Page 7 - CR-89AA

Vaudeville and live shows continued into the
Top: The lounge and projection box from the stage.
Below: The façade facing Perkins Street, looking quite forlorn 2015. restoration of old theatres has helped bring
late 1920s but, by 1929, the theatre was back
to being a full time cinema, the Victoria
Talkies, now controlled by Fuller’s Theatres,
an Australia wide live theatre circuit.
Probably the return to movies was caused by
the Depression.
The Victoria continued to change hands – in
1933 it came under General Theatres, a
combine comprising Fuller’s, Hoyts and
Greater Union, but after that dissolved around
1936, the Victoria was operating under
Snider and Dean, followed by Northern
Amusements Corporation, a local company in
which Hoyts and Greater Union also had
interests. Finally, in 1942, it was completely
acquired by Hoyts Theatres, and from that
time on it was run as a major cinema (the
Civic being Hoyts’ first run Newcastle
house). It was at the Victoria that Gone With
the Wind received its first major city season.
In 1951, a new neon was placed on the façade
and in 1954 the Victoria was the second
Newcastle theatre to be equipped with
th
20 Century-Fox’s new widescreen process,
CinemaScope (the first being the Civic). The
Victoria became an action house, while the
Civic screened the more refined product,
musicals and comedies. But it continued to be
used for major live productions, notably by
J.C. Williamson’s, such as The Pyjama Game
in 1958, The Tommy Steele Show in 1960 and
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1963.
But with falling attendances at cinemas
everywhere due to television and licensed
clubs, Hoyts decided to close the Victoria and
concentrate instead on the Civic and the
Theatre Royal, the latter having had 70 mm
installed in 1962. The writing was on the wall
for the outdated Victoria, and it closed on
30 March 1966.
After that, it was used for many years for retail
purposes until finally being boarded up some
ten years ago and left to the pigeons.
Above: The proscenium and ceiling dome. Many overseas cities have found that the
about a complete rejuvenation of city centres,
Cleveland Ohio being one such where the
restoration of five theatres has been a
spectacular success. Newcastle CBD is in
desperate need of such a boost, especially if
the Tower Cinemas – now threatened by
another multiplex at Kotara – were to close.
We can only wish Century Venues complete
success in their venture, and for the full
cooperation of local planning authorities in
bringing about the theatre’s restoration and
reopening. ¬
Acknowledgements:
Images:
Les Tod.
Mike Trickett.
CATHS’ archive.
State Library of NSW.
CINEMARECORD # 89 7