and Dave Ogilvie did very well out of hold on the moving picture industry, and
Undeterred, he called on his old buddy Ipswich, but had decided that there were more from there they went on to become one of the
Dave Ogilvie and they made plans to go to opportunities in Brisbane, so when their season most prominent picture show companies in
the country areas as the “London Bioscope was over they returned to Brisbane. Brisbane.
Company”.

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