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Issue 91
Edition 3 – 2016
ISSN 1443-3664

The Quarterly Journal of the Cinema and Theatre Historical Society of Australia Inc.
EDITORIAL COMMENT by Richard Twentyman

When I penned my previous Editorial Comment in CinemaRecord 89,
Cinema and Theatre Historical early in 2016, little did any of us realise that we would only enjoy the
Society of Australia Inc. leadership and friendship of our late President, Gerry Kennedy, for a few
ABN 56 004 920 745 CAV No. A0020747R more months.
39 St. Edmonds Road Prahran Vic. 3181 On May 28, Gerry passed away after a short battle with cancer. Even in
Email: caths@caths.org.au his last few months, ill as he was, he still managed to come to the Archive
Web: www.caths.org.au and also attend our meetings. Such was his passion and dedication to the
investigation and recording of histories of cinemas and theatres, not only
Produced and Edited by: in Australia, but throughout New Zealand and even Papua New Guinea.
Mike Trickett, Dick Twentyman.
His travels always resulted in him finding some long-ago forgotten cinemas in tiny country
Printed by: towns. These were painstakingly photographed and local residents interviewed to glean even
Mill Press Geelong the smallest morsel of information about the building’s past. Gerry was also knowledgeable
about architectural style, colour schemes and other aspects of old cinemas and theatres.
Magazine & general distribution:
Harvey & Pam Hutchison As a part of the Editorial Team for CinemaRecord, Gerry’s input was invaluable. Often he would
find seemingly unimportant discrepancies in an article which, on closer examination, proved to
Membership & back issue enquiries be significant in the context of recording an accurate history of a particular building.
Jim & Maureen Barrand 0448 905 556
Gerry’s antipathy to all things electronic (particularly computers) was a constant source of
Patrons: amusement to those of us who worked with him so closely at the Archive. I am sure that, had
Peter Smith OAM Frank Van Straten OAM he not been restrained, Gerry’s own laptop would have been used as a missile on many occasions.

Committee: Thanks for everything, Gerry. Rest in peace.
Acting President: Dick Twentyman 0418 526 082
Vice President:
Secretary: Mike Trickett 0419 117 900
Treasurer: Rod Bendix 03 9563 2927 COVERS CONTENTS
Committee: Royce Harris 0406 476 048
Shane Moore 0407 520 320
Obituary - Gerry Kennedy 5
Civic Theatre, Ashburton 6
Research Group Convener: Hoyts Bentleigh 9
Ian Smith 03 5443 0692
The Embassy Malvern (and me) 10
More About the Embassy/Metro Malvern 14
Queensland Coordinator & Publicity Officer: The Empress, Williamstown 16
Steve Maggs 0413 805 320
The covers of this edition The Lakeside Drive-in, Yarrawonga 20
Archive: feature the magnificent The Nulty Family 22
Hoyts, the Company in New Zealand
24
Located at the Prahran Mechanics Institute Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The Geelong Theatre 28
39 St. Edmonds Road, Prahran, Vic. 3181.
Images: Who Would Want to Work at the Pictures 32
Cinema and Theatre The Not so Breathtaking Side of Cinemascope 37
Archive enquiries: Association, UK.
Archivist: Royce Harris 0406 476 048
Front cover image has been
CinemaRecord contributions: digitally altered
CinemaRecord, 39 St. Edmonds Road Prahran
Vic. 3181. Email: cinemarecord@caths.org.au
Back issues: CATHS and this publication aim to document and create an archive of the history of Australian
A full index of back issues is available on CATHS cinemas and theatres. Contributions and suggestions to that end, are most welcome.
web site at www.caths.org.au/crec/crec.htm
If you are planning to write an article for the magazine, the Editorial Team would be pleased to hear from you. Assistance with additional
information, contacts, photos etc. may be available from the CATHS archive.
Meetings:
CinemaRecord articles and images are copyright, and are not to be reproduced without the permission of CATHS or the author. Every effort
Held at the Sun Theatre Yarraville, Vic. is made to trace the copyright of all published material. In the event of any questions arising from the use of any material, we will be happy
Last Sunday of Feb, Apr, June*, Aug, Oct, Nov. to make the necessary corrections in a future edition.
*check CATHS web site - can vary.
Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and, unless expressly stated so, are not necessarily those of CATHS.

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